As if there weren’t enough of them in the world already, scientists have succeeded in cloning flies. The alike fruit flies are the first insects ever cloned, says the Canadian team that created them. The question everyone asks is why anyone would want to clone flies in the first place. She hopes that the insects , which are very easy to experiment with , will help to adjust the cloning process in other animals and even in humans, where the technique is being researched to aid production of therapeutic (治疗的) stem cells.

In cloning, the DNA-containing nucleus of an adult cell is injected into an egg whose own nucleus(细胞核) has been removed. At the moment, the majority of cloned mice, sheep and other animals die before birth. It is thought this is because the adult DNA is not properly ‘reprogrammed’.

Using flies, researchers might discover genes that are important for this reprogramming, and that have matches in other animals. That is because it is relatively easy in flies to knock out the function of a single gene and then attempt cloning with these cells, which will test whether that gene is important. If such genes are confirmed, then in theory cloned mammalian embryos(晶胚) might be grown in selected solutions that change the activity of those genes to improve the technique’s success rate. Although some groups have attempted to clone insects before, Lloyd says this is the first time it has been successful. The team used a slight difference on the standard cloning process: they transferred nuclei taken from embryos rather than fully-grown adult cells. They sucked several nuclei (pl)out of developing fly embryos, and injected them into a fertilized(已受精的) fly egg. From over 800 early attempts, they cloned five adult insects, the group reports in the journal Genetics.

1.The best title of this passage probably is _______.

    A．The importance of clone

    B．First insects are cloned

    C．The disagreement in clone

    D．The advantages of clone

2.The scientists cloned flies because________.

   A．there are fewer and fewer flies in the world 

    B．flies are easy to find and cheap to use

   C．they can gain some experience before cloning other animals

    D．it is safe to clone flies

3.The failure of most cloned animals is due to _______.

   A．the difference of other animals’ genes

   B．the improper technique of clone

   C．the complex of other animals

   D．the improper rearrange of the adult gene

4.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ______.

   A．the clone of insects before used grown-up cells

    B．the clone of insects were never experimented before  

    C．this time scientists cloned flies successfully and easily

   D．based on this success, other animals will be cloned in large quantities.

     Fastest Time to Run 100 Miles on a Treadmill (跑步机)              BROKEN

           The fastest time to run 100 miles on a treadmill by a team (of 12) is claimed at 9hr 5 min 17 sec by a team consisting of staff and prisoners at the Young Offenders Institute in Wigan to raise money for Children in Need.   

     Largest Game of Chinese Whispers                             UNBROKEN

           Sadly, the record attempt for the largest game of Chinese Whispers was unsuccessful on 13 November 2008. The existing record of 1330 children still remains.                                         

     Fastest Mile with an Egg/Spoon in both hands                     BROKEN

           The fastest mile egg and spoon race with both hands is 8 min 25 sec and was achieved by Ashrita Furman (USA) in an attempt broadcast by ESPN 260, at Disney’s Wide World of Sports, in Orlando, Florida, USA, on 13 November 2008.   

    Longest Mexican Wave                                      UNBROKEN

           The record for the Longest Mexican Wave was attempted by 250,000 people on the streets of Adelaide on 8 November 2008 – sadly, the wave was not completed by all participants and the attempt was unsuccessful. The current record of 157, 574 remains.            

      Largest Kebab (烤肉串)                                      BROKEN

           The longest kebab measures 2047.47 m (1.27 miles) and was achieved by the ArcelorMittal Newcastle Works on occasion of the company’s annual Community Day, in Newcastle, South Africa.                 

1.The above information is _________.

A．a series of sports events

B．a list of broken and unbroken records

C．a report of funny sports items

D．a description of challenging human limits

2.Which of the following can NOT be found in the information?

A．The countries where the attempts were made.

B．The persons who made the attempts.

C．The reasons why some attempts failed.

D．The present record for each item.

3.Which item was attempted individually?

A．Fastest Time to Run 100 Miles on a Treadmill

B．Largest Game of Chinese Whispers

C．Fastest Mile with an Egg/Spoon in both hands

D．Longest Mexican Wave

As if there weren’t enough of them in the world already, scientists have succeeded in cloning flies. The alike fruit flies are the first insects ever cloned, says the Canadian team that created them. The question everyone asks is why anyone would want to clone flies in the first place. She hopes that the insects , which are very easy to experiment with , will help to adjust the cloning process in other animals and even in humans, where the technique is being researched to aid production of therapeutic (治疗的) stem cells.
In cloning, the DNA-containing nucleus of an adult cell is injected into an egg whose own nucleus(细胞核) has been removed. At the moment, the majority of cloned mice, sheep and other animals die before birth. It is thought this is because the adult DNA is not properly ‘reprogrammed’.
Using flies, researchers might discover genes that are important for this reprogramming, and that have matches in other animals. That is because it is relatively easy in flies to knock out the function of a single gene and then attempt cloning with these cells, which will test whether that gene is important. If such genes are confirmed, then in theory cloned mammalian embryos(晶胚) might be grown in selected solutions that change the activity of those genes to improve the technique’s success rate. Although some groups have attempted to clone insects before, Lloyd says this is the first time it has been successful. The team used a slight difference on the standard cloning process: they transferred nuclei taken from embryos rather than fully-grown adult cells. They sucked several nuclei (pl)out of developing fly embryos, and injected them into a fertilized(已受精的) fly egg. From over 800 early attempts, they cloned five adult insects, the group reports in the journal Genetics.
【小题1】The best title of this passage probably is _______.

Below is adapted from an English dictionary. Use the dictionary to answer the following questions.