Passage THREE
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.
"I've never met a human worth cloning," says cloning expert Mark Westhusin from 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 13-year-old dog named Missy. So far, he and his team have not succeeded, though they have cloned two cows and expect to clone a cat soon. They just might succeed in cloning Missy this spring - or perhaps not for another 5 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 upset by all this talk of human cloning. In three years of work on the Missy project, using hundreds upon hundreds of dog's eggs, the A&M team has produced only a dozen or so embryos (胚胎) carrying Missy's DNA. None have survived the transfer to a surrogate (代孕的) mother. The wastage of eggs and the many spontaneously aborted fetuses (胎) 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 has been ringing with people calling in hopes of duplicating their cats and dogs, cattle and horses. "A lot of people want to clone pets, especially if the price is right," says Westhusin. Cost is no obstacle for Missy's mysterious billionaire owner; he's put up $3.7 million so far to fund A&M's research.
Contrary to some media reports, Missy is not dead. The owner wants a twin to carry on Missy's fine qualities after she does die. The prototype is, by all accounts, athletic, good-natured and supersmart. Missy's master does not expect an exact copy of her. He knows her clone may not have her temperament. In a statement of purpose, Missy's owner and the A&M team say they are "both looking forward to studying the ways that her clones differ from Missy."
Besides cloning a great dog, the project may contribute insight into the old question of nature vs. nurture. It could also lead to the cloning of special rescue dogs and many endangered animals.
However, Westhusin is cautious about his work. He knows that even if he gets a dog 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?"
31. By "stupid endeavor" (Line 2, Para. 1), Westhusin means to say that ________.
A) human cloning is a foolish undertaking
B) animal cloning is absolutely impractical
C) human cloning should be done selectively
D) animal cloning is not worth the effort at all
32. What does the first paragraph tell us about Westhusin's dog cloning project?
A) Its success is already in sight.
B) It is doomed to utter failure.
C) It is progressing smoothly.
D) Its outcome remains uncertain.
33. By cloning Missy, Mark Westhusin hopes to ________.
A) examine the reproductive system of the dog species
B) find out the differences between Missy and its clones
C) search for ways to modify .its temperament
D) study the possibility of cloning humans
34. We learn from the passage that animal clones are likely to have ________.
A) an abnormal shape
B) a bad temper
C) defective organs
D) immune deficiency
35. It can be seen that present cloning techniques ________.
A) provide insight into the question of nature vs. nurture
B) have been widely used in saving endangered species
C) have proved quite adequate for the cloning of humans
D) still have a long way to go before reaching maturity
Passage FOUR
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.
Frustrated with delays in Sacramento, Bay Area officials said Thursday they planned to take matters into their own hands to regulate the region's growing pile of electronic trash.
A San Jose councilwoman and a San Francisco supervisor said they would propose local initiatives aimed at controlling electronic waste if the California law-making body fails to act on two bills stalled in the Assembly~ They are among a growing number of California cities and counties that have expressed the same intention.
Environmentalists and local governments are increasingly concerned about the toxic hazard posed by old electronic devices and the cost of safely recycling those products. An estimated 6 million televisions and computers are stocked in California homes, and an additional 6,000 to 7,000 computers become outdated every day. The machines contain high levels of lead and other hazardous substances, and are already banned from California landfills ( 垃圾填埋場 ).
Legislation by Senator Byron Sher would require consumers to pay a recycling fee of up to $30 on every new machine containing a cathode ( 陰極 ) ray tube. Used in almost all video monitors and televisions, those devices contain four to eight pounds of lead each. The fees would go toward setting up recycling programs, providing grants to non-profit agencies that reuse the tubes and rewarding manufacturers that encourage recycling.
A separate bill by Los Angeles-area Senator Gloria Romero would require high-tech manufacturers to develop programs to recycle so-called e-waste.
If passed, the measures would put California at the forefront of national efforts to manage the refuse of the electronic age.
But high-tech groups, including the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group and the American Electronics Association, oppose the measures, arguing that fees of up to $30 will drive consumers to online, out-of-state retailers.
"What really needs to occur is consumer education. Most consumers are unaware they're not supposed to throw computers in the trash," said Roxanne Gould, vice president of government relations for the electronics association.
Computer recycling should be a local effort and part of residential waste collection programs, she added.
Recycling electronic waste is a dangerous and specialized matter, and environmentalists maintain the state must support recycling efforts and ensure that the job isn't contracted to unscrupulous ( 毫無顧忌的 ) junk dealers who send the toxic parts overseas.
"The graveyard of the high-tech revolution is ending up in rural China," said Ted Smith, director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. His group is pushing for an amendment to Sher's bill that would prevent the export of e-waste.
36. What step were Bay Area officials going to take regarding e-waste disposal.'?
A) Rally support to pass the stalled bills.
B) Lobby the lawmakers of the California Assembly.
C) Lay down relevant local regulations themselves.
D) Exert pressure on manufacturers of electronic devices.
37. The two bills stalled in the California Assembly both concern ________.
A) the reprocessing of the huge amounts of electronic waste in the state
B) regulations on dumping hazardous substances into landfills
C) the funding of local initiatives to reuse electronic trash
D) the sale of used electronic devices to foreign countries
38. Consumers are not supposed to throw used computers in the trash because __.
A) this is banned by the California government
B) some parts may be recycled for use elsewhere
C) unscrupulous dealers will retrieve them for profit
D) they contain large amounts of harmful substances
39. High-tech groups believe that if an extra $30 is charged on every TV or computer purchased in California, consumers will _______.
A) hesitate to upgrade their computers
B) abandon online shopping
C) buy them from other states
D) strongly protest against such a charge
40. We learn from the passage that much of California's electronic waste has been _
A) dumped into local landfills
B) exported to foreign countries
C) collected by non-profit agencies
D) recycled by computer manufacturers
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