A. Match the parts of the sentences.

24

1. The news about Dolly’s birth

2. After Dolly was born
On March 7, 1997, the world was stunned when Scottish
3. Cloning humans
scientists at the Roslin Institute revealed they had successfully
4 Opponents to cloning think
cloned an adult sheep. While the researchers said they had no
5. Cloning could be used to help people
aim to ever clone human material, human cloning was now
6. Some people started wondering
theoretically possible, the Washington Post reported. Rather,
7. Dolly’s successful cloning
the scientists said, the ability to clone adult animals offered the
8. Scientists think people can benefit greatly
promise of agricultural and medical advances.
Nevertheless, this scientific turning point – astounding a) could raise some serious moral issues.
scientists worldwide who had repeatedly attempted to clone b) whether cloning was even a safe process.
other adult animals – has led to an ethical dilemma. Should c) was the result of long years of research.
human cloning be outlawed? Is it ethical to grow human d) who are unable to have babies.
embryos to use in potentially life-saving treatments? Is cloning e) surprised everyone.
the next logical step (after in vitro fertilization) for infertile f) from scientific advances in cloning.
couples who desire children? g) it should be banned.
The recent breakthroughs – first Dolly and now the h) the debate over cloning increased.
hotly debated use of stem cells – have only been possible due
to more than 40 years of genetic research. Scientists have been 30
cloning cells for years by copying genes and other parts of
B. TRUE or FALSE? Quote from the text to
chromosomes to create enough identical material for further
justify your choice.
study.
After Dolly’s birth more questions fuelled the evolving
controversy. How safe was it to even consider cloning a human 1. After Dolly’s birth, scientist considered
when so many variables and unknowns existed? Dolly was one human cloning the next logical step.
success out of more than 200 attempts. How could some 2. They thought that cloning could be extended
scientists consider human cloning a safe option when so many to other fields.
things could go wrong? 3. Scientists had never tried to clone other
More recently, the cloning debate has intensified animals before Dolly.
around the topic of therapeutic cloning. Dr Ian Wilmut, one of 4. Current scientific developments are a result
the scientists responsible for cloning Dolly, states that cloning of long years of testing.
offers many possibilities. One is the generation of genetically 5. Cloning Dolly was a very simple process.
modified animal organs that are suitable for transplantation
into humans, making it possible to repair imperfect organs and C. Find in the text the words for the following
other body parts. equivalents.
Still both politically and ethically, the questions and
concerns regarding the cloning of human cells remain. 20
Jerry Dunn in www.startspot.com (abridged and adapted) 1. astonished/surprised
2. surprising/shocking
3. a difficult problem to solve
D. Answer the following questions in your own words as far as 4. prohibited/forbidden
possible. 5. major achievements
30 6. intensified
1. Why was Dolly considered a scientific breakthrough? 7. dispute/argument
2. Why is human cloning a controversial issue? 8. factors that are subject to change
3. What are the possible benefits of the advances in cloning for 9. appropriate
people? 10. flawed
 E. Read this text by Nancy Gibbs and complete it with the words below: 16

death  cloning  children  implications  reproduce  identical  immortal  photocopy

Randolph Wicker, 63, has long been frustrated that he cannot readily have (1) of his own; as he gets older, his
desire to (2) grows stronger. He knows that a clone would not be a (3) of him but talks about the traits the boy
might possess: “He will like the color blue, Middle Eastern food and romantic Spanish music that’s out of
fashion.” And then he hints at the heart of his motive. “The special formula that is me will live on into another
lifetime. It’s a partial triumph over (4).”
This kind of talk makes ethicists conclude that even people who think they know about cloning – let alone the
rest of us – don’t fully understand its (5).
Cloning, notes ethicist Arthur Caplan of the University of Pennsylvania, “can’t make you (6) because clearly the
clone is a different person. Even twins are different, though they are genetically (7). So the road to immortality is
not through (8).”

F. Rewrite each sentence as started without changing its meaning. 30

1. The cloning results are good. People feel confident. The …, the …
2. I am against cloning because it violates human dignity. But if …
3. The success rate was so high that researchers are undertaking new tests. Researchers had …
4. They didn’t take into account all the variables and a lot of things went wrong. But if …
5. It isn’t easy to convince people about the benefits of cloning. It’s getting … and …
6. It was such a tricky procedure that we knew it was risky. The procedure was…

G. In about 200 words, write an opinion essay on the following. 50

.
Using the information in the text and the cartoons, write about the possible implications of cloning to society
and the ethical issues it raises.