Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
Part A
Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
Text 1
“I’ve never met a human worth cloning,” says cloning expert Mark Westhusin from the cramped confines of his lab at Texas A&M University. “It’s a stupid endeavor.” That’s an interesting choice of adjective, coming from a man who has spent millions of dollars trying to clone a 13-year-old dog named Missy. So far, he and his team have not succeeded, though they have cloned two calves and expect to clone a cat soon. They just might succeed in cloning Missy later this year—or perhaps not for another five years. It seems the reproductive system of man’s best friend is one of the mysteries of modern science.
Westhusin’s experience with cloning animals leaves him vexed by all this talk of human cloning. In three years of work on the Missyplicity project, using hundreds upon hundreds of canine eggs, the A&M team has produced only a dozen or so embryos carrying Missy’s DNA. None have survived the transfer to a surrogate mother. The wastage of eggs and the many spontaneously aborted fetuses may be acceptable when you’re dealing with cats or bulls, he argues, but not with humans. “Cloning is incredibly inefficient, and also dangerous,” he says.
Even so, dog cloning is a commercial opportunity, with a nice research payoff. Ever since Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1997, Westhusin’s phone at A&M College of Veterinary Medicine has been ringing busily. Cost is no obstacle for customers like Missy’s mysterious owner, who wishes to remain unknown to protect his privacy. He’s plopped down $3.7 million so far to fund the research because he wants a twin to carry on Missy’s fine qualities after she dies. But he knows her clone may not have her temperament. In a statement of purpose, Missy’s owners and the A&M team say they are “both looking forward to studying the ways that her clone differs from Missy.”
The fate of the dog samples will depend on Westhusin’s work. He knows that even if he gets a dog viably pregnant, the offspring, should they survive, will face the problems shown at birth by other cloned animals: abnormalities like immature lungs and heart and weight problems. “Why would you ever want to clone humans,” Westhusin asks, “when we’re not even close to getting it worked out in animals yet?”
1. Which of the following best represents Mr. Westhusin’s attitude toward cloning?
[A] Animal cloning is a stupid attempt.
[B] Human cloning is not yet close to getting it worked out.
[C] Cloning is too inefficient and should be stopped.
[D] Animals cloning yes, and human cloning at least not now.
2. The Missyplicity project does not seem very successful probably because _____.
[A] there isn’t enough fund to support the research
[B] cloning dogs is more complicated than cloning cats and bulls
[C] Mr. Westhusin is too busy taking care of the business
[D] the owner is asking for an exact copy of his pet
3. When Mr. Westhusin says “... cloning is dangerous,” he implies that _____.
[A] lab technicians may be affected by chemicals
[B] cats and dogs in the lab may die of diseases
[C] experiments may waste lots of lives
[D] cloned animals could outlive the natural ones
4. We can infer from the third paragraph that _____.
[A] rich people are more interested in cloning humans than animals
[B] cloning of animal pets is becoming a prosperous industry
[C] there is no distinction between a cloned and a natural dog
[D] Missy’s master pays a lot in a hope to revive the dog
5. We may conclude from the text that _____.
[A] human cloning will not succeed unless the technique is more efficient
[B] scientists are optimistic about cloning technique
[C] many people are against the idea of human cloning
[D] cloned animals are more favored by owners even if they are weaker
