When a Scottish research team startled the world by revealing 3 months ago that it had cloned an adult sheep, President Clinton moved swiftly. Declaring that he was opposed to using this unusual animal husbandry technique to clone humans, he ordered that federal funds not be used for such an experiment — although no one had proposed to do so — and asked an independent panel of experts chaired by Princeton President Harold Shapiro to report back to the White House in 90 days with recommendations for a national policy on human cloning. That group — the National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) — has been working feverishly to put its wisdom on paper, and at a meeting on 17 May, members agreed on a near-final draft of their recommendations.
NBAC will ask that Clinton's 90-day ban on federal funds for human cloning be extended indefinitely, and possibly that it be made law. But NBAC members are planning to word the recommendation narrowly to avoid new restrictions on research that involves the cloning of human DNA or cells-routine in molecular biology. The panel has not yet reached agreement on a crucial question, however, whether to recommend legislation that would make it a crime for private funding to be used for human cloning.
In a draft preface to the recommendations, discussed at the 17 May meeting, Shapiro suggested that the panel had found a broad consensus that it would be "morally unacceptable to attempt to create a human child by adult nuclear cloning." Shapiro explained during the meeting that the moral doubt stems mainly from fears about the risk to the health of the child. The panel then informally accepted several general conclusions, although some details have not been settled.
NBAC plans to call for a continued ban on federal government funding for any attempt to clone body cell nuclei to create a child because current federal law already forbids the use of federal funds to create embryos (the earliest stage of human offspring before birth) for research or to knowingly endanger an embryo's life, NBAC will remain silent on embryo research.
NBAC members also indicated that they will appeal to privately funded researchers and clinics not to try to clone humans by body cell nuclear transfer. But they were divided on whether to go further by calling for a federal law that would impose a complete ban on human cloning. Shapiro and most members favored an appeal for such legislation, but in a phone interview, he said this issue was still "up in the air".
1.We can learn from the first paragraph that_______.
A.federal funds have been used in a project to clone humans
B.the White House responded strongly to the news of cloning
C.NBAC was authorized to control the misuse of cloning technique
D.the White House has got the panel's recommendations on cloning
2.The panel agreed on all of the following EXCEPT that_______.
A.the ban on federal funds for human cloning should be made a law
B.the cloning of human DNA is not to be put under more control
C.it is criminal to use private funding for human cloning
D.it would be against ethical values to clone a human being
3.NBAC will leave the issue of embryo research undiscussed because_______.
A.embryo research is just a current development of cloning
B.the health of the child is not the main concern of embryo research
C.an embryo's life will not be endangered in embryo research
D.the issue is explicitly stated and settled in the law
