“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�餾 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�餽e 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

　試題精解

　　6.威斯蘇森先生認為克隆是危險的，因為_____。

　　[A] 實驗中的動物被折磨至死 [B] 公眾表達了強烈的不滿

　　[C] 實驗浪費了很多生命 [D] 克隆成為僅僅追求利益的行為

　　[精解] 答案C本題考查因果細節。根據題干定位到第二段末“Cloning... also dangerous”。其上文即該段倒數第二句中，威斯蘇森先生指出，在貓或牛的克隆試驗中，對動物卵的浪費以及許多動物的自然性流產都可以接受，但是克隆人就不行。因此可知，[C]是“危險”的真正含義。[A]中torture(折磨)一詞無從推知;[B]項文中未提及;第三段首句雖然提到，狗的克隆有很大的商機，但不能由此推出[D]正確。

　　7.克隆密斯項目面臨的問題是什么?

　　[A] 客戶對它持懷疑態度。 [B] 沒有足夠的資金支持這項研究。

　　[C] 狗的主人不愿意透漏信息。[D] 狗的克隆是一個生物難題。

　　[精解] 答案D本題考查事實細節。題干中the Missyplicity project指克隆一只名叫密斯的狗的項目。第一段倒數第二句指出，克隆密斯可能成功也可能失敗。該段最后一句解釋其原因是：狗的生殖系統似乎是現代科學中一個神秘的領域。因此[D]為正確項。

　　第三段首句提到，克隆狗是一個商機，能帶來豐厚的科研報酬。該段第三句又提到，對于像密斯的主人這樣的消費者來說，高額的花銷并不是什么障礙。由此可知，[B]不是項目存在的問題。[C]屬于答非所問，第三段第三句提到，密斯的主人希望匿名以保護自己的隱私。但這對項目本身并不造成任何影響。[A]無從推知。

　　8.下面哪一項是關于動物克隆的正確說法?

　　[A] 很少有私人克隆公司能夠承擔。 [B] 很少有人意識到它的意義。

　　[C] 可以制造出與貓或牛一模一樣的復制品。[D] 它正成為一個欣欣向榮的產業。

　　[精解] 答案D本題考查事實細節。第三段首句提到，克隆狗是能帶來豐厚科研報酬的商機。下文無論是提到動醫學院頻繁接到的電話，還是舉出一擲千金想克隆愛犬的富人的例子都是為了說明首句的觀點。因此[D]正確。

　　第三段最后兩句提到，密斯(狗)的克隆體與它本身存在差異之處。至于貓和牛的情況如何，文中沒有涉及，排除[C]。[A]和[B]在文中也沒有提及。

　　9.從文中我們可以推知_______。

　　[A] 威斯蘇森很快將克隆出一只狗[B] 科學家對克隆人持悲觀態度

　　[C] 人類的生殖系統還沒有被了解[D] 富有的人只對克隆動物感興趣

　　[精解] 答案B本題考查推理。文章一開始就引用專家威斯蘇森的話，指出克隆人是愚蠢的嘗試。第二段最后兩句提到，克隆實驗的低效性和危險性在克隆人中不可接受。文章末尾再次引用該專家的話，指出現在動物的研究還沒成功，沒有必要想到克隆人。由此可見以威斯蘇森為代表的科學家對克隆人是持悲觀態度的。[B]為正確項。

　　第一段最后兩句提到，威斯蘇森和他的團隊可能會在年底成功克隆出密斯，也可能再過五年都不會成功。因此狗的克隆的成功是尚未確定的事情，排除[A]。第一段末句提到，狗的生殖系統是現代科學中神秘的領域。“人的生殖系統”在文中沒有涉及，[C]無從推知。文中只提到一位富人有意克隆他的狗，但沒有指出富人對克隆人不感興趣，排除[D]。

　　10.威斯蘇森先生似乎認為克隆________。

　　[A] 是愚蠢的，應該被放棄[B] 已經接近成功

　　[C] 應該謹慎對待 [D] 現在正處于進退維谷的境地

　　[精解] 答案C本題考查文中人物觀點。注意題干問的是“克隆”，它包括了克隆人和克隆動物兩個方面。第二段末句中，威斯蘇森先生強調了克隆的低效性和危險性;文末他又指出，克隆動物的研究還沒有接近成功時，更別提克隆人。因此，[C]概括了他對于克隆的整體態度。

　　文章第二句出現的a stupid endeavor是威斯蘇森先生對克隆人的看法，不包括克隆動物，因此排除[A]。[B]與文章末句not yet close to getting it worked out相矛盾。從第二段倒數第二句可知，威斯蘇森先生對于克隆動物是默許的，并不認為克隆處于進退維谷的境地，排除[D]。