Cloning

Past perfect continuous

Reading
1 Read the article. What is it about?
A The best way to preserve habitats and save species
from extinction.
B Using cloning to save animals from extinction.
C Understanding why species become extinct.
D Using cloning to create new species.

A It sounds like something from a science fiction film – the idea of bringing
back to life creatures that became extinct thousands of years ago. But it seems
that the idea could soon move from fiction to fact. Scientists are improving their
ability to use the technique of cloning, in which they use the genetic material
5 from just one cell from an animal to ‘grow’ a new version of the animal.
B In May 2007, a scientist in Japan successfully cloned mice that had been
frozen for 16 years. A group of American scientists thinks that this breakthrough
could open the door to using frozen remains of ancient woolly mammoths to
reproduce the animals themselves. In 2009, a group of scientists published a
10 paper which contained 70% of the mammoth genome – that’s a list of all the
genes the mammoth has. This leaves just 30% to figure out, and scientist Roger
Marshall believes that ‘it’s just a matter of time before this happens’. Comments

C Other scientists are focusing on a more immediate problem – can they This research is amazing
use cloning to save endangered species? Some zoos, like the San Diego Zoo, – I mean, how long had
15 keep ‘frozen zoos’, in which they retain genetic material from endangered they been trying to clone
Emily24 animals before their
species. In 2003, scientists at San Diego Zoo successfully cloned a banteng, breakthrough?! Wouldn’t
an endangered species of ox. They did it by inserting genes from a banteng it be great to see a real,
into the reproductive cells of a domestic cow. The cow then gave birth to a live woolly mammoth?
healthy baby banteng. They are now keen to extend their experiments and use
20 similar techniques to try to clone other species in danger of extinction, such This article brings me
hope that with the aid of
as giant pandas, or to re-create extinct species like the Pyrenean ibex and the science we can save many
Tasmanian tiger. SamT0009 species from extinction.

D But some people are raising ethical objections to this work. For example,
Scientists should
mammoths, like their modern relatives elephants, were intelligent and move away from
25 gregarious animals. Some scientists argue that it wouldn’t be fair to clone genetic experiments
a single animal and keep it in captivity when mammoths had been living AnnaJones in laboratories and
concentrate on preserving
in groups for thousands of years before their extinction. There are similar animals in their natural
objections to cloning endangered or recently-extinct species. If you suddenly habitats.
reintroduce a new predator like the Tasmanian tiger, smaller creatures will
30 become its prey, and these species may then also become endangered.
Environmentalists argue that if animal habitats hadn’t been disappearing so
drastically, because of climate change and human activity, this situation would
never have arisen. They say the answer is not to re-create species whose
natural habitat no longer exists, but to work to preserve the habitats of today’s
35 animals so they can continue to thrive in the wild.

