A
Sir John Gurdon, a British scientist, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012, said he had predicted at the time of his frog experiments that the successful cloning of a mammal would happen within 50 years, and that “maybe the same answer is appropriate” for the step to human cloning.Parents who lose children in accidents may be able to clone “copies” to replace them then.
Although any attempt to clone an entire human would raise complex moral issues, the biologist claimed people would soon overcome their concerns if the technique became medically useful.Cloning was regarded with extreme doubts when it was first developed but became widely accepted after the birth of Louise Brown, the first“testtube baby”.He said,“When my first frog experiments were done, an American reporter asked how long it would be before these things could be done in mammals or humans.I said,‘Well, it could be anytime between 10 years and 100 years — how about 50 years?’ It turned out that it wasn't far off the mark as far as Dolly was concerned.Maybe the same answer is appropriate.” Sir John added that cloning a human being effectively means making an identical twin, and doctors would therefore simply be “copying what nature has already produced”.
The average vote on allowing parents of deceased children, who are no longer fertile(能生育的), to create another by using the mother's eggs and skin cells from the first child, thinking the technique was safe and effective, is 60 percent in favor.The reasons for “no” are usually that the new children would feel they are some sort of replacements for something.
语篇解读:本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了诺贝尔生理学或医学奖得主、英国科学家约翰·格登爵士称,那些在事故中失去子女的父母将有可能在未来50年内借助克隆技术得到孩子的“复制品”。
1.Sir John predicted the human cloning would be a reality in at most.
A.about 100 years B.about 60 years
C.about 50 years D.about 10 years
解析:选C 细节理解题。根据第一段可知,约翰·格登爵士表示,在未来50年内,那些在事故中失去孩子的父母将有可能通过克隆技术得到孩子的“复制品”。故选C项。
2.According to the text, which statement is NOT true?
A.Louise Brown is the first “testtube baby”.
B.Human cloning is still a controversial topic.
C.Sir John is positive about the future of human cloning.
D.Human cloning is creating something that didn't exist before.
解析:选D 细节理解题。根据第二段中的after the birth of Louise Brown, the first “testtube baby”可排除A项;文章尾段说明赞成者占6成,故排除B项;根据第二段中约翰·格登爵士的话可知,他对克隆人充满了希望,故排除C项;根据第二段的尾句可知,D项表述不正确。
3.The underlined word “identical” probably means “ ”.
A.same B.special
C.new D.clear
解析:选A 词义猜测题。根据画线词后的twin和后文的doctors would therefore simply be “copying what nature has already produced”可知,A项正确。
4.It can be inferred from the passage that .
A.most people cast doubt on John's experiments
B.human cloning is and will be only a dream
C.few children love to be cloned in the future
D.human cloning may be realized someday
解析:选D 推理判断题。根据第二段第一句可知,虽然克隆人类的尝试将引起复杂的道德问题,但是生物学家声称如果克隆技术变得有医学价值,人们很快就会消除他们的担心,因此可推断D项正确。