Five and a half years into his presidency, George Bush finally vetoed a bill this week. Oddly enough, it was one that most Ameri

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问题     Five and a half years into his presidency, George Bush finally vetoed a bill this week. Oddly enough, it was one that most Americans support: it would have expanded federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. The House and Senate had both passed the bill by wide, but not veto-proof margins, so Mr. Bush’s word is final, at least until after the mid-term elections in November.
    Stem cells are cells that have not yet decided what they want to be when they grow up. That is, they can become blood cells, brain cells, or pretty much any other type of cell. Their versatility makes them extremely useful for medical research. The ethical snag is that the best stem cells are harvested from human embryos, killing them. For the most ardent pro-lifers, including Mr. Bush and many of his core supporters, that is murder. Proponents of embryonic stem-cell research point out that hordes of embryos are created during fertility treatment, and the vast majority of these are either frozen indefinitely or destroyed. Is it really wrong to use them for potentially life-saving research? Yes, said Mr. Bush on July 19th, flanked by some families who had "adopted" other people’s frozen embryos and used them to have children of their own.
    Mr. Bush’s veto does not kill stem-cell research. Scientists who spurn federal cash may do as they please. The government still pays for research on stem cells taken from adults, a process that does not kill the donor. And a decision by Mr. Bush in 2001 allows federally-funded scientists to experiment on the few dozen embryonic stem-cell "lines" that already existed then, which can be propagated in a laboratory.
    Nonetheless, scientists are furious with Mr. Bush. Federal funding would surely push them faster towards those elusive cures. Research based on adult stem cells may be promising, but not nearly as promising as that based on embryonic ones. There are worries that those few dozen embryonic stem-cell lines represent too narrow a gene pool, and that they cannot be endlessly extended without damaging them. Other countries, such as Britain and China, are enthusiastically experimenting on embryonic stem cells. But the world’s most innovative nation is hanging back.

选项 A、the House and Senate had not only passed the bill widely, but veto-proof margins.
B、most Americans support the bill although George Bush vetoed an opposite bill.
C、Mr. Bush’s opinion is still final after the House and Senate had passed the bill by wide.
D、George Bush vetoed the first critical bill for embryonic adult-cell research this week.

答案B

解析 第一段开头:FIVE and a half years...it was one that most Americans support:it would have expanded federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.本题是针对文章开头引入话题的现象提出问题的。文章第一句话提到美国总统否定此项法案,而第二句话提到大多数美国人支持此项法案。因此B正确。注意:强调句常考。A虽然参众两院均通过了此项法案,但并未获得可以避开总统否决权的多数票。读题一定要细致,尤其是否定处,以免造成不必要的失误。参众两院均通过了此项法案,但如果未获得可以避开总统否决权的多数票时,总统就有否决权。故C不正确。此否决权不是针对成人干细胞,而是针对胚胎细胞,故D不对。
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