Answer:
a. the cell prepares for mitosis.
Step-by-step explanation:
Interphase is the period preceding any cell division, being of intense metabolic activity. During this period, there is the preparation for cell division (mitosis or meiosis), which involves the duplication of chromatin, the material responsible for controlling cell activity. All information existing throughout the DNA molecule is passed to the copy as if it were a photographic copy of the original molecule. Before long, each cell formed from the split will receive an exact copy of each chromosome of the split cell.
The two copies of each chromosome remain together for a time, joined by the common centromere, constituting two chromotids of the same chromosome. In interphase, the centrioles also duplicate.