medium · GMAT Verbal

Passage: Thermodynamics defines entropy as a measure of the disorder in a system, stating that in any isolated system, entropy must always increase. This principle, known as the Second Law, seems at first glance to be contradicted by the existence of complex biological organisms, which exhibit a high degree of internal order. However, this apparent paradox is resolved when one considers that biological systems are not isolated; they are open systems that maintain low internal entropy by importing energy from their surroundings and exporting entropy in the form of heat and waste. The metabolic processes required for growth and reproduction generate more entropy in the external environment than the amount by which they reduce internal entropy. Thus, the total entropy of the universe, the organism plus its surroundings, continues to rise. Some theoretical biologists have further proposed that life itself is a mechanism that accelerates the overall increase in entropy, as living organisms are more efficient at dissipating energy gradients than inanimate matter. The function of the phrase 'importing energy from their surroundings and exporting entropy in the form of heat and waste' is to.

1. Clarify the specific mechanisms by which open systems avoid violating the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
2. Suggest that biological order is an illusion caused by the improper definition of an isolated system.
3. Provide evidence that biological systems eventually reach a state of maximum entropy.
4. Argue that the Second Law of Thermodynamics applies only to inanimate matter, not to living organisms.
5. Illustrate the process by which living organisms accelerate the depletion of global energy gradients.

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