首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
What if our society uses new-found technologies of "genetic engineering" to interfere with the biological nature of human beings
What if our society uses new-found technologies of "genetic engineering" to interfere with the biological nature of human beings
admin
2013-03-27
76
问题
What if our society uses new-found technologies of "genetic engineering" to interfere with the biological nature of human beings? Might that not be disastrous?
What about cloning, for instance?
Cloning is a term originally used in connection with nonsexual reproduction of plants and very simple animals. Now it is coming into use in connection with higher animals, since biologists are finding ways of starting with an individual cell of a grown animal and inducing it to multiply in the same way in the future.
But is cloning a safe thing to unleash on society? Might it not be used for destructive purposes? For instance, might not some ruling group decide to clone their submissive, downtrodden peasantry, and thus produce endless hordes of semi-robots who will slave to keep a few in luxury and who may even serve as endless ranks of soldiers designed to conquer the rest of the world?
A dreadful thought, but an unnecessary fear. For one thing, there is no need to clone for the purpose. The ordinary method of reproduction produces all the human beings that are needed and as rapidly as is needed. Right now, the ordinary method is producing so many people as to put civilization in danger of imminent destruction. What more can cloning do?
Secondly, unskilled semi-robots cannot be successfully pitted against the skilled users of machine, either on farms, in factories or in armies. Any nation depending on downtrodden masses will find itself an easy mark for exploitation by a less populous but more skilled and versatile society. This has happened in the past often enough.
But even if we forget about self-hordes, what about the cloning of a relatively few individuals? There are rich people who could afford the expense, or politicians who could have the influence for it, or the gifted who could undergo it by popular demand. There can be two of a particular banker or governor or scientist—or three—or a thousand. Might this not create a kind of privileged caste, who would reproduce themselves in greater and greater numbers, and who would gradually take over the world?
Before we grow concerned about this, we must ask whether there will really be any great demand for cloning. Would you want to be cloned? The new individual that is formed by your cell will have your genes and therefore your appearance and, possibly, talents, but he will not be you. The clone will be, at best, merely your identical twin. Identical twins share the same genetic pattern, but they each have their own individuality and are separate persons.
Cloning is not a pathway to immortality, then, because your consciousness does not survive in your clone, any more than it would in your identical twin if you had one.
In fact, your clone would be far less than your identical twin. What shapes and forms a personality is not genes alone, but all the environment to which it is exposed. Identical twins grow up in identical surroundings, in the same family, and under each other’s influence. A clone of yourself, perhaps thirty or forty years younger would grow up in a different world altogether and would be shaped by influences that would be sure to make him less and less like you as he grows older.
He may even earn your jealousy. After all, you are old and he is young. You may once have been poor and struggled to become well-to-do, but he will be well-to-do from the start. The mere fact that you won’t be able to view him as a child, but as another competing and better-advantaged you, may accentuate the jealousy.
No! Imagine that, after some initial experiments, the demand for cloning will be virtually nonexistent.
The author assumes that the readers are______.
选项
A、afraid of a nation of dictators
B、worried about the abuses of cloning
C、eager to put cloning to practical use
D、ready to be cloned
答案
B
解析
从文中第四段“But is cloning a safe thing to unleash on society?Might it notbe used for destructive purposes?”可推断,读者害怕克隆手法会被滥用。因此B项为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/xtmO777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Asthesocietyhasrigidsocial______,everyoneknowshisroleinthesociety.
Evenwhentextbooksare______throughaschoolsystem,methodsofteachingmayvarygreatly.
Runningcanstrengthenyourheartandmuscles,but,itcandamageyourkneejointsandthebonesinyourfeet.
Thetextureofthesoildependsontherelativeamountsofdifferent-sizedparticlesthatcombinetomakeupthesoil.Thesepar
Theneighborsdonotconsideredhimquite______asmosteveningsheawakensthemwithhisdrunkensinging.
InarecentbookentitledThePsychicLifeofInsects,ProfessorBouviersaysthatwemustbecarefulnottocreditthelittlew
Somepeopleinyourcommunityhavebigproblemsthatcostyou.Theproblemscostyouintaxesforpoliceservices,inout-of-poc
WhenIwaswalkingdownthestreettheotherday,Ihappenedtonoticeasmallbrownleatherwalletlyingonthesidewalk.Ipic
Thetimberrattlesnakeisnowontheendangeredspecieslist,andisextinctintwoeasternstatesinwhichitonce______.
Thepolicewerealertedthattheescapedcriminalmightbeinthe______.
随机试题
男性,45岁,消瘦、乏力、食欲减退,右上腹闷痛3个月,近日出现黄疸,血总胆红素200mmol/L,直接胆红素128mmol/L,既往有慢性溃疡性结肠炎病史。超声检查见左肝内一回声不均区,形态不规则,境界不清楚,左肝管扩张内见实体回声充填。患者最可能的疾病是
春分,昼夜平分,春色与茶色平分。看,春染茶山,峰峦叠翠,采茶姑娘那灵巧的双手在茶树上翩翩起舞;听,山泉潺潺,鸟鸣蜂吟,婉转悠扬的茶歌在天地间久久回荡。春分时节,静坐于绿色盎然的美景里,沏上一杯春分茶,沐浴着柔和暖阳,看茶烟袅袅,见嫩绿碧汤,怡然自得。茶中绿
2012年3月24日,农历三月初三,黄帝故里拜祖大典在河南新郑举行,海内外万余名炎黄子孙汇聚一堂,祭拜中华民族的人文始祖辕黄帝。这是:
=_______(其中a为常数).
在上半平面上求一条上凹曲线,其上任一点P(x,y)处的曲率等于此曲线在该点的法线段PQ的长度的倒数(Q为法线与x轴的交点),且曲线在点(1,1)处的切线与x轴平行.
下列IPv6地址表示中,错误的是()。
以下选项中,不是Python文件处理seek()方法的参数是
用IE浏览器打开如下地址:HTTP://LOCALHOST:65531/ExamWeb/Index.htm,浏览有关“Linux下的主要的C语言编译器”的网页,将该页内容以文本文件的格式保存到考生目录下,文件名为“TestIe.txt”。
Indiaistheworld’sbiggestgoldconsumer,butthecountry’spassionfortheyellowmetaliswaning(逐渐减弱).Recordhighpricesa
WhenwestartedtheMeyerhoffScholarsProgramnearly20yearsago,wefacedamajorchallenge—helpingstudentsofcolorachieve
最新回复
(
0
)