胚胎英语翻译

“I've never met a human worth cloning,” says cloning expert Mark Westhusin from the cramped confines of 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 calves and expect to clone a cat soon. They just might succeed in cloning Missy later this year—or perhaps not for another five 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 vexed by all this talk of human cloning. In three years of work on the Missyplicity project, using hundreds upon hundreds of canine eggs, the A&M team has produced only a dozen or so embryos carrying Missy's DNA. None have survived the transfer to a surrogate mother. The wastage of eggs and the many spontaneously aborted fetuses 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 at A&M College of Veterinary Medicine has been ringing busily. Cost is no obstacle for customers like Missy's mysterious owner, who wishes to remain unknown to protect his privacy. He's plopped down $3.7 million so far to fund the research because he wants a twin to carry on Missy?s fine qualities after she dies. But 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 clone differs from Missy.”

The fate of the dog samples will depend on Westhusin's work. He knows that even if he gets a dog viably 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?” [397 words]

6. Mr. Westhusin thinks cloning is dangerous because_____ .

[A] animals are tortured to death in the experiments

[B]the public has expressed strong disapproval

[C] too many lives are wasted for laboratory use

[D] cloning becomes a quest only for profit

7. What is the problem confronting the Missyplicity project?

[A] The client holds a suspicious view toward it.

[B] There is a lack of funds to support the research.

[C] The owner is unwilling to disclose the information.

[D] Cloning dogs is a difficult biological problem.

8. Which of the following is true about animal cloning?

[A]Few private cloning companies could afford it

[B]Few people have realized its significance.

[C] An exact copy of a cat or bull can be made.

[D] It is becoming a prosperous industry.

9. From the passage we can infer that _____.

[A] Mr. Westhusin is going to clone a dog soon

[B] scientists are pessimistic about human cloning

[C] human reproductive system has not been understood

[D] rich people are only interested in cloning animals

10. Mr. Westhusin seems to believe that cloning______.

[A] is stupid and should be abandoned [B] has been close to success

[C] should be taken cautiously [D] is now in a dilemma

>>>>>>答案解析<<<<<<

核心词汇

confines n. limits or borders范围，界限;边界 例：the confines of human knowledge 人类的知识范围 / the confines of family life 家庭生活的范围

超纲词汇

aborted a. *① 流产的 ② 出问题的，出故障的

canine a. 犬的，犬科的

cramped a. 狭窄的，拥挤的 例：working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

embryo n. 胚胎

fetus n. 胎，胎儿

Missyplicity n.这是个临时造的词，是三个部分的合成：Missy指文中提到的那条狗密斯，

duplicate意为“复制”，?ity为名词后缀

plop vi.&vt.(使)扑通一声落下 例：Can you plop some ice in my drink? 能在我的饮料中放点冰块吗? 文中是比喻用法，指“投入资金”

surrogate n.代理, 代理人,代用品 vt.使代理, 使代替;*surrogate mother 代理母体

veterinary a.兽医的 例：veterinary medicine/science兽医学

vexed a.*① 气恼的，烦恼的 例：the vexed parents of an unruly teenager因孩子难管教而气恼的父母 ②(问题等)争论不休的，难于解决的 例：vexed question/issue棘手的问题

viably ad. ① 可实施地，切实可行地 *② 能存活地，能生长发育地

长难句分析

1. 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.

该句主干是That's an interesting choice of adjective。现在分词短语coming from... 做后置定语，修饰前面的名词choice，相当于一个定语从句(which is)coming from... ;在分词短语中，定语从句who... 也做后置定语，修饰先行词a man。

2. He knows that even if he gets a dog viably 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.

该句主干是He knows that... 。that引导的宾语从句是一个主从复合句，且从句位于主句之前，主句是the offspring will face the problems... ;从句是让步状语从句：even if he gets a dog viably pregnant;should they survive是个省略了if的条件状语从句，为插入语，修饰主句。另外，主句的宾语the problems后接有过去分词短语shown... 做后置定语，相当于一个定义从句(that)are shown... ;冒号后的名词短语做the problems的同位语。

语篇分析

本文题材涉及生物技术。作者从克隆动物这个角度间接论证克隆人的不可行性，主张应该慎重对待克隆人研究。它是一篇观点论证型文章，按照“提出观点—论证观点—重申观点”的脉络展开论述，可分成三部分。

第一段为第一部分，提出观点：克隆人是不可行的。

引用专家Mark Westhusin和一位试图克隆其爱犬的富人的话(never met a human worth cloning，a stupid endeavor)表达作者的观点。接着介绍Mark Westhusin所进行的克隆动物的实验(two calves，a cat and a dog)，并特别指出对狗的克隆最具难度(one of the mysteries of modern science)。

第二、三段为第二部分，论证观点。

第二段：指出Mark Westhusin克隆动物的经验使他极力反对克隆人(vexed by talking of human cloning)。首句是段落主题句。段中详细介绍了一个克隆狗的项目(the Missyplicity project)中出现的状况：①从成百上千的卵中只获得一打左右基因匹配的胚胎;②转移到母体时没有一个胚胎存活下来。从这些细节中可以推出，克隆是低效而且危险的。这在末句“Cloning is incredibly inefficient, and also dangerous”得到了证实。该段最后还给出了Mark Westhusin的观点：动物实验中的浪费现象在人的研究中不能被接受。因此，该段将Mark Westhusin反对克隆人的态度表露无疑。

不是载体，是正在发育的新生命

不可以，因为胚胎就是孕育的生命本身。