阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项 （A 、B 、C  和 D ）中，选出最佳选项。

    A recent announcement by scientists that they have successfully cloned the first human embryo(胚胎) has caused much debate and has shocked many people around the world. On the one hand, some scientists point out that if you clone an embryo, you can produce valuable tissues(组织) and organs that could be used to save human lives. On the other hand, many people, including some scientists, disagree and fear that if mankind interferes with (干涉) nature in this way, they may be on their way to producing a real-life Frankenstein's monster.

Cloning is producing an exact copy of a plant or an animal using its cells. The first mammal to be cloned successfully from an adult cell was Dolly—the sheep. She was born in 1996 and died in early 2003, at a much younger age than normal. When she was born, many people were angry because they thought cloning would create more diseases in the animal world. However, in general the scientists were praised for their wonderful scientific breakthrough.

    The Scottish scientist who created Dolly, Ian Wilmut, is shocked that some scientists are now considering cloning human beings. Although he researches cloning, he has never thought of creating copies of humans. Instead, he thinks the scientists should concentrate on creating new tissues and organs that could eventually be used to cure diseases like cancer. However, some people consider that cloning human embryos with the intention of destroying them shows no respect for human lives.

    While cloning human embryos is illegal in many countries, some scientists are already pushing ahead with the research so as to deliver a cloned human baby. Severino Antinori, an Italian doctor, is one of the leaders in this field of research. He has declared that he wants to be the first to clone a human being.

In China, scientists have focused their efforts on cloning animals, as well as stem cells to be used in medical research. China has succeeded in producing clones of cows and goats, and continues to research ways in which cloning can benefit mankind.

    A day in the life of 18­year­old David Lanster is full of typical teenage stuff: school, baseball practice and homework. And then he starts cooking. "Some nights I'm up until 1: 00 a. m. making pies, or even later if we're cooking beef," said the student at Ransom Everglades High School in Florida, US.

    For the past year, Lanster and Kelly Moran, his classmate, have been hosting fancy dinner parties at Lanster's parents' home. Their meals have 17 courses and are all made by themselves. Their guests used to give them gifts to thank them until the pair decided to do something nice for charity. "We got some really great Miami Heat tickets, a nice watch, and many kitchen gadgets (小器具)," Lanster said. "But we wanted to make this something positive for people other than us."

    Lanster and Moran focus on Common Threads, a charity that aims to teach kids in poor communities to cook and make healthy eating choices. The young cooks ask their guests to give however much they want as payment for their meals. It all goes to Common Threads because Lanster's parents cover their food costs. After their last 12­person event, Lanster and Moran gave $1,600 to the charity.

    Now, they're taking their show out of the kitchen and on the road. They have started to organize private dinner parties with a similar model: the host pays for the ingredients, and the guests make a donation to a charity of their choice.

    Without formal training, Lanster said he had been interested in cooking since he helped his mom in the kitchen when he was very young. He learned how to cook by reading cookbooks and watching TV programs. Outside the kitchen, the two are busy preparing their college applications. Neither of them is sure what they will do in the future, but they've promised their parents that they will leave professional cooking alone until they finish school.

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    After disappearing for over 19 years, measles (麻疹) is making a comeback in America. Since January 2019, the disease has infected more than 700 people, mostly small children, and the number seems to be increasing daily.

    Measles is an infectious disease that typically begins with a high fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes. Many people also lose their appetites and feel sleepy. About three to four days after the symptoms start, the person breaks out into a rash (皮疹) that begins on the face at the hairline and then spreads to the neck and the rest of the body.

    In healthy people, the recovery, which takes between two to three weeks, starts soon after the rash begins. However, for about 40 percent of patients — mainly kids under the age of five or older adults — the disease often leads to pneumonia (肺炎), which, if left untreated, could result in death.

    The recent outbreak is thought to have been caused by travelers picking up the virus in a country where the disease is still existing and exposing it to an unvaccinated (未接种的) community in the US. In New York, it was carried back by someone who had recently visited Israel, which is currently undergoing a significant measles, while in Washington, "patient zero" was infected by a type that is currently circulating in Europe.

    To limit the spread of the disease before it gets out of hand, US health officials are attempting to educate communities with high rates of unvaccinated children. They are also urging adults to consult with their physicians and get injected if considered necessary by the doctor.

    Hopefully, health officials worldwide will be able to convince parents that vaccinating their children will protect, not harm, them.

    Words and the way we use them offer a rare window on social and cultural trends. Kory Stamper and Peter Sokolowski know that better than most.

    The Merriam-Webster(韦氏词典) lexicographers(词典编纂者) are part of a team that edits the dictionary. In a recent interview, Sokolowski and Stamper talked about their job and what the way we use words says about us collectively.

    So to know more about them, observers of the language, maybe we should start with some background.

    What is a lexicographer?

    Sokolowski: A lexicographer is a person who writes or edits a dictionary. The job of a dictionary editor is to prepare and present research about language. One of our former editors-in- chief said, "Tell the truth about words," and that sums it up for me.

    What do you guys do all day?

    Stamper: The two main duties of a lexicographer are reading and defining. We read everything: books, journals, blogs, phone books, take-out menus, and so on. What we're looking for are words that catch our eye. We record the context of these words and information about the sources. Those records are added to a database, and they are the raw material we use in writing definitions.

    When we are writing or revising a dictionary, most of our time is spent defining. We define a word according to how it is used in the recorded context, deciding whether the usage has been covered by our dictionary. Once this is done, you look at the new words and new senses and draft a definition.

    Drafting definitions requires some training, some experience and a lot of concentration. It's very, very quiet on the editorial floor.

    How closely do the most looked-up words on your online dictionary seem to be related to the news or trends?

    Stamper: When our dictionary went online back in 1996, we could see for the first time which were the most looked-up words in English: Affect, effect and ubiquitous were the top words. It was fascinating to us­dictionary editors spend so much time writing definitions but never could have known if anyone ever read them. We could follow what people were thinking about according to what words they were looking up. Thanks to our online dictionary, we had data.

    Engineers in Upstate New York have invented a folded paper device that looks like a decorated art project. But don't be fooled. This is actually a paper-based battery. No, it doesn't look like any of those metal batteries running flashlights or smartphones. In these systems, the battery can be printed on a page. The battery's power consists of living bacteria.

    Paper electronics are simple to make and inexpensive, notes study leader Seokheun Choi, an engineer at Binghamton University. They need no electrical outlet to recharge. They just need more bacteria, which can be found everywhere — including dirty water.

"Most batteries use chemicals to generate electricity. Substituting bacteria can be an advantage," Choi says. "They are cheap and self-repairing." What paper-based batteries won't do is generate much power. They do, however create enough to run small devices in faraway or dangerous places — such as a battlefield. They might also find use in medicine. For instance, they might power tiny sensors, such as the types used to measure blood sugar.

This invention is based on an observation made more than a century ago — that microbes (微生物) produce electricity as they digest food. Scientists refer to the bio-batteries based on this principle as microbial fuel cells. A fuel cell generates electricity like a regular battery. But a regular battery stops producing electricity when its inner chemical reactions stop. A fuel cell uses fuel that can be refilled. In this case, bacteria serve as the fuel. By refilling more microbes, as needed, scientists can keep these fuel cells running.

    Lab tests have shown that the new battery can produce a current. Now, Choi and his team are looking at ways to increase the power. They're studying different shapes and materials for the anode and cathode (正负极). They're also looking for the best ways to combine batteries for more power. The beauty of the paper devices is that you can simply fold them to connect them. And they surely will be a trend in the near future.