21. deactivate: If you deactivate something,you cause them to be no longer active oreffective.
22. all of the genes required for a new animal get turned back on: all of the genesnecessary for a new animal start functioning again
23. rigorously: in a very thorough and strict way
24. screen: When an organization screens people,they examine them to make surethat they do not have a particular disease. When scientists screen cloned embryos,they examine them and only keep those that will grow normally. However,up tillnow,reliable screening tests haven??t yet been worked out.
25. infertile: unable to have or produce babies
26. Randolfe H. Wicker & the Clone Rights United Front: Randolfe H. Wicker is theworld??s first pro-cloning activist. Mr . Wicker founded the world??s first activistpro-human-cloning group,the Clone Rights United Front on February 26th,1997,immediately after the announcement of Dolly??s birth. He organized the firstdemonstration in support of human cloning on Saturday,March 1,1977,whichwas broadcast live for an entire hour by WABC-AM radio. USA Today alsoreported on the event. As the first Human Cloning Activist,Mr . Wicker has beendescribed by TIME MAGAZINE,February 19,2001 ,as“ spokesman for theHuman Cloning Foundation”and“ the face of cloning fervor in the U. S. . ”
27. You??d have to be crazy not to see the bad results they??ve had in animals: Onlyhose who are crazy are blind to the bad results in cloned animals.
28. crop up: happen or appear unexpectedly
29. Louise Brown: Louise Brown was born in England,1978 . She was the first testtubebaby born in history. Louise Brown??s arrival revolutionized medicaltreatments for infertility,making it possible for thousands of women to conceive.
30. test-tube baby: A test-tube baby is a baby that develops from an egg which hasbeen removed from the mother??s body,fertilized,and then replaced in herwomb.
C. Post -r eading a ctivity
Activity 1: Distinguishin g fa cts from opinions
Decide whether each of the following statements,even if it quotes someone,is afact or an opinion.
1. They plan to clone a human within two years,and many scientists don??t doubt thatthey??ll succeed. ( para. 5)
2. Cloning adult animals both endangers the mother and can lead to unacceptabledefects in the offspring. ( para. 6)
3. To ignore these outcomes seems to me to be criminally irresponsible. ( para. 6)
4. You??d have to be crazy not to see the bad results they??ve had in animals. ( para. 9)
5. Still,other reproductive technologies once deemed too risky to try in humans havebecome commonplace. ( para. 11)
Activity 2: Ma king in ferences
Decide whether each of the following statement can be inferred ( YES) or cannotbe inferred ( NO) .
1. Even clones appearing healthy at birth may have underlying genetic abnormalities.
2. Some scientists object to human cloning because they think it??s too risky for bothmothers and babies.
3. A human will be cloned within two years.
4. Human cloning will become as common as“ test-tube babies”as long as a normalcloned child is born.
5. According to the passage,it??s worthwhile to take great risks cloning a human beingbecause if no one ever takes a chance,you won??t get any progress.
Ⅳ. Fast Read in g
In this part,you are required to read three passages and choose the best answersto the questions after each passage,using the skill you have just learned.
( 1)
On December 27th,Clonaid,a firm associated with the Raelians,a religious sect( 邪教组织) ,announced that it had succeeded in producing the world??s first humanclone - a healthy baby girl called Eve,born to an unnamed American woman at anundisclosed location.
While the Raelians are claiming technological triumph,scientists have respondedwith disbelief . Alan Trounson,who specializes in animal cloning at MonashUniversity in Melbourne,doubts that Clonaid has the technical expertise to create ahuman clone. He cites the low success rates so far in other ,more commonly usedspecies such as cows and mice,and the even greater difficulty of cloning monkeys,man??s nearest neighbour.
The trick to cloning,first mastered by the creators of Dolly,the sheep clonedfrom an adult cell in 1996,is biochemically prodding ( 促使) the transplanted nucleus( 细胞核) from a mature cell into doing the same things that a newly created nucleusfrom an ordinary sexual union would do - a process known as reprogramming.But the more researchers study animal cloning,the more they realize that someaspects of reprogramming are very different from what happens in normal embryonicdevelopment. It is these differences that seem to cause the sorts of complications ( 并发症) now seen in cloned animals,such as spontaneous abortions ( 自然流产) ,birthdefects and organ failures in later life.
Although many cloned animals have serious defects,others turn out to beperfectly normal. But so far there is no way to predict which clones will thrive ( 茁壮成长) and which will die. From a purely technical standpoint,this uncertainty makeshuman cloning unacceptably risky for both mothers and babies,which is whyClonaid??s claims have caused such disquiet ( 不安) ,quite aside from the ethicalobjections many people have to human reproductive cloning,safe or otherwise.For all its professed ( 自称) interest in advanced technology,Clonaid appears tohave little time for such scientific niceties ( 精确) as verifiable ( 经得起验证的)experimental evidence. Safe to say,whatever proof Clonaid produces is unlikely tosilence accusations of fraud without further,independent investigation by well-knownexperts. It is too soon to tell whether its claim can be accepted as true.
1. According to the passage,what is the author??s attitude towards the Clonaid??s claim?
A. It??s a technological triumph.
B. It??s a fraud.
C. It??s unbelievable and disgusting.
D. It??s too soon to tell the authenticity of the claim.
2. According to the passage,why do many cloned animals have serious defects?
A. It??s because scientists do not have adequate technical expertise.
B. It??s because some aspects of reprogramming are very different from whathappens in normal embryonic development.
C. It??s because scientists are unable to predict which clones will thrive and whichwill perish.