Question

    The 1993 movie Jurassic Park wasn’t the first film to show dinosaurs in the modern world. But it did a good job of bringing the idea of cloning dinosaurs into popular culture. It represented dinosaur cloning in a way that made sense to a lot of people, and it was a successful film, making more than $900 million worldwide.

Jurassic Park built on the idea of getting DNA from mosquitoes kept in amber. While this might seem possible at first sight, it’s highly unlikely that scientists could find usable dinosaur DNA in mosquito fossils. Scientists would need a very specific sample-a female mosquito that had taken lots of dinosaur blood immediately before being trapped in amber. Since fossilization in amber is a relatively rare event, the chances of this happening are pretty small.

The lack of possible samples isn’t the only problem. Most insect fossils found in amber are also too young to contain dinosaur blood-dinosaurs were gone by the time the insects became trapped. Many insects went bad from the inside out after they were trapped, leaving nothing inside for scientists to try to find. Finally, the sample would have to be very dry, since DNA can break down quickly in the presence of water.

But if researchers did find a perfectly kept mosquito with a body full of dinosaur blood, bringing back its DNA would still be difficult. The blood with the dinosaur DNA would be surrounded by the body of an insect, which has its own DNA. There could also be DNA from the other cells trapped in the amber. Then, of course, there’s the DNA in the laboratory itself-and in the body of the scientist.

1.Why is the film Jurassic Park mentioned at the beginning?

A.To introduce the topic of cloning dinosaurs.

B.To encourage scientists to clone dinosaurs.

C.To give a simple introduction to dinosaurs.

D.To stress the possibility of cloning dinosaurs.

2.The key to cloning dinosaurs is to gain ________.

A.insect fossils.

B.dinosaur DNA.

C.dinosaur blood.

D.mosquitoes in amber.

3.What is the author’s opinion on cloning dinosaurs?

A.It’s a step away from success.

B.It will be a fruitless attempt.

C.It requires further research.

D.It lacks creative work.

4.What can be a suitable title for the text?

A.Why was Jurassic Park successful?

B.Reasons for dinosaurs’ dying out

C.Can scientists clone dinosaurs?

D.Ways of cloning dinosaurs

Answer

1.A

2.B

3.B

4.C

【解析】

本文是议论文。文章以电影《侏罗纪公园》引出“克隆恐龙”的话题，并论述了克隆恐龙的可能性非常小。

1.推理判断题。根据第一段中的But it did a good job of bringing the idea of cloning dinosaurs into popular culture.(电影很好地将克隆恐龙的想法带入了大众的文化生活中)可知，作者提到电影《侏罗纪公园》是为了引出克隆恐龙的话题。故选A。

2.细节理解题。根据第二段中的Jurassic Park built on the idea of getting DNA from mosquitoes kept in amber. While this might seem possible at first sight, it’s highly unlikely that scientists could find usable dinosaur DNA in mosquito fossils. Scientists would need a very specific sample-a female mosquito that had taken lots of dinosaur blood immediately before being trapped in amber.(从保存在琥珀中的蚊子身上提取恐龙的DNA，电影《侏罗纪公园》是在这样的想法指导下拍摄的。虽然乍一看这似乎是可能的，但科学家们很难在蚊子化石中找到有用的恐龙DNA。科学家们需要一个非常特殊的样本：一只被困在琥珀中之前已经吸取大量恐龙血液的雌性蚊子)可知，克隆恐龙的关键是获取恐龙的DNA。故选B。

3.推理判断题。根据第四段中的But if researchers did find a perfectly kept mosquito with a body full of dinosaur blood, bringing back its DNA would still be difficult.(但如果研究人员真的发现了一只保存完好的蚊子，它的身体充满了恐龙的血液，那么要找回恐龙的DNA仍然很困难)可知，提取恐龙 DNA 几乎是不可能的事情，故作者认为克隆恐龙是没有结果的。故选B。

4.主旨大意题。通读全文可知，文章以电影《侏罗纪公园》引出“克隆恐龙”的话题，并论述了克隆恐龙的可能性非常小。故标题Can Scientists Clone Dinosaurs?(科学家能克隆恐龙吗？)与文章内容吻合。A. Why was Jurassic Park successful?(电影《侏罗纪公园》为何取得成功？)只是文章提到的一个事实；B. Reasons for dinosaurs’ dying out(恐龙灭绝的原因)在文中没有被提到；D. Ways of cloning dinosaurs(克隆恐龙的方式)虽在文中有提到，但是文章通过对该方式的分析是为了得出克隆恐龙的可能性非常小。故选C。