An Integrated English Course Book 4

An Integrated English Course Book 4 Unit Fifteen

Text I Dolly’s False Legacy • What do you know about the text? • What do you know about the author? • What do you know about Dolly, the first sheep ever cloned in history? • What do you know about cloning technique?

Dolly and her mum Dolly's remains are exhibited at the Royal Museum of Scotland

Dolly the sheep • Dolly (5 July 1996 – 14 February 2003), a ewe, was the first mammal to have been successfully cloned from an adult cell. She was cloned at the Roslin Institute in Scotland and lived there until her death when she was 6. Her birth was announced on 22 February 1997. • The sheep was originally code-named “6LL3”. The name “Dolly” came from a suggestion by the stockmen (饲养员) who helped with her birth, in honor of Dolly Parton, because it was a mammary (乳房的) cell that was cloned. The technique that was made famous by her birth is somatic cell nuclear transfer(体细胞核转移 ), in which a cell is placed in a de-nucleated ovum (卵细胞 ), the two cells fuse and then develop into an embryo(['embrɪəʊ] 胚胎). When Dolly was cloned in 1996 from a cell taken from a six-year-old ewe, she became the center of much controversy that still exists today. • On 9 April 2003 her stuffed remains were placed at Edinburgh's Royal Museum, part of the National Museums of Scotland.

Dolly • Dolly was created by a research team managed by Ian Wilmut at the Roslin Institute in Scotland. The goal of the research was the reliable reproduction of animals genetically modified to produce therapeutic proteins in their milk. Wilmut's team had already created 2 sheep clones from embryonic cells grown in culture called Megan and Morag; the work was published in Nature in 1996. Dolly was a Finn Dorset lamb, created from fully differentiated adult mammary cells using a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer; her creation was described in a Nature publication in 1997. Dolly was the first mammalian clone produced from an adult cell.

Premature Aging • In 1999 research was published in the journal Nature suggesting that Dolly may have been susceptible (易受影响的) to premature aging, due to shortened telomeres (染色体的末端)in her cells. It was speculated that these were passed on from her parent, who was six years old when the genetic material was taken from her, so that Dolly may have been genetically six years old at birth. … • Possible signs of her condition were reported in January 2002, when Dolly was five years old. She had developed a potentially debilitating (衰弱的) form of arthritis at an unusually early age. This supported the theory of premature aging.

The arthritis further fueled worry among some that this form of cloning may not be appropriate for mammals, and there is now a consensus both in- and outside scientific community that at this point the risk of unforeseen effects of cloning on the clone makes experiments in human reproductive cloning premature and unethical. • Supporters of this method of cloning counter that the technique used to clone Dolly simply needs to be refined. However, others contend that with very limited understanding of the nascent (初期的) field of applied genetics, scientists can not and should not attempt to control the action of so many genes at once.

Death • On February 14, 2003 it was announced that Dolly had died from a progressive lung disease. A necropsy (验尸) confirmed she had Ovine Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma (羊肺腺癌), a fairly common disease of sheep. Roslin scientists stated that they did not think there was a connection with Dolly being a clone, and that other sheep on the farm had similar ailments. Such lung diseases are especially a danger for sheep kept indoors, as Dolly had to be for security reasons.

Legacy • After the cloning was successfully demonstrated by Dolly's creators once, many other large mammals have been cloned, including horses and bulls. Cloning is now considered a promising tool for preserving endangered species, usually by those who do not work in species conservation. Most animal conservation professionals point out that cloning does not alleviate the problems of loss of genetic diversity and habitat, therefore must be considered an experimental technology for the time being, and all in all would only rarely be worth the cost, which on a per-individual basis far exceeds conventional techniques such as captive breeding (人工繁殖 ) or embryo transfer (胚胎移植 ).

This text • What type of writing is the text? • What is the thesis? • What’s the author’s purpose of writing? How many parts can we divide the text into? What are they? (p. 235)

Purpose of writing • P. 234 • To argue against the currently discussed practicality of human cloning on the technical, humane and legal grounds.

Text Structure (p.235) • Part I (Paragraph 1)--serves as the introduction of the topic of cloning and the thesis of the essay, i. e., it is impossible to apply cloning to humans , today at least. • Part II (Paragraphs 2-12) -- argues against the currently discussed practicality of applying the cloning technique to humans from technical, ethical and legal perspectives. • Part III (Paragraph 13) -- concludes the essay by restating the thesis that cloning technique must be used cautiously.

Part I (Paragraph 1) • This paragraph introduces the topic of the essay, i. e. cloning, and the thesis, i.e. it is impossible to apply cloning to humans, today at least.

