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II. Basic Listening Practice

1.    Script                                                                             

M: Scentists claim the world population has 99.5% of the same DNA.

W: But this doesn’t tell us there is no such thing as race.

Q: What is true of the DNA of difference races?

2.    Script

W: With the advent of the genetic map we know where everything is, but do we know where to go with it?

M: Your map seems to differ largely from my geographical map!

Q: What does the man imply?

3.    Script

M: As you know, it has taken millions of years of evolution and natural selection to get us where we are today.

W: Yes, but now that we have genetic engineering, we seem to have decided that we want to be God.

Q: What does the woman imply?

4.    Script

M: I think the research into cloning will lead us into dangers, filling us with false hopes of perfection.

W: It’s too late to turn back the clock. We’ll just have to depend on common sense to solve uncommon problems.

Q: What does the woman mean?

5.    Script

W: InAmerica, many prisoners are having their cases reviewed, and some have even been freed through DNA testing.

M: Except for the ones whose death sentence has already been carried out.

Q: What can we learn about DNA testing from the dialog?

Keys: 1.B  2.C  3.D  4.A  5.C

III. Listening In

Task 1: Stem Cell Research

Script

Gregory: The Republican party inAmericais opposing stem cell research. I find it

hard to believe that in this day and age, someone would do that.

Lillian: Stem cell research sounds pretty impressive, I’ll admit. But just what is it?

Gregory: Well, a stem cell is a special type of cell. It is a general cell that, when it

devides, can become any specific type of cell.

Lillian: You mean, a stem cell can become a heart cell? Or a brain or a kidney cell?

Gregory: That’s about it. Stem cells are a part of the body’s maintenance and repair

system. When they divide, they can become any cell type.

Lillian: I guess there would be some tremendous medical advantages in that sort of

research.

Gregory: You’ve said a mouthful. Recently, scientists were able to help a man who

lost a jawbone for cancer. They recreated bone material for his jaw from stem cells. What it means is that since the new bone was created out of the person’s own cells, there was no problem with rejection because the DNA was the same.

Lillian: I bet the person was delighted. Why would anyone oppose that sort of research? It would seem to have endless potential to benefit the human race.

Gregory: I agree, but there are people who think we should not interfere with nature and manipulate “what is natural”.

Lillian: It’s easier to hold such a narrow view if you’re not in a position to need the benefits of the research. If you’re missing a jawbone because of cancer, you probably support the research.

1. What is the passage mainly about?

2.Who is against stem cell research?

3.  What is special about a stem cell?

4.  When can a stem cell become another cell type?

5.  According to the passage, why do some people oppose stem cell research?

Keys: 1.B  2.A  3.A  4.A  5.D

Task 2: The Improvement of Rice

Script      

Scientists now know a lot more about a grain that people have eaten for ten thousand years. (S1) Research teams around the world have completed a map of the (S2) genes of rices. The findings appeared last week in the (S3) journal Nature.

The aim is to speed up the improvement of rice. The scientists (S4) warn that the kinds of rice plants used now have reached the limit of their (S5) productivity. Yet world rice production must (S6) grow by an estimated 30 percent in the next twenty to meet demand. By 2025, as many as 4.6 billion people will depend on rice for (S7) survival. There is a lot of pressure on breeders to improve the crop, and the rice genome is a valuable tool to do that. (S8) Plant breeders have already used preliminary information from the rice genome to create experimental strains of rice that better resist cold and pests.

The researchers also say rice is an excellent choice for genetic mapping and engineering. Rice genes have only about 390 million chemical bases. That maight sound like a lot. But other major food grains have thousands of millions. (S9) The new map could better explain more than just rice. Rice shares a common ancestor with other cereal crops. Because rice is the first cereal crop to be fully analyzed, researchers expect that sufficient knowledge of its genetic information will reveal the heredity of more complex grains, including corn, wheat and barley.

(S10) While significant progress has been made in the analysis of the rice genome, the mapping of human genes is also making headway. When scientists can identify and manipulate genes that cause certain diseases, mankind will cure them easily. The human genetic map may help us control a person’s height, weight, appearance and even length of life.

Task3: The First Cloned Cat

Script

In the age-old battle of cats and dogs, score one for the cats. Researchers at Texas  A&M University recently announced that they have successfully cloned a cat name Rainbow—the first pet ever cloned—after several years of unsuccessful efforts to clone a dog name Missy.

