Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
Part A
Directions:
Read the following four texts.Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D.Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.(40 points)
Text1
“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 13yearold 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 owners 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?”
21.Which of the following best represents Mr.Westhusin’s attitude toward cloning?
[A] Animal cloning is a stupid attempt.
[B] Human cloning is not yet close to getting it worked out.
[C] Cloning is too inefficient and should be stopped.
[D] Animals cloning yes, and human cloning at least not now.
22.The Missyplicity project does not seem very successful probably because .
[A] there isn’t enough fund to support the research
[B] cloning dogs is more complicated than cloning cats and bulls
[C] Mr.Westhusin is too busy taking care of the business
[D] the owner is asking for an exact copy of his pet
23.When Mr.Westhusin says “...cloning is dangerous,” he implies that .
[A] lab technicians may be affected by chemicals
[B] cats and dogs in the lab may die of diseases
[C] experiments may waste lots of lives
[D] cloned animals could outlive the natural ones
24.We can infer from the third paragraph that .
[A] rich people are more interested in cloning humans than animals
[B] cloning of animal pets is becoming a prosperous industry
[C] there is no distinction between a cloned and a natural dog
[D] Missy’s master pays a lot in a hope to revive the dog
25.We may conclude from the text that .
[A] human cloning will not succeed unless the technique is more efficient
[B] scientists are optimistic about cloning technique
[C] many people are against the idea of human cloning
[D] cloned animals are more favored by owners even if they are weaker
Text2
With the extension of democratic rights in the first half of the nineteenth century and the ensuing decline of the Federalist establishment, a new conception of education began to emerge.Education was no longer a confirmation of a preexisting status, but an instrument in the acquisition of higher status.For a new generation of upwardly mobile students, the goal of education was not to prepare them to live comfortably in the world into which they had been born, but to teach them new virtues and skills that would propel them into a different and better world.Education became training; and the student was no longer the gentlemaninwaiting, but the journeyman apprentice for upward mobility.
In the nineteenth century a college education began to be seen as a way to get ahead in the world.The founding of the landgrant colleges opened the doors of higher education to poor but aspiring boys from nonAngloSaxon, workingclass and lowermiddleclass backgrounds.The myth of the poor boy who worked his way through college to success drew millions of poor boys to the new campuses.And with this shift, education became more vocational: its object was the acquisition of practical skills and useful information.
For the gentlemaninwaiting, virtue consisted above all in grace and style, in doing well what was appropriate to his position; education was merely a way of acquiring polish.And vice was manifested in gracelessness, awkwardness, in behaving inappropriately, discourteously, or ostentatiously.For the apprentice, however, virtue was evidenced in success through hard work.The requisite qualities of character were not grace or style, but drive, determination, and a sharp eye for opportunity.While casual liberality and even prodigality characterized the gentleman, frugality, thrift, and selfcontrol came to distinguish the new apprentice.And while the gentleman did not aspire to a higher station because his station was already high, the apprentice was continually becoming, striving, struggling upward.Failure for the apprentice meant standing still, not rising.
26.Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?
[A] Democratic ideas started with education.
[B] Federalists were opposed to education.
[C] New education helped confirm people’s social status.
[D] Old education had been in tune with hierarchical society.
27.The difference between “gentlemaninwaiting” and “journeyman” is that .
[A] education trained gentlemaninwaiting to climb higher ladders
[B] journeyman was ready to take whatever was given to him
[C] gentlemaninwaiting belonged to a fixed and high social class
[D] journeyman could do practically nothing without education
28.According to the second paragraph, landgrant college .
[A] belonged to the landowning class
[B] enlarged the scope of education
[C] was provided only to the poor
[D] benefited all but the upper class
29.Which of the following was the most important for a “gentlemaninwaiting”?
[A] Manners.[B] Education.[C] Moral.[D] Personality.
30.The best title for the passage is .
[A] Education and Progress
[B] Old and New Social Norms
[C] New Education: Opportunities for More
[D] Demerits of Hierarchical Society