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Vocabulary and comprehension
2 Read the article again. Match headings 1–5 with
paragraphs A–D. There is one extra heading.
1 Concerns about cloning
2 The importance of zoos
3 Saving extinct or nearly extinct species
4 Unbelievable science
5 Recreating an ancient species
3 Match the words 1–5 with the correct definition A–E.
1 mammoth (paragraph B)
2 genome (paragraph B)
3 retain (paragraph C)
4 ethical (paragraph D)
5 thrive (paragraph D)
A connected with beliefs and principles about what is
right and wrong
B the complete set of genes in a cell or living thing
C become, and continue to be, successful, strong,
healthy, etc.
D keep something; continue to have something
E an animal like a large elephant covered with hair, that
lived thousands of years ago and is now extinct
4 Read the article again and answer the questions in
your own words.
1 What information do scientists already have about the
woolly mammoth?
2 How did scientists in San Diego Zoo create a baby
banteng?
3 Why do some people think it would be wrong to bring
back a woolly mammoth?
4 What might happen if Tasmanian tigers are
reintroduced?
5 According to the article, which statements are true?
1 Scientists have already cloned some animals.
2 Scientists at San Diego Zoo are hoping to clone a
banteng.
3 Environmentalists would like to see more cloning of
endangered animals.
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6 Read the article again. Choose the correct answers.
1 When scientists clone an animal, they …
A change its genes.
B add new genes to its reproductive cells.
C use a single cell to create a new animal.
D breed it with another animal.
2 Roger Marshall …
A believes that it will never be possible to clone a
woolly mammoth.
B believes that it would take too long to discover the
full mammoth genome.
C believes that sooner or later scientists will discover
the full mammoth genome.
D believes that it will soon be possible to recreate a
woolly mammoth.
3 Scientists at San Diego Zoo …
A want to freeze more animals in their zoo.
B have brought frozen animals back to life.
C would like to try their successful techniques on
other species.
D believe that their technique would not be
successful with species that are already extinct.
4 In the comments, ‘AnnaJones’ …
A agrees with environmentalists.
B believes that cloned animals could be reintroduced
to natural habitats.
C thinks that there should be more genetic
experiments.
D agrees with ‘SamT0009’.
7 The phrase ‘open the door to’ in paragraph B
means …
A be the result of.
B have the effect of.
C accept.
D make possible.
8 What do you think is the main intention of the
writer?
A To persuade people that cloning is a good idea.
B To warn people about the dangers of cloning.
C To inform people about the science and ethics of
cloning.
D To criticize modern science.
E To encourage more people to become
environmentalists.
Cloning Past perfect continuous 2
 Grammar practice
9 Complete the sentences from the text using the past
perfect continuous form of the verbs in brackets.
Then read the text again to check. Why do we use
this tense here?
1 Mammoths (live) in groups
for thousands of years before their extinction.
2 Environmentalists argue that if animal habitats
(not disappear) so
drastically, this situation would never have arisen.
3 How long they
(try) to clone frozen animals before their
breakthrough?
10 Complete the sentences with the past perfect
continuous form of the verbs in brackets.
1 They (go out) together for
five years before they got married.
2 (you / look for) the keys
for a long time when you found them?
3 They (not / live) there for
long when the new neighbour moved in.
4 How long (you / wait) for
him when he called?
5 We were very tired last night because we
(study) all day.
11 Order the words to form sentences.
1 tried to / had / when / been / wake her up / sleeping /
She / for twelve hours / we / .
2 your promotion / How long / been / you / had / there /
when / you / working / got / ?
3 waiting / very angry / an hour / because / He / been /
had / was / he / for / .
4 didn’t / We / hadn’t / the homework / been / carefully /
so we / listening / understand / .
5 the teacher / been / She / so she / when / paying
attention / hadn’t / said her name / was surprised / .
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12 Match sentence halves 1–5 with A–E to make correct
sentences.
1 When the rangers caught him,
2 The young lions were hungry because
3 When I found her, I could see that
4 Since study began two years ago,
5 By the time the officers reached the area,
A she’d been crying.
B they have monitored hundreds of turtles.
C they hadn’t eaten anything for two days.
D they had been travelling for ten hours.
E he’d been hiding in the woods all day.
13 Choose the best option to complete each sentence.
1 She didn’t want to lose her job. She … there for three
years.
A has been working
B had worked
C had been working
2 The TV programme … twice on a different channel
before we saw it.
A had been showing
B had been shown
C had shown
3 She … in the final when she broke her leg.
A had competed
B has been competing
C had been competing
4 By the time we arrived, most people … .
A had been left
B had been leaving
C had left
5 He was bored because he … to the same thing all day.
A had been listening
B has listened
C has been listening
14 Tick the correct sentences. Rewrite any incorrect
sentences below.
1 My colleague had already been calling me five times
before I got to work this morning.
2 We had been living there since 2002, so we were
devastated we had to move last month.
3 I’d been thinking about going for so long, so I finally
bought my ticket and went.
4 They had been studying mountain gorillas for several
years now.
5 The children were hungry because they had been
playing in the garden for hours.
Cloning Past perfect continuous 3
 Homework exercises
15 Circle the correct alternatives to complete the news 17 Think of a time when you achieved something that
report. you had been working towards. Describe how you
achieved your goal and how you felt afterwards.
Over the past few years, the government (1) reduced / has Write a narrative of 90–120 words. Before you start,
reduced its financial support of many public services, including read the Writing reference section on page 5.
many local mountain rescue groups. Although regional
supporters (2) have been protesting / had been protesting
against these cuts since they (3) have begun / began, most
people don’t worry about this until they find themselves
needing help.
When Jane Copeland (4) had heard / heard the sound of the
rescue helicopter approaching, she was overcome with relief.
By this time, Jane (5) lay / had been lying on a rocky hillside
for several hours unable to move after she (6) fell / has fallen
seven metres from a narrow ledge. Before her accident, Jane
and her group of experienced walkers (7) had been following
/ followed a well-known path when they discovered a fallen
tree blocking their path. Unable to move the tree, the group
(8) took / had been taken the decision to go around the tree
rather than to turn back. The walk leader, an expert in the area,
(9) has gone / went first and showed the walkers where to
place their feet. Unfortunately, Jane and a friend (10) had been
talking / had talked while the leader explained and they
(11) had missed / had been missing the demonstration. When
it came to her turn, Jane slipped and fell.
Later in hospital, Jane was told that if she (12) didn’t wear
/ hadn’t been wearing adequate protective clothing, her
injuries would have been more serious. She was lucky that
she only broke three bones in her ankle. Jane is now a regular
fundraiser and volunteer for her local mountain rescue group.

16 Complete the conversation with the correct form of

the verbs in the box. Use the past perfect continuous
where possible.

ever / dream live read snow win work

A Why did you suddenly decide to leave your job and

come to Canada?
B Well, I (1) a book about the
northern territories in Canada and I felt I just had to
come and see them for myself.
A What did your boss say about that?
B He wasn’t very happy, I must say! We
(2) really hard for months and
we (3) a major prize for the
design of the new community theatre, so he was also
very surprised.
A And what was your first impression of Canada?
B It was everything I (4) of. It
(5) for a short while when the
plane landed, so everything was white and beautiful.
A Have you settled in now?
B Oh yes! After the first month, I felt like I
(6) here for years. I love it here!

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Grammar reference
Past perfect continuous
Form

Affirmative
I / He / She / It / You
had (’d) been -ing
/ We / They
Negative
I / He / She / It / You
had not (hadn’t) been -ing
/ We / They
Questions
Had I / he / she / it / you / we / they been -ing?

Use
We use the past perfect continuous:
• to emphasize the duration of an action that started
in the past and finished before the present time.
We’d been revising for hours (before we stopped
to eat dinner).
(= But then we stopped revising to eat dinner.)
• to talk about actions or situations in the past that
had an effect on another action or situation in the
past.
She failed the exam because she hadn’t been
paying attention in class.
(= She didn’t pay attention in class, therefore she
failed the exam.)

Past perfect simple

Form

Affirmative
I / He / She / It / You /
had (’d) past participle
We / They
Negative
I / He / She / It / You /
had not (hadn’t) past participle
We / They
Questions
Had I / he / she / it / you / we / they past participle?

Use
We use the past perfect simple:
• To talk about actions or situations in the past which
happened before other actions or situations.
The party had started before we arrived.
• To talk about actions or situations which happened
before a specific moment in the past.
By the end of the evening, he’d written three
essays!
• With the expression It was the first / second / third
time …
It was the first time I’d ridden a bike.

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