Question

A new report said scientists may not be far from giving apes the ability to think and talk like humans. The report is about experiments which transplant human cells into animals for medical purposes.

It claimed that concerns about the creation of talking apes should be taken seriously. It should also draw people’s attention to the possibility that the medical research about creating “humanised” animals is going to generate monsters.

A regulatory（监管的）body is needed to closely monitor any experiments that many risk creating animals with human-like consciousness or giving them any appearance or behavioural traits that too closely resemble humans, the report said.

Scientists would, for example, be prevented from replacing a large number of an ape’s brain cells with human brain cells until more is known about the potential risks. This has already been done in simpler animals like mice, which is judged to be less risky.

Under the new UK guidelines, the power to regulate tests on animals containing human material would be transferred to a body with wider responsibility for animal testing in the Home Office.

While there is no risk from experiments currently being carried out in Britain, it is possible that ethical (道德的) boundaries could be crossed within the next few years if scientists are not careful, the experts said.

Professor Thomas Baldwin, a member of the Academy of Medical Sciences working group that produced the report, said the possibility of humanised apes should be taken seriously.

He said, “The fear is that if you start putting very large numbers of human brain cells into the brains of primates（灵长类动物）you might transform the primates into something that has some of the abilities that we regard as distinctly human, such as speech, or other ways of being able to manipulate or relate to us.”

Professor Martin Bobrow, chair of the academy working group that produced the report, said, “The very great majority of experiments present no issues beyond the general use of animals in research and these should continue to proceed under the current regulations.”

Lord Willis, chair of the Association of Medical Research Charities, said, “AMRC only supports research that is absolutely necessary and where no suitable alternative methods are available.”

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A．Ethical rules to limit humanised animals.

B．The potential results of humanised apes.

C．The possibility of humanised animals.

D．The danger of human-like animals.

2.The underlined word “manipulate” in the passage probably means “_______”.

A．appeal            B．possess           C．control           D．associate

3.Which of the following statements might Professor Thomas Baldwin agree with?

A．It is necessary to do some experiments about humanised animals.

B．Experiments about humanised animals should be done within the law.

C．It would be dangerous to do experiments about humanised animals.

D．It is urgent to ban experiment about humanised animals.

4.It can be inferred that _______.

A．people should be careful when creating talking apes

B．Thomas Baldwin and Lord Willis are from the same organization

C．creating humanised animals is difficult in Britain now

D．scientists must be cautious not to cross ethical boundaries

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.A

2.C

3.C

4.D

【解析】

试题分析：这篇文章报道了不久的将来，科学家会给猿类思考和说话的能力。

1.A。通读文章可知，作者在强调了humanised animals可能超越人类道德底线，并在文章后半部分通过专家的观点指出要通过现行的建立在道德底线基础上的规章制度来约束。

2.C。划线单词段落强调该行为所带来的不良后果即控制（control）人类或产生紧密关系。

3.C。根据文章倒数第三段内容可知。

4.D。从全文可知creating humanised animals 现在不存在技术问题只是会超越伦理底线，故排除AC。

考点：新闻报道类短文阅读理解

点评：要想答好题目，重在理解全文意思。这篇文章比较难，先看问题，再带着问题读短文，找出各段落的主旨句，理解全文内容，总结全文中心，然后再回到问题上来，很容易选出正确答案。多了解一些常识性知识有利于阅读理解。如果对文章的相关背景有所了解，读起文章一定既省时又省力。因此，在学习过程中，了解各方面的背景知识是十分重要的。