2. 考研
  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

admin2014-04-20  53
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.  
We can infer from the fourth paragraph that______.
选项 A、enhancement evolution is technically impossible
B、parents have the final say on children’s genome change
C、parents and children usually have different designs for the future
D、enhancement evolution may cause moral problems
答案D
解析 推断题。第四段集中讨论“增强性进化”的反对者们所持的观点，提出了人为干预基因组构造可能引发的各种问题。例如，如果父母与孩子对未来的期望不同，父母是否有权决定孩子的相关基因设计?谁又应有权决定人类基因改写的时机和方式?这些问题都属于社会伦理的范畴，故[D]项较为恰当地进行了概括。原文虽然提到基因改写可能会出现重大错误，但并不等同于[A]所说的“增强性进化”技术上不可操作，故排除[A]。[B]项混淆了假设与现实，人为设计下一代的基因还没有进入实际操作阶段，故由谁决定尚未可知。[C]项属于过度推断，虽然Lanza以父母与孩子规划不同为例，说明他所担心的矛盾，但并不能据此认定父母与孩子在未来规划方面总是存在分歧。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/xJO4777K
0

考研英语一

相关试题推荐
随机试题
最新回复(0)