单选题 Novel approaches to baby making seem to be coming at us so fast that we hardly have time to digest one before the next one hits — test-tube babies, egg donation, surrogacy, cloning and now sex selection. And just as with earlier methods, the new sperm-separation technique announced last week has triggered plenty of ethical concern. Only a few critics have argued that tampering with nature to avoid a sex-linked genetic disease should be taboo. But plenty have expressed misgivings about using the new technology more casually, to balance families, or simply because parents prefer boys or girls. Such choices, critics say, could lead to an imbalance in the sex ratio, with drastic consequences for society.
These arguments are not very persuasive. In some developing countries where boys are more highly valued than girls, sex selection is already standard practice, accomplished by means of infanticide of amniocentesis and abortion. The new sperm-separation technique makes it easier for more people to practice sex selection in these countries.
This could skew the already tilting sex ratio even further in favor of boys. In the short term, such demographic shifts could cause enormous societal problems as men, for example, find it increasingly difficult to find women to marry. In the long term, however, both evolutionary and economic theories tell us that as girls become scarcer, they will become more highly valued, perhaps to the point at which more people will select for girls than against them.
In America and other Western countries there seems to be little chance of the sexes going far out of balance at all. Polls show that a majority of Americans view a perfect family as having one boy and one girl. If everyone used sex selection to achieve perfection, the result would be perfect balance. Of course, some prospective parents do prefer children of one sex or the other. But such preferences would presumably balance out as well.
Regarding the argument that choosing gender goes against nature: the same objection was used in earlier times by people horrified by vaccines or heart transplants, which are now completely acceptable. Every time we use medicine to cure a disease or prevent a death, we go against nature willingly. Admittedly, sex selection for family balancing cures no disease. In fact, though, no form of baby making solves a medical problem. Sex selection, moreover, is medically benign in comparison with most reproductive technologies. No surgery is involved, and the entire process can theoretically be performed without a physician. Children born through this process can't distinguish from other children.
For these reasons, I suspect that as sex selection and other reproductive technologies become more efficient and less costly, they may be embraced by American families of even modest means who ask themselves, why not? What was once unimaginable could become routine and the link between the sex act and reproduction will no longer be seen as sacred. Ultimately, this may prove to be the real significance of sex selection: by breaching a powerful psychological barrier, it will pave the way for true designer babies, who could really turn society upside down.

单选题 Which of the following is not a worry to many people about new ways of baby making?
A. Sex selection goes against nature.
B. Choosing gender leads to an imbalance in the sex ratio.
C. Preference of a boy over a girl will be terrible for society.
D. It is impossible to avoid a sex-linked genetic disease.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】细节题。短文第一段在提出话题、说明the new sperm-separation technique...has triggered plenty of ethical concern(上周宣布的精子分离技术引发了广泛的伦理顾虑)后，紧接着指出：Only a few critics have argued...should be a taboo(只有一部分批评者认为，应当禁止这一为了避免与性别有关的遗传疾病而干预自然的行为)，并说更多的人只是担心这一新技术会被随意使用(目的是为了让家庭平衡或只是冈为父母偏爱男孩或者女孩)，而批评者认为这样的选择会导致男女比例失衡，并造成严重的社会后果。将选项与原文一一对照可知，人们担心“性别选择有违自然”([A])、“选择性别会导致男女比例失衡”([B])、“重男轻女对社会来说很不好”([C])，只有[D]项“不可能避免与性别相关的遗传疾病”不属于其担忧的范围，故该项就是正确答案。

单选题 According to the writer, in some developing countries sex selection ______.
A. is illegal by means of infanticide of amniocentesis and abortion
B. would result in more difficult statistical survey of population
C. would be likely to keep balance of the sexes in the end
D. would meet people's need for sex discrimination

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】分析推理题。短文第二至四段分析了发展中国家在性别选择这一问题上的情况。由第二段和第三段第一句来看，很容易得出作者是在批评发展中国家允许进行性别选择的这一做法。然而，在第三段后半部分(In the long term，however...)和第四段，作者表达的意思却正好相反。他认为，现在的性别选择会使得将来女性越来越少，而这会让人们开始重视女性，并且开始选择生女孩。所以，作者实际上是认为，尽管发展中国家的做法从目前来看不好，但从长远来看，最终是可能让男女性别比例平衡的，故本题答案是[C]。其余三项都与原文不符，都有部分内容属于文中未提及的信息。

单选题 Which of the following statements is true?
A. The sexes go far out of balance in Western countries.
B. Perfect balance would not be achieved in view of an American perfect family.
C. Evolutionary and economic theories both predict balance of sex ratio in the long run.
D. It is high time for us to prevent sex selection from becoming routine.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】细节题。本题属于正误判断题，因此应在理解选项意思的基础上将选项与原文一一进行对照。[A]项说“西方国家中男女比例严重失衡”，在文中并未提及，也无法由原文推知；[B]项指“考虑到美国的完美家庭，完美的平衡是达不到的”，这与第四段第三句的意思正好相反；[C]项指“进化理论和经济理论都表明没有性别比例失衡的迹象”，这与第三段最后一句的意思基本相近，可由该句推知，因而是正确的；[D]项指“我们应当防止性别选择变成常规性的行为”，这属于抓住最后一段第二句中routine一词而设置的选项，与原文没有关系。

单选题 The writer's reasons for choosing gender show that ______.
A. it is natural for people to object even if it is better than other reproductive technologies
B. it is easy for people to practice sex selection with no surgery and a physician involved
C. vaccines or heart transplants which once horrified people are now completely acceptable
D. even poor people may accept it because they will have cleverer children through the process of sex selection

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】细节题。对应的信息位于第五段倒数第二句：No surgery is involved...without a physician(不用做手术，整个过程从理论上来说并不需要医生就可完成)。这正是作者在前一句称“性别选择从医学上来说要好于其他大多数生殖技术”的原因。其余三项都与原文中相应之处的意思不符。

单选题 The writer's main point in writing this article is ______.
A. we should pave the way for the designer baby
B. picking a baby's sex may lead to disaster
C. there's much objection to new approaches to baby making
D. people often like to have children of one sex or the other

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】主旨题。本题有一定的难度．稍有不慎即会误选。由上述各题的分析来看，考生很容易得出作者支持性别选择技术这一结论。其实不然。从文体结构来看，尤其是根据第二段第一句(These arguments are not very persuasive)可知，作者实际上是在驳斥别人的观点，故他列举的理由都只是为了驳斥这些观点属于舍本逐末，没有抓住ethical这一核心。而作者自己的观点在短文最后一段才提出来：Ultimately, this may prove to be...who could really turn society upside down(最终，这也许会证明性别选择真正的重要意义：通过突破强大的心理障碍，性别选择会为真正的、会将社会完全颠覆的“设计婴儿”铺平道路)。不难看出作者此处的反讽意味，因此作者实际上是反对性别选择技术的，认为选择婴儿性别、炮制“设计婴儿”会颠覆社会，这显然是一种灾难性的后果，因此本题答案就是[B]。