WHEN John Gurdon was 15, he ranked last out of the 250 boys in his grade at biology. He also came in last for every other science subject. His teacher wrote in a 16 : “I believe he has ideas about becoming a 17 ; on his present showing this is quite foolish.”
Luckily, the teacher’s words didn’t 18 Gurdon’s love for science. He kept working hard. He went to lab earlier and left 19 than anyone else.
On Oct 8, 2012, 64 years later, the British professor 20 the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka had contributed to the research and therefore 21 the award.
Gurdon got the honor 22 his research into cells and cloning. When he was studying at Oxford, he did some 23 on cells. He took a cell from an adult frog, moved its 24 , and put them into an egg cell. The egg cell then 25 into a clone of the adult frog. His research 26 for the first time that every cell in the body contains the same genes.
At that time, many people 27 accept Gurdon’s idea. But later it helped to 28 Dolly the sheep in 1996, the first cloned mammal in history. It also led to important findings in the 29 use of cells. For example, 30 from someone’s skin can turn into any type of tissue in the body. This is good news for those 31 who have diseased or damaged tissue.
Gurdon always remembers the 32 he had when he was 15. He even put the report on his desk as a daily 33 to himself.
“When you have 34 , like an experiment doesn’t work, it’s nice to remind yourself that perhaps you are not so good at your job and the teacher may be 35 ,” he said.
However, the facts suggest Gurdon is pretty good indeed.
16.A. report | B. letter | C. passage | D. program |
17.A. musician | B. scientist | C. manager | D. millionaire |
18.A. stop | B. mean | C. inspire | D. reflect |
19.A. sooner | B. later | C. more hurriedly | D. more happily |
20.A. won | B. founded | C. dreamed of | D. applied for |
21.A. accepted | B. refused | C. collected | D. shared |
22.A. instead of | B. in spite of | C. because of | D. in place of |
23.A. reading | B. writing | C. change | D. research |
24.A. baby | B. power | C. genes | D. features |
25.A. cut | B. grew | C. went | D. formed |
26.A. predicted | B. studied | C. proved | D. provided |
27.A. couldn’t | B. shouldn’t | C. mustn’t | D. needn’t |
28.A. save | B. drive | C. feed | D. create |
29.A. everyday | B. medical | C. physical | D. illegal |
30.A. cells | B. hairs | C. water | D. blood |
31.A. fools | B. scientists | C. patients | D. doctors |
32.A. friend | B. teacher | C. classmate | D. neighbor |
33.A. rule | B. paper | C. reminder | D. reward |
34.A. prizes | B. diseases | C. meals | D. problems |
35.A. right | B. wrong | C. happy | D. welcome |