Language work • Overlooked in the arguments ... is the fact that ...: • This is an inverted sentence, and its normal order is: “The fact that ... is overlooked in the arguments ...” • The reason for this inversion is that the author wants to highlight the topic of the essay: “the arguments about the morality of artificially reproducing life”.

overlook • 1) fail to notice; ignore or disregard (something, especially a fault or offence) • When planning your holiday, make sure not to overlook your travel insurance. • 2) forgive; tolerate • We’ll overlook your bad behavior this time, but don’t do it again. • 3) provide a view from above • Our hotel room overlooked the harbor.

2. distressing: upsetting 令人烦恼/痛苦的 • The television reports about the earthquake were particularly distressing. • It is very distressing that so little progress has been made after all this time.

3. render: -- cause (someone or something) to be in a particular state 给，提供，使得 • His rudeness rendered me speechless. • She is rendering the book into English from French. (translating) • render a bill 开账单 • render assistance 给予援助 • render thanks 表示感谢

Questions for discussion 1) What does the author think of cloning from the technical point of view? What evidence does he give to support it? 2) What is the main point of the essay?

1) What does the author think of cloning from the technical point of view? What evidence does he give to support it? • He considers cloning to be a very inefficient procedure. The evidence for the point is the greater incidence of death among cloned fetuses and offspring than among their natural counterparts.

2) What is the main point of the essay? • The last sentence expresses the thesis of the essay:it is unthinkable (难以想象的，不可思议的) to apply the technique to humans nowadays.

Part II (Paragraphs 2-12) • This part is the body of the essay, where the author argues against the currently discussed practicality of applying the cloning technique to humans. • How does the author categorize his arguments? Can we break this part into smaller parts? Please discuss in pairs. • A: From three perspectives: technical, ethical and legal.

The first eight paragraphs, i. e. Paragraphs 2-9, refute the reasons for wanting cloned children from ethical or humane viewpoint. • Paragraphs 10-11 argue from the technical angle that cloning is not applicable to humans at present. • Paragraph 12 presents the difficulty in and necessity for legal controlling of the use of the technique.

2.1 Ethical angle (Para. 2-9) • The author refutes the reasons for wanting cloned children from ethical or humane viewpoint.

Language work 4. perfect: -- make (something) completely free from faults or defects, or as close to such a condition as possible 使完美/完善 • He is keen to perfect his golfing technique. • We perfected a hand-signal system so that he could keep me informed of hazards.

Practical -1 • concerned with practice and action rather than theory 实践的; 实际的: practical experience, skills 实践经验﹑ 实际技能 • suitable for the purpose for which it was made; useful 切合实际的; 实用的: a practical device with many different uses 一种多用途的实用器械. • (a) (of a person) clever at doing and making things （指人）心灵手巧的: She's very practical. 她心灵手巧. (b) sensible and realistic 讲求实际的; 实事求是的: We must be practical and work out the cost before we make a decision. 我们应该实事求是地先把费用算出来, 然後再做决定.

Practical -2 • that is so in effect; virtual 事实上的; 实际上的: The owner's brother has been in practical control of the firm for years. 业主的弟弟实际控制该商行已有多年. • practical joke 恶作剧 • practicalityn 实际性; 现实性; 实用性 • practicallyadv 1 almost; virtually 几乎; 实际上: It rained practically every day. 几乎天天下雨. 2 in a practical manner 实际地; 实事求是地: She solved the problem very practically. 她很实事求是地解决了这个问题.

practicable • that can be put into practice; workable 可以实施的; 行得通的: • a practicable scheme, solution, suggestion, etc切实可行的计画﹑ 解决办法﹑ 建议等. • (of roads, etc) fit to be used by traffic; passable （指道路等）适於车辆往来的, 可通行的: • the mountain route that is practicable only in summer 只有在夏季才可以通行的山路. • practicabilityn [U] • practicablyadv.

5. intrusion: the action of intruding • Intrude: introduce into a situation with disruptive or adverse effect 闯入，侵入，介入，打扰 • Newspaper editors are being urged not to intrude into the grief of the families of missing servicemen. • Inefficiency has intruded into every area of the company’s activities.

