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考研英语阅读理解译文

时间:2017-11-24 16:52:41 英语阅读 我要投稿

考研英语阅读理解译文

  临近考研冲刺阶段,英语阅读不能只局限在单词和句型的把握。熟练掌握解题技巧,把有限的精力放在问题的解答上做到事半功倍的效果,下面是小编整理的考研英语的阅读理解真题以及译文和答案解析,一起来练习一下吧!

考研英语阅读理解译文

  “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 owner 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?” [397 words]

  6. Mr. Westhusin thinks cloning is dangerous because_____ .

  [A] animals are tortured to death in the experiments

  [B]the public has expressed strong disapproval

  [C] too many lives are wasted for laboratory use

  [D] cloning becomes a quest only for profit

  7. What is the problem confronting the Missyplicity project?

  [A] The client holds a suspicious view toward it.

  [B] There is a lack of funds to support the research.

  [C] The owner is unwilling to disclose the information.

  [D] Cloning dogs is a difficult biological problem.

  8. Which of the following is true about animal cloning?

  [A]Few private cloning companies could afford it

  [B]Few people have realized its significance.

  [C] An exact copy of a cat or bull can be made.

  [D] It is becoming a prosperous industry.

  9. From the passage we can infer that _____.

  [A] Mr. Westhusin is going to clone a dog soon

  [B] scientists are pessimistic about human cloning

  [C] human reproductive system has not been understood

  [D] rich people are only interested in cloning animals

  10. Mr. Westhusin seems to believe that cloning______.

  [A] is stupid and should be abandoned [B] has been close to success

  [C] should be taken cautiously [D] is now in a dilemma

  全文翻译

  “我还没有遇到一个值得克隆的人。” 克隆专家马克•威斯苏森在德克萨斯州农业机械大学空间狭小的实验室里说。“那是一种愚蠢的尝试。”有趣的是,这种用来形容克隆人的言辞竟然来自一位已花费数百万美金试图克隆一只13岁的名叫密斯的狗的人。到目前为止,他和他的团队还没有获得成功,尽管他们已经克隆出了两只牛并且正计划在短期内克隆出一只猫。他们可能会在年底成功克隆出密斯,也可能再过五年都不会成功。人类最亲密的朋友——狗的生殖系统似乎是现代科学中一个神秘的领域。

  威斯苏森克隆动物的经验使他对克隆人的种种说法十分恼火。在研究“克隆密斯项目”的三年时间里,农业机械大学的团队使用了成百上千只犬科动物的卵,却仅仅获得了一打左右的带有密斯基因的胚胎,并且没有一个在被转移至克隆母体时存活下来。威斯苏森教授争辩道,在研究猫或牛的克隆试验中,对动物卵的浪费以及许多动物的自然性流产都是可以为人们所接受的,但是对于研究人来说就不行。他表示说,“克隆是十分低效的,而且也相当危险。”

  尽管如此,克隆狗仍是一个商机,能带来丰厚的科研报酬。自从1997年多利羊克隆成功后,威斯苏森教授在农业机械大学兽医学院的电话就频频响起。对于像密斯的神秘主人这样的消费者来说,高额的花销并不是什么难题,他只是希望匿名以保护自己的隐私。到目前为止,他已经投入了370万美金来资助这项研究,因为他想要一个密斯的孪生子在它死后继承其优良品质。但是这位主人知道,密斯的克隆体不一定能有与它一样的脾气秉性。在一份用途声明中,密斯的主人和农业机械大学的团队表示,他们“共同期待能研究密斯的克隆体与它本身的差异之处。”

  用于实验的狗的命运将由威斯苏森教授的工作来决定。他知道即使有一只狗能成功怀孕,它的后代,如果能幸存下来,一出生就要面对其他克隆动物所面临的问题:像肺部和心脏发育不全造成的畸形以及体重问题等等。威斯苏森教授质问道,“在我们克隆动物的研究还没有接近成功时,为什么还想到要克隆人呢?”

  答案解析请见第二页: