Unit 6 Me and Another Me (Human Cloning)

1. Unit 6 Me and Another Me (Human Cloning)

2. New words and expressions for Reading One: • hostility: If you are hostile to another person or another idea, you dislike them or disapprove of them. “Hostility” is the noun form. • coo: When someone coos, they speak in a very soft, quiet voice which is intended to sound attractive. • She paused to coo at the baby...

3. on cue: happening or done at exactly the right moment • And then, on cue, the weather changed. • calico: American English a cat that has black, white, and brown fur 花猫 • duplicate: Duplicate is used to describe things that have been made as an exact copy of other things, usually in order to serve the same purpose. • He let himself in with a duplicate key.

4. subtext: The subtext is the implied message or subject of something that is said or written. • Europe’s divisions are the subtext of a new movie thriller called Zentropa. • uncuddly:If you describe a person or an animal as cuddly, you find them attractive because they are plump or soft and look very nice to hug and hold close. Uncuddly is the opposite.

5. split: If something splits or if you split it, it is divided into two or more parts. • In a severe gale the ship split in two... • The branch split under their weight. • One of the boxes had split open. • ASPCA: abbr. theAmerican Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: a charity organization that takes care of animals, especially pets whose owners treated them badly or did not want them, and tries to find new homes for them 美国防止虐待动物协会

6. humane society:a US organization that takes care of unwanted pets, especially ones that were treated cruelly, and tries to find them new homes. It also encourages people to treat animals better保护动物协会, 人道促进会 • oversee:If someone in authority oversees a job or an activity, they make sure that it is done properly. • Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work. • = supervise

7. border-collie: a British sheepdog that has a wavy, usually black coat with white markings and is used for herding • 博得牧羊犬：具有卷曲的，通常为黑色带白斑毛皮的英国牧羊犬，用于放牧。 • mix:A mix of different things or people is two or more of them together. • The story is a magical mix of fantasy and reality... • We get a very representative mix of people.

8. ovulate: [intransitive] When a woman or female animal ovulates, she produces eggs inside her body. • feline:A feline is an animal that belongs to the cat family. • The feline is so fat she can hardly walk. • = cat

9. fuse: If something fuses two different qualities, ideas, or things, or if they fuse, they join together, especially in order to form a pleasing or satisfactory combination. • The egg and sperm fuse together as one cell. • We intend to fuse the companies into a single organization. • = combine

10. implant: When an egg or embryo implants in the womb, it becomes established there and can then develop. • Non-identical twins are the result of two fertilised eggs implanting in the uterus at the same time. • surrogate:You use surrogate to describe a person or thing that is given a particular role because the person or thing that should have the role is not available. • William was acting as a surrogate father for his brother’s son.

11. fetal: Fetal is used to describe something that relates to or is like a fetus. • ...an early stage of fetal development... • in utero: in the uterus 在子宫内 • cumulus cell: 卵丘细胞 • with a flourish:with a large confident movement that makes people notice you • He opened his wallet with a flourish and took out a handful of notes.

12. well-heeled: Someone who is well-heeled is wealthy. • = wealthy • streamline: To streamline an organization or process means to make it more efficient by removing unnecessary parts of it. • efforts to streamline the production process

13. viable:Foetuses, seeds, or eggs are described as viable if they are capable of developing into living beings without outside help. (TECHNICAL) • Five viable pregnancies were established. • coat: the fur, wool, or hair that covers an anima’s body • Vitamin B6 is great for improving the condition of dogs’ and horses’ coats.

14. toss-up: If you say that it is a toss-up whether one thing will happen or another thing will happen, you mean that either result seems equally likely. • It’s a toss-up whether oil prices will go up or down over the days ahead. • tease out:If you tease out information or a solution, you succeed in obtaining it even though this is difficult. • They try to tease out the answers without appearing to ask... • There had to be an answer — he was sure he could tease it out if only he had time.

15. fallacy:A fallacy is an idea which many people believe to be true, but which is in fact false because it is based on incorrect information or reasoning. • It’s a fallacy that the affluent give relatively more to charity than the less prosperous...

16. stencil: A stencil is a piece of paper, plastic, or metal which has a design cut out of it. You place the stencil on a surface and paint it so that paint goes through the holes and leaves a design on the surface. • pooch: A pooch is a dog. (JOURNALISM INFORMAL) • counter: If you counter something that someone has said, you say something which shows that you disagree with them or which proves that they are wrong. • He was determined to counter the bribery allegations.

17. frailty: Frailty is the condition of having poor health. • She died after a long period of increasing frailty. • stray:[only before noun] a stray animal, such as a dog or cat, is lost or has no home • confound: If someone or something confounds you, they make you feel surprised or confused, often by showing you that your opinions or expectations of them were wrong. • The choice of Governor may confound us all. • His amazing recovery confounded the medical specialists.