The ork, financed by a company hoping to provide pet-cloning services to wealthy owners, adds cats to a growing list of successfully cloned animals that includes pigs, sheep, cattle and mice.

The success demonstrates cloning is a technology that could be transferred to other animal families as well. The accomplishment may provide new tools for studying diseases such as cats’ AIDS, a valuable research model for AIDS in humans.

Research into animal cloning remains an important scientific alternative until the issue of human cloning is settled. And that seems unlikly in the immediate future, for it involves religious and moral principles. There are, for example, groups that insist no one should be allowed to take on the role of God the Creator.

To create cloned cat embryos for the experiment, researchers transferred DNA from adult cat cells into egg cells stripped of their own genetic information. Out of 82 attempts with cloned embryos, one attempt resulted in a failed pregnancy, and another yielded a kitten named CC, delivered from a surrogate mother on December 22. The kitten’s name refers to “Carbon Copy” and “Copycat”, the name of the cloning project.

Cloning attempts with dogs have proven unsuccessful in part because dogs’reproductive cycles are more complicated.

The technique may also work with endangered cats such as the African wildcat, fishing cat and blackfooted cat.

Ironically, the increased knowledge of cat reproduction may best be suited for developing cat contraceptives to control theU.S.cat population.

1.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

1.      What did researchers at Texas  A&M University recently announce?

2.      Which animals are NOT mentioned in the passage as having been cloned?

3.      According to the passage, why is human cloning unlikely to happen in the near future?

4.      What does the passage say about the pregnancy and birth in cat cloning?

Keys: 1.A  2.B  3.C  4.B  5.C

IV. Speaking Out

MODEL 1   Why are people protesting against

genetically modified foods?

Susan: With so many people suffering from malnutrition around the world, why are people protesting against genetically modified foods?

Chris: Some people are protesting about genetically modified foods, but even more people are protesting the fact that processed foods containing these ingredients aren’t labeled.

Susan: But why should they be labeled?

Chris: Not everyone is sure that genetically modified foods are safe. They want to be certain that biotech foods have the sme composition as organic foods.

Susan: But there are more urgent problems in this world. Many people are dying of starvation.

Chris: But those who aren’t starving may want genetically modified foods to be labeled so they know what foods they should andd shouldn’t eat.

Susan: You know, I heard of a genetically modified fish that grew to be ten times its normal size.

Chris: That sure sounds abnormal.

Susan: Yeah, it does sound a bit strange , but that fish could feed ten times as many people.

Chris: You’re right; genetically modified food might help solve world hunger. But I think we have a right to know what we are eating.

MODEL2   Do you think the cloning of humans

should be forbidden by law?

Script

Susan: After the cloning of Dolly the sheep, I think human cloning is next.

John: Whoa. I have some reservations about it. There are stll many scientific problems 

to solve before human cloning starts.

Susan: There’s an easier way. The Clonaid Company says they’ve cloned humans.

John: Oh, my God! These guys claim aliens from another planet taught them human

cloning.

Susan: A woman gave them half a million dollars to clone her dead daughter.

John: Clearly that woman doesn’t know much about cloning. How risky it is!

Susan: I know it’s inefficient. It took 276 tries to produce Dolly. But why is it risky?

John: Cloned animals grow abnormally large and age unnaturally fast.

Susan: In other words, that woman may not be happy with her cloned daughter.

John: Then there are the emotions. No one knows if cloning damages the mind.

Susan: Do you think the cloning of humans should be forbidden by law?

John: To my mind, the cloning of human organs shouldn’t be prohabited. It may help 

     solve medical problems.

Susan: I see your point: cloning should be regulated if it’s to benefit humanity.

MODEL3   Is it interfering with nature?

Script

Nora: Some religious groups are opposed to genetic research. They believe it’s interfering with nature.

John: I know. But nature can be pretty hard-nosed too, so we often need to interfere with her—we build dams to control flooding.Nora: There’re many diseases that are a part of nature, and they cause people a great deal of misery: cancer and diabetes, for example.

John: A better understanding of the genetic code that controls our body would be a great help in curing many 

diseases.

Nora: The project to map the human genetic code…what’s that called?

John: The genome project. As you say, it has tremendous promise to make our lives better—just in the ability to identify and correct genetically-caused diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Nora: Some diseases like cancer are also believed to have a genetic switch.

