单选题 Major companies are already in pursuit of commercial applications of the new biology. They dream of placing enzymes in the automobile to monitor exhaust and send data on pollution to a microprocessor that will then adjust the engine. They speak of what the New York Times calls "metal-hungry microbes that might be used to mine valuable trace metals from ocean water." They have already demanded and won the right to patent new life forms. Nervous critics, including many scientists, worry that there is corporate, national, international, and inter-scientific rivalry in the entire biotechnological field. They create images not of oil spills, but of "microbe spills" that could spread disease and destroy entire populations. The creation and accidental release of extremely poisonous microbes, however, is only one cause for alarm. Completely rational and respectable scientists are talking about possibilities that stagger the imagination. Should we breed people with cow-like stomachs so they can digest grass and hay, thereby relieving the food problem by modifying us to eat lower down on the food chain? Should we biologically alter workers to fit the job requirement, for example, creating pilots with faster reaction times or assembly-line workers designed to do our monotonous work for us? Should we attempt to eliminate "inferior" people and breed a "super-race"? (Hitler tried this, but without the genetic weaponry that may soon issue from our laboratories.) Should we produce soldiers to do our fighting? Should we use genetic forecasting to pre-eliminate "unfit" babies? Should we grow reserve organs for ourselves, each of us having, as it were, a "savings bank" full of spare kidney, livers, or hands? Wild as these notions may sound, everyone has its advocates (and opposers) in the scientific community as well as its striking commercial applications. As two critics of genetic engineering, Jeremy Rifkin and Ted Howard, state in their book Who Should Play God? "Broad scale genetic engineering will probably be introduced to America much the same way as assembly lines, automobiles, vaccines, computers and all the other technologies. As each new genetic advance becomes commercially practical, a new consumer need will be exploited and a market for the new technology will be created."
单选题 According to the passage, the exhaust from a car engine could probably be checked by______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析:事实细节题。文章第一段第二句提到,“他们想在汽车里放置酶来监测废气,把污染数据传到微处理器上,从而调节发动机。”由此可知,汽车发动机排出的尾气有可能通过酶来监测。
单选题 According to the passage, which of the following would worry the critics the most?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:事实细节题。文章第二段提到,包括很多科学家在内的评论家担心新生物学的应用会引起大范围的竞争(公司之间、国家之间的竞争等),他们认为“微生物泄露”可能传播疾病,并威胁全人类,然而有毒微生物的制造和意外泄露只是引起恐慌的原因之一。由此可知,评论家们担心的是有毒微生物的意外泄露。本段中的“accidental release of extremely poisonous microbes”与[D]项中的“the unexpected release of destructive microbes”表达的意思相同。
单选题 Which of the following notions is NOT mentioned?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:事实细节题。第三段第一句提到,我们应该繁殖出胃像牛一样的人吗?由此句可知文中有提到[C]项。本段倒数第三句提到,我们应该繁殖出能够替我们去战斗的士兵吗?由此句可排除[B]项。本段最后一句提到,我们应该增加储备器官,每个人都有一个多余的肾、肺或手的“储蓄银行”吗?由此可知,文中有提及发育出器官(kidney,livers,or hands)的“储蓄银行”,故可排除[A]项。本段倒数第二句提到,我们应该运用基因预测来提前淘汰不健康的婴儿吗?[D]项中的用基因预测来治愈疾病与此句内容不符。
单选题 According to the passage, Hitler attempted to______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:推理判断题。第三段括号中提到“Hitler tried this”,故应将答案锁定在this指代的内容上。“this”指代的是上一句的内容,即我们应该消灭“劣等”人,培育“高级种族”吗?由此可知,希特勒曾经尝试过消灭“劣等”人。
单选题 What does Jeremy Rifkin and Ted Howard's statement imply?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:推理判断题。最后一段最后两句提到,杰里米.里夫金和特德.霍华德在书中说,大规模的基因工程将会像流水线、汽车、疫苗、电脑等科技一样引进美国;随着基因发展在商业上变得实用,这种技术将创造新的消费需求和新的市场。由此可推测,他们认为基因工程的商业化应用不可避免。