考研英語閲讀理解譯文
臨近考研衝刺階段，英語閲讀不能只侷限在單詞和句型的把握。熟練掌握解題技巧，把有限的精力放在問題的解答上做到事半功倍的效果，下面是小編整理的考研英語的閲讀理解真題以及譯文和答案解析，一起來練習一下吧!
“I've never met a human worth cloning,” says cloning expert Mark Westhusin from the cramped confines of his lab at Texas A&M University. “It's a stupid endeavor.” That's an interesting choice of adjective, coming from a man who has spent millions of dollars trying to clone a 13-year-old dog named Missy. So far, he and his team have not succeeded, though they have cloned two calves and expect to clone a cat soon. They just might succeed in cloning Missy later this year—or perhaps not for another five years. It seems the reproductive system of man's best friend is one of the mysteries of modern science.
Westhusin's experience with cloning animals leaves him vexed by all this talk of human cloning. In three years of work on the Missyplicity project, using hundreds upon hundreds of canine eggs, the A&M team has produced only a dozen or so embryos carrying Missy's DNA. None have survived the transfer to a surrogate mother. The wastage of eggs and the many spontaneously aborted fetuses may be acceptable when you're dealing with cats or bulls, he argues, but not with humans. “Cloning is incredibly inefficient, and also dangerous,” he says.
Even so, dog cloning is a commercial opportunity, with a nice research payoff. Ever since Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1997, Westhusin's phone at A&M College of Veterinary Medicine has been ringing busily. Cost is no obstacle for customers like Missy's mysterious owner, who wishes to remain unknown to protect his privacy. He's plopped down $3.7 million so far to fund the research because he wants a twin to carry on Missy?s fine qualities after she dies. But he knows her clone may not have her temperament. In a statement of purpose, Missy's owner and the A&M team say they are “both looking forward to studying the ways that her clone differs from Missy.”
The fate of the dog samples will depend on Westhusin's work. He knows that even if he gets a dog viably pregnant, the offspring, should they survive, will face the problems shown at birth by other cloned animals: abnormalities like immature lungs and heart and weight problems. “Why would you ever want to clone humans,” Westhusin asks, “when we?re not even close to getting it worked out in animals yet?” [397 words]
6. Mr. Westhusin thinks cloning is dangerous because_____ .
[A] animals are tortured to death in the experiments
[B]the public has expressed strong disapproval
[C] too many lives are wasted for laboratory use
[D] cloning becomes a quest only for profit
7. What is the problem confronting the Missyplicity project?
[A] The client holds a suspicious view toward it.
[B] There is a lack of funds to support the research.
[C] The owner is unwilling to disclose the information.
[D] Cloning dogs is a difficult biological problem.
8. Which of the following is true about animal cloning?
[A]Few private cloning companies could afford it
[B]Few people have realized its significance.
[C] An exact copy of a cat or bull can be made.
[D] It is becoming a prosperous industry.
9. From the passage we can infer that _____.
[A] Mr. Westhusin is going to clone a dog soon
[B] scientists are pessimistic about human cloning
[C] human reproductive system has not been understood
[D] rich people are only interested in cloning animals
10. Mr. Westhusin seems to believe that cloning______.
[A] is stupid and should be abandoned [B] has been close to success
[C] should be taken cautiously [D] is now in a dilemma
全文翻譯
“我還沒有遇到一個值得克隆的人。” 克隆專家馬克•威斯蘇森在德克薩斯州農業機械大學空間狹小的實驗室裏説。“那是一種愚蠢的嘗試。”有趣的是，這種用來形容克隆人的言辭竟然來自一位已花費數百萬美金試圖克隆一隻13歲的名叫密斯的狗的人。到目前為止，他和他的團隊還沒有獲得成功，儘管他們已經克隆出了兩隻牛並且正計劃在短期內克隆出一隻貓。他們可能會在年底成功克隆出密斯，也可能再過五年都不會成功。人類最親密的朋友——狗的生殖系統似乎是現代科學中一個神祕的領域。
威斯蘇森克隆動物的經驗使他對克隆人的種種説法十分惱火。在研究“克隆密斯項目”的三年時間裏，農業機械大學的團隊使用了成百上千只犬科動物的卵，卻僅僅獲得了一打左右的帶有密斯基因的胚胎，並且沒有一個在被轉移至克隆母體時存活下來。威斯蘇森教授爭辯道，在研究貓或牛的克隆試驗中，對動物卵的浪費以及許多動物的自然性流產都是可以為人們所接受的，但是對於研究人來説就不行。他表示説，“克隆是十分低效的，而且也相當危險。”
儘管如此，克隆狗仍是一個商機，能帶來豐厚的科研報酬。自從1997年多利羊克隆成功後，威斯蘇森教授在農業機械大學獸醫學院的電話就頻頻響起。對於像密斯的神祕主人這樣的消費者來説，高額的花銷並不是什麼難題，他只是希望匿名以保護自己的隱私。到目前為止，他已經投入了370萬美金來資助這項研究，因為他想要一個密斯的孿生子在它死後繼承其優良品質。但是這位主人知道，密斯的克隆體不一定能有與它一樣的脾氣秉性。在一份用途聲明中，密斯的主人和農業機械大學的團隊表示，他們“共同期待能研究密斯的克隆體與它本身的差異之處。”
用於實驗的狗的命運將由威斯蘇森教授的工作來決定。他知道即使有一隻狗能成功懷孕，它的後代，如果能倖存下來，一出生就要面對其他克隆動物所面臨的問題：像肺部和心臟發育不全造成的畸形以及體重問題等等。威斯蘇森教授質問道，“在我們克隆動物的研究還沒有接近成功時，為什麼還想到要克隆人呢?”
答案解析請見第二頁：