John: That’s right, and once researchers identify the switch, perhaps they can turn off cancer or Alzheimer’s.

Nora: People are also concerned that science will enable us to determine such qualities as intelligence and height.

John: You know it’s going to happen—it’s just a matter of when.

Nora: Imagine if everyone was a combination of Yao Ming and Albert Einstein.

John: But what if they get it wrong, and you wind up with Yao Ming’s knowledge of nuclear physics and Albert Einstein’s height?

Nora: All those religious groups would say that it served you right.

Now Your Turn

Task 1

SAMPLE DIALOG

Jane: Some countries are suffering from crop failure and famine, but why do they refuse genetically modified crops and foods?

Bob: And many Europeans insist that processed foods containing GM ingredients be

labeled.

Jane: Why should they be labeled?

Bob: Not everyone is sure that genetically modified foods are safe. They want to certain that biotech foods have the same composition as traditional foods.

Jane: But there are more urgent problems in this world. Many people are dying of famine.

Bob: But those who aren’t hungry may want all genetically modified products to be labeled so they know exactly what they’re eating.

Jane: You know, I’ve heard of a GM fish that was ten times larger than a normal fish.

Bob: That really sounds abnormal.

Jane: Some famine-stricken people are afraid GM crops will overpower and eliminate their native crops.

Bob: Sounds alarming.

Jane: Yeah, but GM foods can feed many people.

Bob: You’re right; they could solve the problem of starvation in the world. But I think we have a right to know what we are eating. GM food should be labeled.

V. Let’s Talk

Script

Correspondent: In theU.S.what percentage of people support biotech crops? And do those who support biotech crops also eat biotech foods? What percentage of food on the market has genetically modified ingredients?

Professor:  U.S.consumers have been exposed to a very effective anti-biotechnology propaganda campaign for the last few years, but according to polls, over 70% support biotechnology. For example, in a recent referendum in Oregon, voters rejected a proposal to require special labels on all products containing biotech ingredients by an overwhelming 73% to 27%. That’s probably because consumers know that we have an effective administrative system. Many may also know that 70-80% of the processed food products on supermarket shelves contain one or more ingredients from biotech crops. All Americans eat biotech foods unless they deliberately seek out products that are labeled otherwise. Evidence suggests that this is less than 5% of consumers.

Correspondent: Chinese scientists have used biotechnology to create a new type of tomato, which contains the vaccine against hepatitis B. What’s your take on this?

Professor:     It’s a great example of how this technology can be used to save lives, ease pain and suffering and improve the human condition. How can anyone be opposed to that? My only hope is that the clinical trials of this new tomato go well, and that it is quickly delivered to health-care providers who will use it to vaccinate people against hepatitis. By the way, please note that I do think that such new pharmaceutical foods need to be handled as medicines by professionals and not as conventional foods. You will never see these tomatoes in the supermarket. In a sense, the tomato plant is just being used to manufacture a vaccine in a very safe and economical manner.

VI.  Further Listening and Speaking

Task1: Confident enough to control your fate?

Script

Some people are born with the belief that they are masters of their own lives. Others feel they are at the mercy of fate. New research shows that part of those feelings are in the genes.

Psychologists have long known that people confident in their ability to control their fates are more likely to adjust well to growing old than those who feel they drift on the currents of fate.

Two researchers who questioned hundreds of Swedish twins report that such confidence, or lack of it, is partly genetic and partly drawn from experience.

They also found that the belief in blind luck—a conviction that chance plays a big role in life—is something learned in life and has nothing to do with heredity.

The research was conducted by Nancy Pedersen, a professor of psychology at the University of Southern  California in Los   Angeles. The results were recently published in theUnited Statesin the Journal of Gerontology.

People who are confident of their ability to control their lives have an “internal locus of control”, and have a better chance of being well adjusted in their old age, said Pedersen. An “external locus of control”,believing that outside forces determine the course of life, has been linked to depression in latter years, she said.

“We are trying to understand what makes people different. What makes some people age slowly and others have a more difficult time?” she said.

The study showed that while people have an inborn tendency toward independence and self-confidence, about 70 percent of this personality trait is affected by a person’s environment and lifetime experiences.

Pedersen’s studies, with various collaborators, investigate the aging process by comparing sets of twins, most of whom were separated at an early age.