6. impose (on/upon) • 1) lay on 强加；强制执行 • Judges are imposing increasing heavy fines for minor driving offences. (impose a fine罚款) • The council has imposed a ban on alcohol in the city parks. • 2) enforce compliance with强迫某人接纳 • We need to impose some kind of order on the way we do things in the office.

in the interest of • -- 为了，为了…利益 • Intheinterestof protecting such resources, a great many state laws were passed. • 为了保障这些资源，各州立了许多法律。 • The conclusion of this agreement is intheinterestof both sides. 签订这份合同对双方都有好处 • I'm ready to accept any job whatever, so long as it is intheinterestof the people. • 不管什么任务，只要是对人民有益的，我都愿意接受。 • for the sake of…; for the benefit of…; to the advantage of; in favor of…

herein • --adv. 在此处, 鉴于, 如此 • Herein lies the real danger. • 这其中含有真正的危险。 • Herein lies the keys to the questions. • 里面包含着问题的答案。 • Enclosed herein you will find the bill. • 内附帐单。

7. fondly: with a great liking深情地; 温柔地 • She smiled fondly at the children. • fond: having a great liking for something or someone • My brother is fond of pointing out my mistakes. • Many of us have fond memories of our childhood.

8. frame: -- create or formulate (a concept, plan, or system) 制定，设计 • frame a new constitution • The peace proposals were framed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

9. in the event of: --if something should happen 如果…发生 • In the event of a strike, the army will take over responsibility for firefighting. • The bank has agreed to give an immediate refund in the unlikely event of an error being made.

live up to • --实行(达到预期标准,不辜负...的希望) • We will never fail to live up to what our parents expect of us. • 我们决不辜负我们的父母对我们的期望。 • He finds it hard to live up to his ideals. • 他认为很难按自己的理想办事. • You must live up to your promise. • 你必须实践自己的诺言。

10. specify: -- state or describe clearly and exactly 明确规定/描述 • The newspaper report did not specify how the men were killed. • My contract specifies that I must give a month’s notice if I leave my job.

Questions for discussion (2.1) 1) What would be the similarities and differences between a cloned child and its natural twin? 2) Is it acceptable, according to the author, for sterile couples to have a cloned child? Why or why not? 3) Why is the introduction of cloned children into hypothetical families unacceptable? 4) What is wrong with the suggestion of cloning a child as a substitute for the one tragically killed?

1) What would be the similarities and differences between a cloned child and its natural twin? • Physically they would be very similar, but they would develop distinct personalities because they would grow up in different families. Their difference in personality would be certainly greater than that between natural twins.

2) Is it acceptable, according to the author, for sterile couples to have a cloned child? Why or why not? • The author seems to think it unacceptable for an infertile couple to have a cloned child because the presence of the child would produce embarrassing family relationships.

3) Why is the introduction of cloned children into hypothetical families unacceptable? • Because it would be difficult for such families to provide an appropriate environment for the child and take the interest of the child into consideration.

4) What is wrong with the suggestion of cloning a child as a substitute for the one tragically killed? • The problem lies in the possibility that the cloned child would have different talents and interests from the lost one, thus failing to live up to the parents’ expectations.

2.2 Technical angle (Para. 10-11) • The author argues from the technical angle that cloning is not applicable to humans at present.

in terms of • 就...而论;在...方面 ;依据 • He often talks about his girlfriend in terms of love. • 他经常用充满爱意的语言谈论他的女朋友。 • Think of it in terms of an investment. • 从投资的角度来考虑那件事. • In terms of money, he's quite rich, but not in terms of happiness. • 就钱来说他很富有,但就幸福来说就不然了。

11. reverse: -- turn (something) the other way round or inside out • I was almost knocked off my bike by a car reversing out of a garage. • The new manager hoped to reverse the decline in the company’s fortunes. • His career met with many reverses.他的事业遭到许多挫折。

12. accumulate: gather; build up • As people accumulate more wealth, they tend to spend a greater proportion of their incomes. • A thick layer of dust had accumulated in the room.

Question for discussion (2.2) 5) What is the technical hindrance of using the technique to clone humans?

5) What is the technical hindrance of using the technique to clone humans? • The hindrance lies in the fact that the effects of cloning in terms of aging remain unknown yet. For a cloned child, its lifespan remains unpredictable because it is unknown whether the clock of age is reset during cloning, whether the years of its parent will be deducted from its life expectancy, or whether genetic errors, which are corrected during normal reproduction, can be redressed in cloning.

2.3 Legal angle (Para. 12) • The author presents the difficulty in and necessity for legal controlling of the use of the technique.

13. regulate:-- control or supervise by means of rules and regulations 管制；控制 • You can regulate the temperature in the house by adjusting the thermostat (自动调温器)and the radiators. • Her mother strictly regulates how much TV she can watch.

14. champion: defend; support • He has championed constitutional reform for many years. • The amendments were championed by pro-democracy activists.

An Integrated English Course Book 4