Question

In the movie Jurassic Park (1993) a billionaire creates a theme park filled with dinosaurs, brought back from extinction through cloning by a team of scientists.

Although the film is of course fictional, the methods used in it to bring animals back from the dead may soon become reality.

Scientists from Harvard University in the US are currently working on resurrecting the woolly mammoth, a mammal that became extinct around 4,000 years ago.

However, it wouldn't be an exact copy of the hairy beast. "Our aim is to produce a hybrid elephant-mammoth embryo,” Professor George Church, head of the team of scientists, told The Guardian.

“Actually, it would be more like an elephant with a number of mammoth traits. We're not there yet, but it could happen in a couple of years."

The team is hoping to make a “mammophant”- a mix between an elephant and a mammoth. It would be like a regular elephant but have features from the mammoth that would make it more adaptable to cold weather.

Small ears, a thick layer of body fat and, of course, long hair are what helped the mammoth live in freezing temperatures.

So why go through all the effort and expense to bring back an animal that died out thousands of years ago? The answer lies in climate change.

It's hoped that the creatures will stop frost in the world's tundra from melting and releasing huge amounts of harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Mammoths used to keep the tundra from thawing by punching through snow and allowing cold air to come in," said Church. In the summer, they knocked down trees and helped the grass grow."Church and his team are attempting to mix mammoth DNA, recovered from frozen samples of the animal found in Siberia, with that of the Asian elephant, which is its closest relative.

There are critics who believe that the media has got carried away with the story though, after several websites ran headlines such as Woolly mammoths will be roaming Earth again within two years.

“So far, scientists have managed to incorporate traits of the mammoth into elephant DNA. In a few years, they hope to make an embryo, but that's a long way from creating a viable embryo, "Popular Science magazine wrote.

Some have even gone so far as to call the story “fake news". Paleoanthropologist(古人类学家)John Hawks wrote on blog platform Medium: Is this just another case of the media sensationalizing(大肆渲染) what is otherwise a good science story?"

Although we may not be seeing woolly mammoths at the zoo any time in the near future, it's still exciting to know that there is still the possibility of a real Jurassic Park someday, however tiny that possibility may be.

1.The underlined word “resurrecting” in Paragraph 3 probably means__________.

A. making something adaptable to current condition

B. studying a sample of something

C. bringing something back to life

D. producing a hybrid embryo of something

2.What would a mammophant look like according to the text?

A. It would be a combination of elephant, mammoth and dinosaur.

B. It would be an exact copy of the woolly mammoth with long hair.

C. It would look like a normal elephant but also share some mammoth traits.

D. It would be like a bigger sized elephant with small ears and short hair.

3.What is the main purpose of producing mammophants according to Church?

A. To improve biodiversity.

B. To help fight global warming.

C. To remove frost in the tundra.

D. To help grass grow in the tundra.

4.What can be concluded from the text?

A. The media holds a cautious attitude toward the mammophant program.

B. A hybrid elephant- mammoth embryo is likely to be produced within two years

C. The method used to produce mammophants was borrowed from the movie Jurassic Park,

D. Scientists still have a long way to fulfill the goals of the mammophant program.

Answer

1. C

2. C

3. B

4. D

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，介绍了哈佛大学的科学家目前正致力于复活一种大约4000年前灭绝的哺乳动物——长毛象，此举的目的是通过它们来应对全球变暖，也有一些人对此持反对意见，但不管怎样，这都是令人兴奋的。

1.词义猜测题。根据第二段中的“the methods used in it to bring animals back from the dead may soon become reality.”可知，电影中用来把动物从死亡中拯救过来的方法可能很快成为现实，此处是说哈佛大学的科学家目前正致力于复活一种大约4000年前灭绝的哺乳动物——长毛象，由此可知画线词词义为“复活”，故C项正确。

2.细节理解题。根据第五段中的“Actually, it would be more like an elephant with a number of mammoth traits.”可知，长毛象看起来像普通的大象但也具有一些猛犸象的特征，故C项正确。

3.推理判断题。根据第九段“It's hoped that the creatures will stop frost in the world's tundra from melting and releasing huge amounts of harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.”及第十段中的“Mammoths used to keep the tundra from thawing by punching through snow and allowing cold air to come in,”可知，这些动物有望阻止冰原融化并向空气中释放大量有害的温室气体，因此目的是为了应对全球变暖，故B项正确。

4.推理判断题。根据倒数第三段中的“In a few years, they hope to make an embryo, but that's a long way from creating a viable embryo”可知，培育出一个存活的胚胎还有很长的一段路要走，也就是科学家要实现他们的目标还有很长的路要走，故D项正确。