An example of something that is not living but is breathing.

• A. Rock
• B. Fire
• C. Plant
• D. Water

Answer: (B)

Breathing here is used metaphorically to describe a process that uses oxygen. Fire isn’t alive—it lacks cells, metabolism, growth, and reproduction—but it does require oxygen to keep burning, drawing in air and releasing heat and light. That sense of taking in oxygen and continuing a chemical process is why fire is described as “breathing” even though it’s not living. A rock or water don’t perform any oxygen-using process like this, and a plant is a living organism that carries out respiration and other life processes. So fire fits the description of not living but breathing.