A.preciseB.nobleC.newD.fundamental
A. precise
B. noble
C. new
D. fundamental
The Gene Industry
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 lifeforms.
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, lives 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 ______.
A. using metal-hungry microbes
B. making use of enzymes
C. adjusting the engine
D. patenting new life forms
What dose Jeremy Riflcin and Ted Howard's statement imply?
A. The commercial applications of genetic engineering are inevitable.
B. American will depend on other countries for biological progress.
C. Americans are proud of their countries for biological progress.
D. The potential application of each new genetic advance should be controlled.
Common-cold Sense
You can't beat it, but you don't have to join it. Maybe it got the name "common cold" because it's more common in winter. The fact is, though, being cold doesn't have anything to do with getting one. Colds are caused by the spread of rhinoviruses, and, at least so far, medical science is better at telling you how to avoid getting one than how to get rid of one.
Children are the most common way cold viruses are spread to adults, because they have more colds than adults — an average of about eight per year. Why do kids seem so much more easily to get colds than their parents? Simple. They haven't had the oppommity to become immune to many cold viruses.
There are more than 150 different cold viruses, and you never have the same One twice. Being infected by one makes you immune to it — but only it.
Colds are usually spread by direct contact, not sneezing or coughing. From another person' s hand to your hand and then to your nose or eyes is the most common route. The highest concentration of cold viruses anywhere is found under the thumbnails of a boy, although the viruses can survive for hours on skin or other sm6oth surfaces.
Hygiene is your best defense. Wash your hands frequently, preferably with a disinfectant soap, especially when children in your household have colds.
But even careful hygiene won't ward off every cold. So, what works when a coughing,sneezing,
runny nose strikes?
The old prescription of two aspirins, lots of water, and bed rest is a good place to start. But you'll also find some of the folk remedies.., worth Wing. Hot mixtures of sugar (or honey), lemon, and water have real benefits.
rhinovirus n. 鼻病毒
immune adj. 免疫的,有免疫力的
disinfectant n.消毒剂,杀菌剂
prescription n. (1)诀窍 (2)处方,药方
sneeze vi.打喷嚏
thumbnail n.拇指甲
Accordingtothe essay, you may have a cold because ______.
A. the weather is too cold
B. the spread of rhinovimses gets people infected
C. another person's coughing passes the cold to you
D. you wash your hands too often