18. dry run:If you have a dry run, you practise something to make sure that you are ready to do it properly. • The competition is planned as a dry run for the World Cup finals. • oversight: If someone has oversight of a process or system, they are responsible for making sure that it works efficiently and correctly. In the context of this text, it means guidance and regulation.

19. Check Your Comprehension A • 1. Why did the birth of cc receive a warm welcome instead of the usual hostility? • This change in attitude is because cc has all the features that help make her lovely and adorable. She has a face that’s almost impossible not to love. This “cuteness,” alone, is the difference.

20. 2. How is cc different from Dolly? • Dolly, the sheep, is the first cloned mammal, and cc, the cat, is the first cloned household pet. Cc is different from Dolly in that cc gets people emotionally involved since she is a cuddly house pet. • 3. Why did the news of the first cloned cat catch the eye of entrepreneurs? • Millions of beloved pets die in the U.S. each year. Therefore, entrepreneurs see a huge potential market for this new technology.

21. 4. How is cc’s temperament formed? Does cc look the same as Rainbow? • It is partly genetically written, and partly shaped by environment. It’s impossible for cc to have the same coloring as Rainbow, for coloring is determined partly by genes and partly by random molecular changes during development.

22. 5. What does cc represent in the eyes of the critics? • In the eyes of the critics, cc is a “test” of how the public could react to human cloning and whether the experiment can be morally justified.

23. Check Your Comprehension B 1. News about cloning breakthroughs is usually reported disapprovingly, yet on the arrival of cc last week these disapproving voices could hardly be heard — they were covered up by a chorus of gentle and loving reports from the press corps, who were charmed by cc’s cuteness. 2. So far in the clone debate the emotional aspect has been largely overlooked, yet the arrival of cc brings it into focus.

24. 3. With the arrival of cc last week, the cloning debate, that began in 1997 when Dolly was cloned, became heated and important again. 4. The Texas lab’s success rate is as low as 1 out of 87, but it is not surprising or uncommon in cloning work. Generally, one successful clone means dozens of dead embryos in the lab. 5. It’s hard to say how much of an animal’s personality is genetically written and how much is decided by environment, so temperament of a cloned pet is also a matter of chance.

25. 6. They regard cc as a test of how much people may tolerate human cloning ethically, and they worry because this trial experiment has been received so well.

26. New words and expressions for Reading Two: • prospect: If there is some prospect of something happening, there is a possibility that it will happen. • Unfortunately, there is little prospect of seeing these big questions answered... • The prospects for peace in the country’s eight-year civil war are becoming brighter... • There is a real prospect that the bill will be defeated in parliament.

27. radical: Radical changes and differences are very important and great in degree. • The Football League has announced its proposals for a radical reform of the way football is run in England. • = fundamental • yuk factor/yuck factor: “Yuk” (noun/exclamation), “yuck” (noun/exclamation), and “yucky” (adjective) all refer to something that is gross, nasty, or unpleasant. If, then, you refer to something’s “yuk factor,” you refer to how gross, nasty, or unpleasant you or others generally perceive it to be.

28. contend: If you contend that something is true, you state or argue that it is true. (FORMAL) • Some astronomers contend that the universe may be younger than previously thought. • stature: The stature of a person is the importance and reputation that they have. • Who can deny his stature as the world’s greatest cellist?...

29. breed: If you breed animals or plants, you keep them for the purpose of producing more animals or plants with particular qualities, in a controlled way. • He lived alone, breeding horses and dogs... • These dogs are bred to fight. • repulsive:If you describe something or someone as repulsive, you mean that they are horrible and disgusting and you want to avoid them. • ...repulsive fat white slugs. • = revolting, disgusting

30. perpetrate: If someone perpetrates a crime or any other immoral or harmful act, they do it. (FORMAL) • A high proportion of crime in any country is perpetrated by young males in their teens and twenties... • = commit • eugenics: Eugenics is the study of methods to improve the human race by carefully selecting parents who will produce the strongest children. (TECHNICAL)

31. totalitarian: A totalitarian political system is one in which there is only one political party which controls everything and does not allow any opposition parties. propagate: [transitive] If an animal, insect, etc propagates itself or is propagated, it increases in number. = reproduce

32. impregnate: When a man or a male animal impregnates a female, he makes her pregnant. (FORMAL) • Norman’s efforts to impregnate her failed. • twist:If you say that someone has twisted something that you have said, you disapprove of them because they have repeated it in a way that changes its meaning, in order to harm you or benefit themselves. • It’s a shame the way that the media can twist your words and misrepresent you... • = distort

33. dubious: If you describe something as dubious, you mean that you do not consider it to be completely honest, safe, or reliable. • This claim seems to us to be rather dubious... • = questionable

34. warp: If something warps someone’s character, it damages them or it influences them in a bad way. • I never had any toys, my father thought that they would warp my personal values... • Their lives have been warped by war. • seek somebody/something ↔ out: to try to find someone or something, especially when this is difficult • Our mission is to seek out the enemy and destroy them.

