译林版牛津高中英语(必修5):Unit3 Science and nature-Reading(1)

The perfect copy

完美复制

Scientists have announced that they have cloned the first human embryo¹. This has caused much debate round the world.

科学家发表声说，已经克隆了第一个人类胚胎。这在全球引起广泛争议。

On the one hand, some scientists point out that if you clone an embryo, you can produce valuable human tissues²—such bone or lung tissue—that could be used to save human lives.

一方面，一些科学家指出，如果克隆人类胚胎，你就可以制造出宝贵的人体组织—如骨组织或肺组织—它们可以用来挽救人类的生命。

On the other hand, many people, including some scientists, disagree and are afraid that, if mankind toys with nature in this way,

另一方面，包括一些科学家在内的许多人持不同意见，他们担心人类如果如此戏弄自然，

we may be on our way to producing a real-life Frankenstein's monster.

可能会制造出一个现实生活中的弗兰肯斯坦怪物。

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.

克隆是指利用细胞精确复制植物或动物的技术。第一个成功地用成年动物细胞克隆出的哺乳动物是多利羊。

She was born in 1996 and died in early 2003, at a much younger age than normal.

她生于1996年死于2003年，比普通羊的寿命短很多。

When she was born, many people were worried that cloning would lead to more diseases³ in the animal world.

当她出生的时候，很多人都有顾虑，认为克隆可能会给动物界带来更多的疾病。

However, in general the scientists were praised for their wonderful scientific advance.

然而，总的来说，科学家们因他们伟大的成就而被赞扬。

lan Wilmut, the Scottish scientist who created Dolly, is shocked that some scientists are now considering cloning human beings.

lan Wilmut，创造多利的苏格兰科学家，对于现在一些科学家竟然想克隆人类而感到震惊。

Although he researches cloning, his intention has never been to create copies of humans.

虽然他研究克隆，但他的意图从来不是要克隆人类。

Instead, he thinks research efforts should concentrate on creating new tissues and organs that can be used to cure diseases like cancer.

相反，他认为研究应集中在创造新组织和器官，来用于治疗如癌症类的疾病。

However, some people believe that cloning human embryos⁴ with the intention of destroying them shows no respect for human life.

然而，有些人认为怀着摧毁人类胚胎的意图来克隆人类胚胎是对人类生命的不尊重。

1 embryo   

n.胚胎，萌芽的事物

参考例句：

• They are engaging in an embryo research.他们正在进行一项胚胎研究。
• The project was barely in embryo.该计划只是个雏形。

2 tissues   

n.组织( tissue的名词复数 )；薄纸；棉纸；一套

参考例句：

• The teacher showed the students the pictures of brain tissues. 老师给学生们看脑组织的图片。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Give some face tissues to me. 给我些面巾纸。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 diseases   

n.疾病( disease的名词复数 )；弊端；恶疾；痼疾

参考例句：

• Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
• The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。

4 embryos   

n.晶胚；胚，胚胎( embryo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Somatic cells of angiosperms enter a regenerative phase and behave like embryos. 被子植物体细胞进入一个生殖阶段，而且其行为象胚。 来自辞典例句
• Evolution can explain why human embryos look like gilled fishes. 进化论能够解释为什么人类的胚胎看起来象除去了内脏的鱼一样。 来自辞典例句