历年考研英语阅读理解2003年02
[00:06.14]2003 Text2
[00:08.35]To paraphrase 18th-century statesman Edmund Burke,
[00:12.20]"all that is needed for the triumph of a misguided cause
[00:16.43]is that good people do nothing."
[00:19.36]One such cause now seeks to end biomedical research
[00:23.29]because of the theory that animals have rights
[00:26.22]ruling out their use in research.
[00:29.25]Scientists need to respond forcefully
[00:31.76]to animal rights advocates,
[00:33.67]whose arguments are confusing the public
[00:36.10]and thereby threatening advances
[00:37.91]in health knowledge and care.
[00:40.56]Leaders of the animal rights movement
[00:42.67]target biomedical research
[00:44.49]because it depends on public funding,
[00:47.31]and few people understand
[00:49.13]the process of health care research.
[00:52.46]Hearing allegations of cruelty to animals in research settings,
[00:57.00]many are perplexed that anyone
[00:59.22]would deliberately harm an animal.
[01:02.14]For example, a grandmotherly woman
[01:05.26]staffing an animal rights booth
[01:06.98]at a recent street fair was distributing a brochure
[01:10.41]that encouraged readers not to use anything
[01:13.35]that comes from or is tested in animals--no meat,
[01:17.75]no fur, no medicines. Asked if she opposed immunizations,
[01:23.50]she wanted to know if vaccines come from animal research.
[01:28.34]When assured that they do, she replied,
[01:31.26]"Then I would have to say yes."
[01:34.49]Asked what will happen when epidemics return,
[01:37.51]she said, "Don't worry, scientists
[01:40.03]will find some way of using computers."
[01:43.36]Such well-meaning people just don't understand.
[01:47.89]Scientists must communicate their message
[01:50.42]to the public in a compassionate,
[01:52.64]understandable way--in human terms,
[01:55.64]not in the language of molecular biology.
[01:58.97]We need to make clear the connection
[02:01.09]between animal research and a grandmother's hip replacement,
[02:05.12]a father's bypass operation, a baby's vaccinations,
[02:09.42]and even a pet's shots.
[02:12.74]To those who are unaware that animal research
[02:15.67]was needed to produce these treatments,
[02:17.78]as well as new treatments and vaccines,
[02:20.31]animal research seems wasteful at best and cruel at worst.
[02:26.27]Much can be done.
[02:27.64]Scientists could "adopt" middle school classes
[02:31.24]and present their own research.
[02:33.67]They should be quick to respond to letters to the editor,
[02:37.41]lest animal rights misinformation go unchallenged
[02:41.14]and acquire a deceptive appearance of truth.
[02:45.17]Research institutions could be opened to tours,
[02:48.50]to show that laboratory animals receive humane care.
[02:52.85]Finally, because the ultimate stakeholders are patients,
[02:57.28]the health research community should actively recruit
[03:00.71]to its cause not only well-known personalities
[03:04.24]such as Stephen Cooper,
[03:06.06]who has made courageous statements
[03:07.67]about the value of animal research,
[03:10.09]but all who receive medical treatment.
[03:12.70]If good people do nothing, there is a real possibility
[03:16.15]that an uninformed citizenry will extinguish
[03:19.90]the precious embers of medical progress.