4.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that_______.
A.some NBAC members hesitate to ban human cloning completely
B.a law banning human cloning is to be passed in no time
C.privately funded researchers will respond positively to NBAC's appeal
D.the issue of human cloning will soon be settled
5.The best title for this article is "________".
A.Legislation for Opposing Human Cloning B.Draft of Anti-human Cloning
C.Complete Ban on Human Cloning D.No Funding Used for Human Cloning
长难例句分析
［长难例句］Declaring that he was opposed to using this unusual animal husbandry technique to clone humans, he ordered that federal funds not be used for such an experiment — although no one had proposed to do so — and asked an independent panel of experts chaired by Princeton President Harold Shapiro to report back to the White House in 90 days with recommendations for a national policy on human cloning.
［结构分析］本句中，主语是he，两个并列的谓语是ordered和asked。让步状语从句although no one had proposed to do so作为补充成分，对前面的句子进一步加以限定，说明克林顿对此事极为重视。chaired by...作定语修饰independent panel of experts。前面的Declaring that he was opposed to using this unusual animal husbandry technique to clone humans是现在分词短语作状语，表示原因。
［参考译文］他宣称反对利用这种特殊的畜牧业技术克隆人类，同时下令禁止使用联邦基金做这种实验——虽然还没有人提出要这样做。他要求成立一个由普林斯顿大学校长哈Harold Shapiro领导的独立专家小组，在90天内就关于克隆人的国家政策问题写出报告，向白宫汇报。
全文参考译文
当苏格兰的一个研究小组透露3个月前他们已克隆了一只成年绵羊时，世界为之震惊，克林顿总统立即作出反应。他宣称他反对利用这种特殊的畜牧业技术去克隆人类，同时下令禁止使用联邦基金做这种实验——虽然还没有人提出要这样做。他要求成立一个由普林斯顿大学校长Harold Shapiro领导的独立专家小组，在90天内就关于克隆人的国家政策问题写出报告，向白宫汇报。这个专家组名为全国生物伦理道德顾问委员会（NBAC），此后它一直在积极而热情地为之工作，集众所长，写出报告。在5月17日的一次会议上，委员们就将近定稿的报告书达成了共识。
NBAC将要求克林顿总统在有关联邦基金不能用于克隆人的90天禁令无限期延长，并就此立法。可NBAC委员们计划在提案的言辞上更为严谨，以防止给克隆人体DNA（脱氧核糖核酸）或细胞等方面研究带来更多的限制——因为在分子生物学中这种研究属于常规研究项目。但是。这个专家组在一个关键问题上还未达成共识，即是否建议立法，规定利用私人基金克隆人应视为犯罪。
在5月17日开会讨论的报告序言草稿中，Shapiro表示专家们已达成广泛的共识，认为“试图用成人细胞核去克隆婴儿是违背伦理道德的”。他在会议期间解释说，伦理道德上禁止的主要原因是担心对婴儿的健康产生危害。随后，专家们非正式地达成几种一般的结论，尽管有些细节还未解决。
NBAC计划号召持续禁止出于任何目的使用联邦政府基金利用人体细胞核来克隆婴孩。原因是现行联邦政府法律已经禁止使用联邦基金创造供研究用的胚胎（即人类后代出生前的萌芽阶段）或潜意识地危害胚胎的生命，但NBAC的报告将并不反对胚胎的研究。
NBAC成员宣称：他们要呼吁由私人出资的研究人员和机构不要尝试通过利用人体细胞核克隆人。可他们在是否进一步要求联邦政府用法律强制执行完全禁止克隆人这一问题上存在分歧。Shapiro和大多数委员赞成此观念，可在电话采访中他透露，这仍是个“悬而未决”的问题。
题目答案与解析
1.我们从第一段可以了解到，________。
A.联邦基金已经被用于一个克隆人的项目 B.白宫对有关克隆的消息反应强烈
C.NBAC被授权控制滥用克隆技术 D.白宫已经得到专家小组有关克隆问题的建议
【答案】B
【解析】从文章第一段的内容可知，一个苏格兰研究小组披露他们克隆了一只成年羊后，克林顿总统迅速采取行动；他宣称他反对利用这种畜牧业技术克隆人类，并下令禁止联邦基金用于此类实验，要求一个独立专家小组在90天内向白宫提交报告，为国家有关克隆人类的政策提出建议；该小组将其明智的看法写成公文，在5月17日举行的会议上，小组成员一致同意这份差不多是定稿的建议报告。据此可知，美国总统对有关克隆的消息反应强烈，并迅速采取行动。B项与文章的意思相符，因此为正确答案。
2.除_______之外，专家小组对下面所有说法都同意。
A.联邦基金不得用于克隆人类的禁令应该被制定成为法律
B.克隆人类的DNA将不会受到更多控制
C.使用私人基金克隆人类的行为是犯罪行为
D.克隆人类将违背道德价值观
【答案】C
【解析】从文章第二段的内容可知，专家小组对是否建议将私人基金用于克隆人类的行为法定为犯罪行为，尚未达成一致意见；从第三段的内容可知，Shapiro暗示，“从道义上讲，试图克隆成人的细胞核以克隆出婴儿的做法令人难以接受”，专家小组在这一点上已达成共识。据此可知，只有C项与文章第二段最后一句话的意思不符，因此C项为正确答案。
3.NBAC将不讨论胚胎的研究问题，因为________。
A.胚胎研究只是克隆的流行发展
B.婴儿的健康不是胚胎研究主要关心的问题
C.在胚胎研究中，胚胎的生命不会有危险
D.这个问题已经得到法律的清晰陈述，并被载入法律之中
【答案】D
【解析】本题可参照文章的第四段。从中可知，因为目前的联邦法律已经禁止联邦基金用于克隆胚胎以进行研究或故意危害胚胎的生命，所以NBAS将对胚胎研究不发表意见。据此可知，NBAC之所以不讨论胚胎研究问题，是因为联邦法律已经禁止将联邦基金用于胚胎研究。D项与文章的意思相符，因此为正确答案。
4.可以从最后一段推知，________。
A.一些NBAC成员对完全禁止克隆人类犹豫不决
B.一项禁止克隆人类的法律将马上被通过
C.受私人基金资助的研究人员将积极响应NBAC的呼吁
D.克隆人类的问题将很快得到解决
【答案】A
【解析】本题可参照文章的最后一段。从中可知，对于是否进一步要求制定一项完全禁止克隆人类的联邦法律，NBAC的成员意见不一致；Shapiro和大多数成员赞成要求制定这样的法律，但在一次电话采访中，他说，这个问题仍然“悬而未决”。据此可知：并不是所有的NBAC成员都赞成完全禁止克隆人类。A项与文中的意思相符，因此为正确答案。
5.本文的最恰当的标题是“______”。
A.为反对克隆人类而立法 B.反对克隆人类的草案
C.完全禁止克隆人类 D.不为克隆人类而投资
【答案】B
【解析】本文讲述的是克林顿政府对克隆技术作出的反应。核心是防止克隆技术用在人类身上，但是到底是否要为此立法，没有统一意见。因此，所做的草案是主要结果，它包含了是否为克隆人类立法的问题，所以B选项比A选项更贴切。
