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  3. " There are no shortcuts in evolution," famed Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis once said. He might have reconsidered those w

" There are no shortcuts in evolution," famed Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis once said. He might have reconsidered those w

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问题     " There are no shortcuts in evolution," famed Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis once said. He might have reconsidered those words if he could have foreseen the coming revolution in biotechnology, including the ability to alter genes and manipulate stem cells. These breakthroughs could bring on an age of directed reproduction and evolution in which humans will bypass the incremental process of natural selection and set off on a high-speed genetic course of their own. Some of the latest and greatest advances like pluripotent stem cells, gene targeting, and artificial chromosomes could leapfrog over evolution and let us take control of our genome, maybe even turn ourselves into a whole new species.
    Bioethicist John Harris of the University of Manchester, believes that achieving our potential "might require some deliberate changes" to our genes. He predicts that genetic engineering will eventually lead to what he calls "enhancement evolution. " Through the nuanced use of biotechnology, enhancement evolution will gradually introduce genes that improve the species, one person at a time. At that point, deliberate selection will replace natural selection as the driving force for species change. " We are not suited to survive designed as we are," Harris says. " We are hugely vulnerable to diseases, and new diseases come along all the time. It’s amazing we haven’t been entirely wiped out by one. "
    The first changes to the human genome, Harris believes, will happen within small test populations. This will allow us to assess the risks and benefits of the modifications and then decide how to proceed.
    Enhancement evolution has plenty of critics. Lanza, for one, is uneasy about giving parents the power to design their children’s genomes. What if a couple wants a world-class athlete in the family and provides those genes, but the child grows up wanting to play chess, he asks. And what if some of the modifications go seriously wrong? Who should have the final say on when and how the human genome should be changed?
    On the other hand, if technology can enable us to eliminate disease and disabilities from our children or insert genes that might make them smarter or better looking, why wouldn’t we use it? As DNA guru James Watson once said, " Evolution can be just damn cruel. " At least it is today. Tomorrow the responsibility for evolution may rest on our own shoulders—for better or for worse.  
It can be inferred from the first paragraph that______.
选项 A、Louis Brandeis is reconsidering his view on evolution
B、the course of evolution may speed up owing to human intervention
C、human beings may skip over any natural selection in future
D、the aim of biotechnology is to create a whole new species
答案B
解析 推断题。问题涉及第一段内容，要求深层理解作者对生物技术和遗传进化学发展状况的陈述。根据原文所述an age of directed reproduction and evolution…humans will bypass the incremental process ofnatural selection and set off on a high一speed genetic course of their own…，所谓的directed就是人为介入繁衍和进化过程，再依据bypass和high-speed两词可以看出，人为介入将加快进化的进程。因此，[B]项所述符合题意。[A]项曲解了原文中的He might have reconsidered those words，该句使用虚拟语气，表示这种陈述与现实相反，故排除[A]。[C]项的破题关键在于in future表示“从今往后”，而原文所说都还是一种尚未实现的情况，故[C]不符合原文。[D]项与原文maybe even turn ourselves into a whole newspecies有关，但混淆了结果和目的。原文是说这种新技术发展的结果之一可能是造就一个新物种，而非其目的是创造新物种，故[D]错误。
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