题目内容
The Gene Industry
Major companies and 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, every one has its advocates (and opposers) in the scientific community as well as its striking commercial application. 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."
According to the passage, the exhaust from a car engine could probably be checked by______.
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By saying that "They held their ranks together"(Para. 2), the author means that the Republicans______.
A．A music critic.B．A famous player.C．A music historian.D．A composer.
A．Because the salaries of players are low.B．Because the players are getting old.C．Beca
The banner hanging over President George W. Bush read united to victory. But as Republicans listened to Bush slog(艰难行进) through his familiar pep talk(鼓舞士气的讲话) last Thursday night, the party faithfully knew they were anything but united. Over the last year, they ejected a majority leader, quarreled over morality and spending, and openly criticized the president on Iraq, port security and a Supreme Court pick.
For five years nobody needed to explain the word "united" to Republicans; it was their biggest strength. The president handed his agenda to Congress and the party leaders delivered the votes. They twisted the arms of small-government conservatives to pass education reforms and Medicare drug benefits. They held their ranks together even as the Iraq occupation was losing supports in 2004. And they picked up seats in two election cycles. But now that company has fallen apart. Members of Congress, tired of being taken for granted by a bossy White House, have lost faith in the president's politican touch.
The stress is starting to show. Republicans are beginning to look and sound like their own caricature(漫画)of the Democrats: disorganized, off message and unsure of their identity. Fearful of defeat in November, GOP candidates are uncertain how to pull themselves together in the eight months left before the elections. The toughest question: whether to run, as they have in the past, as Bush Republicans, or to push the, president out of their campaigns. "What I've tried to tell people is that a political storm is gathering, and if we don't do something to stop it, we'll be in the minority a year from now," says Rep. Ray La Hood from Illinois. "But some people still don't get it."
The president won't have an easy time persuading Republicans to stick with him. Second-term presidents often suffer a six-year slump, losing seats for their party at this point. Bush has actually been lucky in one respect. He held his party together longer than most two-term presidents. Johnson kept control for just eight months until he suffered defeat on the issue of home rule for the District of Columbia in 1965, when Democrats took him on—and won.
Some candidates are happy to stand beside Bush, as long as nobody actually sees them together. Locked in a tight race for re-election, Sen. Mike DeWine chose not to accompany Bush on one trip to his home state of Ohio last month. A week later he attended a private fund-raiser with the president in Cincinnati—out of sight of photographers and reporters.
While listening to Bush's pep talk, the Republicans______.
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