the disturbing news that Dolly had become seriously ill. Cloning scientists were cast down to find that Dollys illnesses were more appropriate to a much older animal. Altogether Dolly lived 15 six and a half years. half the length of the life of the original sheep. Sadly the same arbitrary affected other species, such as cloned mice. The questions that concerned all scientists were: Would this be a major difficulty for all cloned animals? Would it happen forever? Could it be solved if corrections were made in their research procedure? On the other hand, Dollys appearance raised a storm of objections and had a great impact on 20 the media and public imagination. It became controversial. It suddenly opened everybodys eyes to the possibility of using cloning to cure serious illnesses and even to produce human beings Although at present human egg cells and embryos needed for cloning research are difficult to obtain, newspapers wrote of evil leaders hoping to clone themselves to attain their ambitions Religious leaders also raised moral questions. Governments became nervous and more 25 conservative. Some began to reform their legal systems and forbade research into human cloning but other countries like China and the UK. continued to accumulate evidence of the abundant medical aid that cloning could provide. However. scientists still wonder whether cloning will help or harm us and where it is leadi Comprehending 1 Read the passage and answer these questions. I What are the two major uses of cloning 2 Why is it easier to make commercial plant clones than animal clones 3 What was the first clone from an adult animal? At what age did this clone die") why is cloning controversial in some countries? 2 Fill in the chart using the information from the reading passage. Add one reason of your own in each column Problems or dangers of cloning Advantages of cloning 3 What do you think is the writer' s point of view in this reading passage? Is it in favour of cloning or against it? I think the writer is because 12
Unit 2 clo Learnting about Language Discovering useful words and expressions 1 Complete the sentences using suitable words from the text. The first letter of each word has been given. I In many aspects natural clones, such as identical twins, do not d greatly from man- lade ones 2 He was c down when the procedure he had used to produce a mammal clone ended in failure 3 Dust will a in a deserted house 4 Her memory is so excellent that she could remember the e names of the side roads we passed on the way. s She was not a pleased at the corrections he made to her work 6 grey decided to move to the countryside and his wife made no o to It 7 According to the constitution. it is compulsory for a citizen to u military service 8 The media has a m responsibility to report news truthfully 2 Replace the underlined parts with words that have the same meaning. Rewrite the sentence when necessary. I Compared with her family, and especially her nephew. her niece Daisy is very honest about her opinions 2 The decisions of the conservative factory leaders that had been made without any reason caused anger among the workers 3 Is the opera house in the business area of Beijing? 4 The producer of the media programme disagreed with Jennifer joining in the chorus 5 Before you can make a loaf, you need to get some flour. 6 You owe the lady an apology. I will not allow you to leave unless you apologize for what you have done 3 Complete the passage using the correct form of the words below. complicated fa attain cast accumulate reform carrier As Freddy the frog grew older, he only had one ambition left to - to continue his career forever. To do this he thought that he would have to clone himself. The doctor explained that this procedure that he should consider carefully. Shortly after Freddy did some research. he discovered the of Dolly the sheep. It seemed as if a clone was a of more weaknesses than its original. freddy was down and looked for some way to the cloning procedure to avoid this problem. Sadly this seemed impossible. So Freddy made up his mind to enjoy his singing and to as many happy experiences as he could so that when he retired he would be able to look back on his life with satisfaction 13
Discovering useful structures 1 Look at these sentences. the phrase and clause underlined are used as the appose tive. Can you find more sentences with the appositive in the reading passage? Altogether Dolly lived six and a half years, half the length of the life of the original sheep. 