Unit 3 A healthy life language points课时作业

Ⅰ. 阅读理解

A recent announcement by scientists that they have successfully cloned the first human embryo has caused much debate and has shocked many people around the world. On the one hand，some scientists point out that if you clone an embryo，you can produce valuable tissues(组织)and organs that could be used to save human lives. On the other hand，many people，including some scientists，disagree and fear that if mankind interferes with(干涉)nature in this way，they may be on their way to producing a real­life Frankenstein's monster.

Cloning is producing an exact copy of a plant or an animal using its cells. The first mammal to be cloned successfully from an adult cell was Dolly the sheep. She was born in 1996 and died in early 2003，at a much younger age than normal. When she was born，many people were angry because they thought cloning would create more diseases in the animal world. However，in general the scientists were praised for their wonderful scientific breakthrough.

The Scottish scientist who created Dolly，Ian Wilmut，is shocked that some scientists are now considering cloning human beings. Although he researches cloning，his intention has never been to create copies of humans. Instead，he thinks research efforts should concentrate on creating new tissues and organs that could eventually be used to cure diseases like cancer. However，some people consider that cloning human embryos with the intention of destroying them shows no respect for human life.

While cloning human embryos is illegal in many countries，some scientists are already pushing ahead with research so as to deliver a cloned human baby. Severino Antinori，an Italian doctor，is one of the leaders in this kind of research. He has declared that he wants to be the first to clone a human being.

In China，scientists have focused their efforts on cloning animals，as well as stem cells to be used in medical research. China has succeeded in producing clones of cows and goats，and continues to research ways in which cloning can benefit mankind.

【语篇解读】　本文主要论述了对科学家们成功克隆人类胚胎这一事件上存在