35. in vitro fertilization:[uncountable] a process in which a human egg is fertilized outside a woman’s body • afflicted: impaired • unnerve: If you say that something unnerves you, you mean that it worries or troubles you. • The news about Dermot had unnerved me...

36. moratorium: A moratorium on a particular activity or process is the stopping of it for a fixed period of time, usually as a result of an official agreement. • The House voted to impose a one-year moratorium on nuclear testing. • scrutiny: If a person or thing is under scrutiny, they are being studied or observed very carefully. • His private life came under media scrutiny...

37. oversight: If someone has oversight of a process or system, they are responsible for making sure that it works efficiently and correctly. • He has general oversight of all training courses. • = supervision

38. Check Your Comprehension B • 1. Academics and the public felt disturbed at last week’s news of the first cloned sheep, since it seems possible that human beings might be the next species to be cloned. • 2. Human dignity would indeed be violated if a cloned individual was judged to be inferior, and entitled to fewer rights or less importance than other humans.

39. Check Your Comprehension B • 3. The fact that infertile couples have other choices does not give us the right to prevent them from trying cloning. • 4. Democratic societies generally only ban things when there is convincing evidence of harm that they may bring. • 5. If cloned humans are not safe in our world, the rest of us are not safe either.

40. New words and expressions for Reading Three: • titter: If someone titters, they give a short nervous laugh, especially when they are embarrassed about something. Here “titer” is a noun. • = snigger • apprehension: Apprehension is a feeling of fear that something bad may happen. (FORMAL) • It reflects real anger and apprehension about the future... • I tensed every muscle in my body in apprehension. • = worry

41. occasion: To occasion something means to cause it. (FORMAL) • He argued that the release of hostages should not occasion a change in policy. • She had a long career break occasioned by her husband’s job being moved to Paris. • occasion somebody something • Your behaviour has occasioned us a great deal of anxiety.

42. Frankenstein:a novel by Mary Shelley, which was published in 1818 and tells the story of a scientist, called Frankenstein, who makes a creature by joining together bits of dead bodies. The creature is gentle at first, but later becomes violent and attacks its maker. People sometimes mistakenly call the creature Frankenstein, instead of the scientist who made it. • wattage: The wattage of a piece of electrical equipment is the amount of electrical power which it produces or uses, expressed in watts. In this context, wattage refers to power metaphorically.

43. loosely: Loose words or expressions are not exact but rather vague. “Loosely” is the adverb form. • plunder: If someone plunders a place or plunders things from a place, they steal things from it. (LITERARY) • The rich provinces of Asia Minor were plundered by the invaders. • = loot

44. forebrain: 前脑 • semblance: If there is a semblance of a particular condition or quality, it appears to exist, even though this may be a false impression. (FORMAL) • At least a semblance of normality has been restored to parts of the country...

45. loom: If something looms over you, it appears as a large or unclear shape, often in a frightening way. • Suddenly a mountain loomed up in front of them. • ominously:If you describe something as ominous, you mean that it worries you because it makes you think that something unpleasant is going to happen. “Ominously” is the adverb form. • The sky looked ominously dark.

46. mutant: A mutant is an animal or plant that is physically different from others of the same species because of a change in its genes. Here “mutant” is an adjective. • incubate: When birds incubate their eggs, they keep the eggs warm until the baby birds come out. • The birds returned to their nests and continued to incubate the eggs.

47. as per: If something happens as per a particular plan or suggestion, it happens in the way planned or suggested. (FORMAL) • When they reach here they complain that they are not being paid as per the agreement... • Aldous Huxley: Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World is both one of the best science fiction books and one of the most brilliant pieces of satire ever written. BNW takes place on a future Earth where human beings are mass-produced and conditioned for lives in a rigid caste system. As the story progresses, we learn some of the disturbing secrets that lie underneath the bright, shiny facade of this highly-ordered world.

48. breach: If someone or something breaches a barrier, they make an opening in it, usually leaving it weakened or destroyed. (FORMAL) • Fire may have breached the cargo tanks（油轮）and set the oil ablaze. • = rupture • skeptical: If you are skeptical about something, you have doubts about it. • Other archaeologists are skeptical about his findings.

49. acquiesce: If you acquiesce in something, you agree to do what someone wants or to accept what they do. (FORMAL) • Steve seemed to acquiesce in the decision... • When her mother suggested that she stay, Alice willingly acquiesced. • = submit • abyss: An abyss is a very dangerous situation that could involve you or others in disaster if you don’t avoid it. Literally, an abyss is an incredibly deep, dark chasm.

50. disembowel: To disembowel a person or animal means to remove their internal organs, especially their stomach, intestines, and bowels. • It shows a fox being disembowelled by a pack of hounds. • = gut • narcissism: Narcissism is the habit of always thinking about yourself and admiring yourself. (FORMAL) • He went to the gym every day, driven purely by narcissism.