In the next century we’ll be able to alter our DNA radically, encoding our visions and vanities while concocting new life-forms. When Dr. Frankenstein made his monster, he wrestled with the moral issue of whether he should allow it to reproduce, “Had I the right, for my own benefit, to inflict the curse upon everlasting generations?” Will such questions require us to develop new moral philosophies?
Probably not. Instead, we’ll reach again for a time tested in called the Golden Rule and which Kant, the millennium’s most prudent moralist, conjured up into a categorical imperative: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you; treat each person as an individual rather than as a means to some end.
Under this moral precept we should recoil at human cloning, because it inevitably entails using humans as means to other humans’ ends and valuing them as copies of others we loved or as collections of body parts, not as individuals in their own right. We should also draw a line, however fuzzy, that would permit using genetic engineering to cure diseases and disabilities but not to change the personal attributes that make someone an individual (IQ, physical appearance, gender and sexuality).
The biotech age will also give us more reason to guard our personal privacy. Aldous Huxley in Brave New World, got it wrong: rather than centralizing power in the hands of the state, DNA technology has empowered individuals and families. But the state will have an important role, making sure that no one, including insurance companies, can look at our genetic data without our permission or use it to discriminate against us.
Then we can get ready for the breakthroughs that could come at the end of the next century and the technology is comparable to mapping our genes: plotting the 10 billion or more neurons of our brain. With that information we might someday be able to create artificial intelligences that think and experience consciousness in ways that are indistinguishable from a human brain. Eventually we might be able to replicate our own minds in a “dry ware” machine, so that we could live on without the “wet ware” of a biological brain and body. The 20th century’s revolution in infotechnology will thereby merge with the 21st century’s revolution in biotechnology. But this is science fiction. Let’s turn the page now and get back to real science.
1.Dr. Frankenstein's remarks are mentioned in the text （ ）.
2.It can be concluded from the text that the technology of human cloning should be employed（ ）.
3.From the text, we learn that Aldous Huxley is of the opinion that（ ）.
4.Which of the following statements is true?
5.What does the word "it" in Sentence 2, Paragraph 1 refer to （ ）.
问题1选项
A.to give an episode of the DNA technological breakthroughs
B.to highlight the importance of a means to some everlasting ends
C.to show how he created a new form of life a thousand years ago
D.to introduce the topic of moral philosophies incurred in biotechnology
问题2选项
A.excessively and extravagantly
B.reasonably and cautiously
C.aggressively and indiscriminately
D.openly and enthusiastically
问题3选项
A.DNA technology should be placed in the charge of individuals
B.government should assume less control over individuals
C.people need government to protect their DND information
D.old moral precepts should be abolished on human cloning
问题4选项
A.The biotech age will give out more personal privacy
B.DNA technology has reduced the power of individual
C.In the 21
stcentury, people can change their DNA slightly
D.We should not attempt human cloning
问题5选项
A.Frankenstein
B.DNA
C.the monster
D.The moral issue
第1题:D
第2题:B
第3题:A
第4题:D
第5题:C
1.推理判断题。题目所问的是 “文中提到科学怪人的目的是什么？”文章第一段第二句提到 “当科学怪人制造出怪物，他就陷入是否该让这个怪物繁衍下一代的伦理问题的矛盾之中， ‘为了我自身的利益，让子子孙孙来承受这个诅咒？’这样的问题需要我们建立新的伦理观吗？”(When Dr. Frankenstein made his monster, he wrestled with the moral issue of whether he should allow it to reproduce, “Had I the right, for my own benefit, to inflict the curse upon everlasting generations?” Will such questions require us to develop new moral philosophies?)，由以上可得出选项D “引出生物技术中的伦理问题这个话题”符合题意。
2.推理判断题。题目所问的是 “从文中可知人类克隆技术应该使用的方法是什么？”文章第一段通过 “科学怪人”这个例子引出生物科学中的伦理问题；第二段提到哲学家康德的观点Do unto others as you would have them do unto you; treat each person as an individual rather than as a means to some end （将每个人当作个体来对待，而不是作为一种手段）；第三段提到在上文提到的准则下，我们应该放弃克隆技术（Under this moral precept we should recoil at human cloning）；第四段提到生物科技的时代将给我们更多保护隐私的理由（The biotech age will also give us more reason to guard our personal privacy）。由此可知，克隆技术的使用应该是合理并且谨慎的。选项B符合题意。
3.细节事实题。题目所问的是 “从文章中可知，Aldous Huxley的观点是什么？”文章第四段第二句提到 “在他的作品《美丽新世界》中，赫胥黎犯了一个错误：DNA技术的主动权在个人和家庭手中，而不是在权力集中的国家手中”（Aldous Huxley in Brave New World, got it wrong: rather than centralizing power in the hands of the state, DNA technology has empowered individuals and families），因此，选项A “DNA技术应该掌握在个人手中”是赫胥黎的观点，符合题意。
4.推理判断题。题目所问的是 “下列说法哪个正确？”文章第三段第一句提到 “在这个道德准则下，我们应该放弃克隆技术，因为它会不可避免地让一些人成为另一些人达到目标的手段，而不是将每个人当作个体来对待”(Under this moral precept we should recoil at human cloning, because it inevitably entails using humans as means to other humans’ ends and valuing them as copies of others we loved or as collections of body parts, not as individuals in their own right)，选项D “我们不应该进行人类克隆”符合题意。
5.词义题。题目所问的是 “ ‘it’指的是什么？”文章第一段第二句话提到 “当科学怪人制造出怪物，他就陷入是否该让这个怪物繁衍下一代的伦理问题的矛盾之中” (When Dr. Frankenstein made his monster, he wrestled with the moral issue of whether he should allow it to reproduce)，因此可知，这里的it指的是创造出来的怪物。选项C符合题意。