The subjects were drawn from a list first compiled about 30 years ago, registering all twins born inSwedensince 1886. The complete list, which was extended in 1971, has 95,000 sets of twins.

1.      Which of the following is concerned with blind luck?

2.      Which of the following is related to an external locus of control?

3.      According to the passage, what is true of one’s inborn tendency towards self-confidence?

4.      What subjects were mostly used in Pedersen’s studies?

5.      What is the main idea of the passage?

Keys: 1.A  2.B  3.C  4.C  5.D

Task 2: Is it moral to clone humans?

Script

Laura: Did you hear about that peculiar cult that claimed to have created the world’s first human clone?

Ian:   Yeah, I did! They also said that it was aliens that created life on earth over 25,000 years ago. What are they on?

Laura: I know! It was so obviously just part of an elaborate hoax to bring publicity to their crazy movement. But I don’t think the truth can be far off. Scientists have been working on it for years.

Ian:   Sure, but most scientists are working on cloning human cells or body parts that can be used to repair or replace damaged organs. Not complete human beings! That’s just science fiction!

Laura: Well, the science may seem to be very advanced, but the idea is not a new one. In A Journey to the West, Sun Wu-kung, the Monkey King, can clone himself from the hairs on his head. He just plucks a few hairs, chews them a bit, and when he spits them out, they change into replicas of him!

Ian:   Really? Now that would be cool! You could send your clone to school while you went to the cinema, and then it could do your homework! Wow! Now that I think of it, it would be kind of fun to have a clone!

Laura: You would say that! Don’t you think it’s slightly immoral? I mean, it’s just like having a slave. Doesn’t the clone deserve a life of his own?

Ian:   Sure, but human beings must learn to strike a balance between the welfare of a patient and of a clone.

Keys:  1.T  2.T  3.F  4.F  5.T

Task3:  A Drunkard’s Argument

Script

Here’s drunkard’s argument in favor of heavy drinking.

We would learn more about human bihavior if we paid closer attention to the laws at work in the animal kingdom.

“Only the fittest survive” is a law that is apparent everywhere in the natural world. Human beings could certainly benefit from a close study of how this law operates among, for example, the wild buffalo.

A herd of buffalo moves only as fast as the slowest buffalo. When the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest animals at the back that are killed first. This is natural selection, and it is good for the herd. The general speed and health of the group keeps improving with regular killing of the weaker memebers.

The same process of survival of the fittest is to be observed by looking closely at the human brain, which can operate only as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive consumption of alcohol, as we all know, kills brain cells. Just like the less vigorous buffalo at the back of the herd, the weakest and slowest brain cells are destroyed first.

In this way the principles of natural selection become evident. Regular consumption of large amounts of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. It is therefore not suprising that one also feels smarter after drinking several glasses of beer.

News Report

Bioinformatics

Script

It’s a complex name for a complex subject. Bioinformatics is the key to figuring out the wealth of information in the human genome project.

Researchers have nearly mapped out all of the 30,000 genes that make up human DNA, but making sense of useful data is not easy.

The company Double Twist is a pioneer in the business of bioinformatics.

［SOUND BITE］

 Double Twist works mainly with information that is also available to the public,sifting through data to find what may help link a biological problem like cancer, to its possible cure.

［SOUND BITE］

 The company then sells software and data to pharmaceutical companies, biotech companies, and academic institutions, which use them in their work. This provides a solution to help people better understand data from the human genome project.

［SOUND BITE］

 Bioinformatics speeds up drug development and provides more accurate research.

［SOUND BITE］

 Human Genome Sciences takes the process one step further. It uses bioinformatics to develop drugs using its own genomic information.

［SOUND BITE］

 Right now, Human Genome Sciences has four new drugs being tested that are the results of genomic research. Bioinformatics systems developed within the company played an important role in discovering these drugs.

［SOUND BITE］

 Bioinformatics can also bring much quicker returns for investors.

［SOUND BITE］

 Even though its role is crucial, bioinformatics if only a small part of the overall $305 billion biotech sector, accounting for only about $2.23 billion.

 But some investors believe that bioinformatics has great potential.

［SOUND BITE］

 So unless drug companies start developing their own bioinformatics systems or partner with companies that can provide them, they may get left behind in the race to discover new drugs.