2 The fact that she seemed to develop normally was very encouraging. Read and translate the passage into chinese Underline the appositive phrases and clauses Dolly the sheep became a scientific breakthrough when the news that she had been born was announced in 1997. However, the problem that she later developed a serious lung disease bothered scientists On 14th February 2003 scientists made the decision that Dolly should be put to sleep Dollys death. like her birth, was bound to raise worries. The fact that dolly died when she was quite young disappointed people the world over. Scientists hold the belief that cloning may lead to many important scientific breakthroughs and medical treatments. But now the question comes to their minds, Did she die young because she was a clone? "Besides that, there is also a fierce debate over the question whether human cloning experiments should be allowed Scientists believe human cloning is just a matter of time but the assumption that human clones have already been born hasnt been proved yet 3 Complete the following sentences with appositives in your own words I I had no idea 2 We heard the news 3 John told the truth 4 Betty won a prize s Charles agreed to the regulation 6 Yesterday I was glad to get a message 7 The fact inspired all of us 8 I got the impression 4 The appositive is often used to clarify statements made by others In pairs make a dialogue. One of you will make statements and the other will clarify it using the appositive EXAMPLE: St: Did you see Lucy last night? She must have left home as she was wandering round the town ar midnight The fact that shhe was wandering round the town at midnight does not mean she had left home for good S: But she got into a taxi late at night. Perhaps she was running away!' S:: Nonsense. Didn 7 you hear the news that her mother was taken to hospital late last night? SI: Oh, I see. She must huave gone to the hospital to see hter other
Unit 2 cloning Using Language Reading, discussing and writing THE RETURN OF THE DINOSAURS? The possibility of cloning fierce and extinct wild animals has always excited film makers. And they are not the only ones The popularity of films such as Jurassic Park, in which a scientist clones several kinds of extinct dinosaurs, proves how the idea struck a mixture of fear and excitement into people's 2 hearts. But in fact we are a long way from being able to clone extinct animals. Scientists are still experimenting with cloning mammals. This is because the cloning of mammals is still a new science and its story only began seriously in the 1950s as this list shows 1950s cloning of frogs 1996 first clone of a mammal: Dolly the sheep 1970s research using the embryos of mice 2000 cow gave birth to a bison 1979 work on embryos of sheep and mice 2001 China's first cloned twin calves 1981 first experimental clones of mice 2002 first cloned cats 1983 first experimental clones of cows 2005 first cloned d From time to time people suggest that extinct animals like dinosaurs, can possibly be brought back to life through cloning. Unfortunately, with what we know now, this is either impossible or unsuitable. There are many reasons e The initial requirement is that you need perfect DNA(which gives information for how cells are to grow). All efforts of cloning an animal will be in vain if there is not enough diversity in the group to overcome illnesses. Diversity in a group means having animals with their genes arranged in different ways. The advantage is that if there is a new illness some of these animals may die but others will survive and pass on the ability to resist that disease to the next generation. The great draw back to cloning a group of animals is that they would all have the same arrangement of genes and so might die of the same illness, Then none of them would be left to continue the species e It would be unfair to clone any extinct animals if they were to live in a zoo. A suitable habitat would be needed for them to lead a natural life Based on what we know now, you cannot clone animals that have been extinct longer than 10,000 years. Actually, dinosaurs disappeared 65, 000,000 years ago. So the chance of dinosaurs ever returning to the earth is merely a dream 15
1 Read the passage and answer the questions Why shouldn ' t you clone an extinct animal unless there is enough diversity in the group? 2 Why is it wrong to clone an extinct animal if it would live in a zoo 2 What is your opinion of cloning? Give a reason 3 Now in pairs discuss which extinct animals described below(which died out less than 10,000 years ago)are worth restoring by means of cloning. Choose one animal from the table below and use the information to help you argue why this animal should be restored to the earth lay the best animal win Name and date Information when last seen Aurochs large wild cattle: long horns and hair; hair good for making into clothes (1627) horns can be used for decoration: need grasslands Dodo bird unable to fly: friendly and not harmful; large eggs and tasty meat that (1755) could be developed for food; needs hot climate Great auk very large bird that cannot fly: lives by and in the sea; feathers do not (1844) absorb water: useful for protecting clothes from water Quagga skin looks like a zebra; can be used for decoration: meat very tasty: (1883) needs warm climate 4 When you have both agreed on one animal make a list of your reasons for restoring it. Write a short report giving your reasons to persuade other people. You can use other information you acquire. Here is a list of the reasons and benefits of bringing the dodo back to life 16