单选题
Paolo Fril, chairman and scientific officer of
GeneDupe, based in San Melito, California, is a man with a dream. The dream is a
dragon in every home. GeneDupe's business is biotech pets. Not
for Dr. Fill, though, the cloning of dead cats and dogs. He plans a range of
entirely new animals—or, rather, of really quite old animals, with the twist
that when they did exist, it was only in the imagination.
Making a mythical creature real is not easy. But GeneDupe's team of biologists
and computer scientists reckon they are equal to the task. Their secret is a new
field, which they call "virtual cell biology". Biology and
computing have a lot in common, since both are about processing information—in
one case electronic; in the other, biochemical. Virtual cell biology aspires to
make a software model of a cell that is accurate in every biochemical detail.
That is possible because all animal cells use the same parts list—mitochondria
for energy processing, the endoplasmic reticulum for making proteins, Golgi body
for protein assembly, and so on. Armed with their virtual cell,
GeneDupe's scientists can customize the result so that it belongs to a
particular species, by loading it with a virtual copy of that animal's genome.
Then, if the cell is also loaded with the right virtual molecules, it will
behave like a fertilized egg, and start dividing and developing—first into
embryo, and ultimately into an adult. Because this "growth" is
going on in a computer, it happens fast. Passing from egg to adult in one of
GeneDupe's enormous Mythmaker computers takes less than a minute. And it is here
that Charles Darwin gets a look in. With such a short generation time,
GeneDupe's scientists can add a little evolution to their products.
Each computer starts with a search image (dragon, unicorn, griffin, etc),
and the genome of the real animal most closely resembling it (a lizard for the
dragon, a horse for the unicorn and most taxingly, the spliced genomes of a lion
and an eagle for the griffin). The virtual genomes of these real animals are
then tweaked by random electronic mutations. When they have matured, the virtual
adults most closely resembling the targets are picked and cross-bred, while the
others are culled. Using this rapid evolutionary process,
GeneDupe's scientists have arrived at genomes for a range of mythological
creatures—in a computer, at least. The next stage, on which they are just
embarking, is to do it for real. This involves synthesizing,
with actual DNA, the genetic material that the computer models predict will
produce the mythical creatures. The synthetic DNA is then inserted into a cell
that has had its natural nucleus removed. The result, Dr. Fill and his
commercial backers hope, will be a real live dragon, unicorn or what you have.
Dr. Fril is confident about his new idea. Indeed, if be can get the dragon's
respiration correct, he thinks they will set the world on fire.
单选题
Dr. Fril's new ambition is to clone
A.pets in general.
B.rare animals.
C.prehistoric animals.
D.imaginary animals.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。题目问的是“福瑞尔博士的新想法是克隆______。”根据第二段的最后一句“He plans a range of entirely new animals—or, rather, of really quite old animals, with the twist that when they did exist, it was only in the imagination.”可知，他的计划是克隆出一系列全新的动物，或者更确切的说，一系列非常古老的动物和那些只存在人们想象中的生物。故选D。
单选题
Now GeneDupe's scientists are trying to find out
A.the existence of mythical animals.
B.the causes for the extinction of some animals.
C.the similarities between biology and computing.
D.the possibilities of creating mythical creatures.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。题目问的是“现在基因复制公司的科学家们正在试着找出______。”根据第八段的“GeneDupe's scientists have arrived at genomes for a range of mythological creatures—in a computer, at least. The next stage, on which they are just embarking, is to do it for real.”可知，基因复制公司的科学家们至少已经在计算机中完成了一系列神话生物的基因组，下一步，也是他们刚刚着手的工作，就是把这些生物变成现实。A选项和B选项文中没有提及，C选项出现在第四段“Biology and computing have a lot in common, since both are about processing information—in one case electronic; in the other, biochemical.”但这里只是提及有相同点，科学家们并没有对此进行研究。故选D。
单选题
The research is based on
A.general genetic engineering theory.
B.the development of computing technology.
C.the theory of cross-breeding of different species.
D.animals' biochemical information processing.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。题目问的是“这项调查是建立在______的基础上的。”由第三段“Their secret is a new field, which they call 'virtual cell biology'.”可知，他们的秘密足虚拟细胞生物学。根据第四段的“Biology and computing have a lot in common, since both are about processing information—rmin one case electronic; in the other, biochemical. Virtual cell biology aspires to make a software model of a cell that is accurate in every biochemical detail.”可知，生物学是处理生化信息的，而虚拟细胞生物学旨在完成一个细胞的软件模型——这个模型的每一个生化信息都必须非常精确。故选D。
单选题
The team has chosen a lizard for the dragon as they think these
creatures
A.have the same genome.
B.have similar appearances.
C.belong to the same species.
D.possess the same genetic structure.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。题目问的是“这个团队为龙选择蜥蜴是因为这些生物______。”根据第七段的“Each computer starts with a search image (dragon, unicorn, griffin, etc), and the genome of the real animal most closely resembling it (a lizard for the dragon, a horse for the unicorn and most taxingly, the spliced genomes of a lion and all eagle for the griffin).”可知，每台计算机开始于搜索形象(龙)和与这种形象最相似的真实动物的基因组(与龙相似的蜥蜴)。故选B。
单选题
Dr. Fril and his team think they will succeed
A.with the advancement of computer sciences.
B.as they have worked out genomes by computer.
C.when they find the actual DNA.
D.if they get enough commercial backers.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。题目问的是“福瑞尔博士和他的团队认为他们将会成功______。”根据第八段“Using this rapid evolutionary process, GeneDupe's scientists have arrived at genomes for a range of mythological creatures—in a computer, at least. The next stage, on which they are just embarking, is to do it for real.”可知，通过这种快速进化过程，基因复制公司的科学家们至少已经在计算机中完成了一系列神话生物的基因组，下一步，也是他们刚刚着手的工作，就是把它们变成现实。由最后一段的“This involves synthesizing, with actual DNA, the genetic material that the computer models predict will produce the mythical creatures.”和“Dr. Fril is confident about his new idea. Indeed, if he Call get the dragon's respiration correct, he thinks they will set the world on fire.”可知，这涉及到实际DNA和计算机模型预测会产生神话生物的遗传物质的合成，如果取得实际DNA，他们就可以取得成功。B选项是他们已在计算机上完成基因组，并不能完全符合合成的要求。故选C。