2011考研：历年真题来源报刊阅读50篇连载(3)

来源：来源于网络时间：2010-04-19 15:19:16

　　3. A meaty question

　　(The Economists Sep 21st, 2006)

　　IF YOU have ever longed for a meat substitute that smelt and tasted like the real thing, but did not involve killing an animal, then your order could be ready soon. Researchers believe it will soon be possible to grow cultured meat in quantities large enough to offer the meat industry an alternative source of supply.

　　Growing muscle cells (the main component of meat) in a nutrient broth is easy. The difficulty is persuading those cells to form something that resembles real meat. Paul Kosnik, the head of engineering at a firm called Tissue Genesis, is hoping to do it by stretching the cells with mechanical anchors. This encourages them to form small bundles surrounded by connective tissue, an arrangement similar to real muscle.

　　Robert Dennis, a biomedical engineer at the University of North Carolina, believes the secret of growing healthy muscle tissue in a laboratory is to understand how it interacts with its surroundings. In nature, tissues exist as elements in a larger system and they depend on other tissues for their survival. Without appropriate stimuli from their neighbours they degenerate. Dr Dennis and his team have been working on these neighbourly interactions for the past three years and report some success in engineering two of the most important—those between muscles and tendons, and muscles and nerves.

　　At the Touro College School of Health Sciences in New York, Morris Benjaminson and his team are working on removing living tissue from fish, and then growing it in culture. This approach has the advantage that the tissue has a functioning system of blood vessels to deliver nutrients, so it should be possible to grow tissue cultures more than a millimetre thick—the current limit.

　　Henk Haagsman, a meat scientist at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, is trying to make minced pork from cultured stem cells with the backing of Stegeman, a sausage company. It could be used in sausages, burgers and sauces.

　　But why would anyone want to eat cultured meat, rather than something freshly slaughtered and just off the bone? One answer, to mix metaphors, is that it would allow vegetarians to have their meatloaf and eat it too. But the sausage-meat project suggests another reason: hygiene. As Ingrid Newkirk of PETA, an animal-rights group, puts it, “no one who considers what’s in a meat hot dog could genuinely express any revulsion at eating a clean cloned meat product.”

　　Cultured meat could be grown in sterile conditions, avoiding Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter and other nasties. It could also be made healthier by adjusting its composition—introducing heart-friendly omega—3 fatty acids, for example. You could even take a cell from an endangered animal and, without threatening its extinction, make meat from it. Giant-panda steak, anyone?

　　1. The word “resemble” (line 2, paragraph 2) most probably means .

　　A look like B differ C excel D substitute

　　2. Robert Dennis thinks the secret of growing healthy muscle tissue in a laboratory is the relationship between .

　　A muscles and tendons B muscles and nerves

　　C muscles and surroundings D muscles and animals

　　3. What is the advantage of removing living tissues and culture them?

　　A It makes the color and taste of cultured meat better.

　　B Meat cultured in this way is similar to real meat.

　　C Meat cultured in this way can be used in more kinds of food.

　　D It is likely to grow tissues more than a millimeter thick.

　　4. Cultured meat is better than something freshly slaughtered because it .

　　A allows vegetarians far away from meat

　　B is cleaner and healthier

　　C tastes much better

　　D can be made from cells of all endangered animals

　　5. Which of the following statements is NOT mentioned in the passage?

　　A Cultured meat will not involve killing animals.

　　B Many efforts have been done to culture meat.

　　C Most vegetarians long for special meatloaf.

　　D It is possible to have panda steak in the future.

　　考研词汇

　　substitute

　　n.代用品,代替品;v.(for)代替,替换

　　[真题例句] In talking to some scientists, particularly younger ones, you might gather the impression that they find the “scientific method” a substitute (n.) for imaginative thought.[1999年阅读5]

　　[例句精译] 在和一些科学家,特别是年轻科学家交谈时,你可能会有这样一种印象：他们认为“科学方法”可以代替创造性思维。

　　resemble

　　v.像,类似

　　tissue

　　n.①织物,薄绢,纸巾;②(动、植物的)组织

　　stretch

　　v.拉长,延伸;n.①一段时间,一段路程;②延伸

　　[真题例句] It is a remarkable record, stretching (v.) back over 70 years—yet the BBCs future is now in doubt.[1996年阅读2]

　　[例句精译] 七十多年来,BBC可谓历程辉煌,然而现在,BBC的未来却令人疑虑。

　　vessel

　　n.①容器,器皿;②船,舰;③管,血管

　　[真题例句] Today’s vessels (②) can find their prey using satellites and sonar, which were not available 50 years ago.[2006年阅读3]

　　[例句精译] 今天的渔船能够使用五十年前没有的卫星和声纳来追踪他们的猎物。

　　slaughter

　　n.屠宰,残杀,屠杀;v.屠宰,残杀,屠杀

　　背景常识介绍

　　荷兰科学家取得了一项用细胞“培育”肉类,并出售给人类食用的计划的专利权。阿姆斯特丹大学皮肤学专家维特·韦斯特霍夫称,可以用在实验室的培养皿中培育皮肤细胞的方法来培育肌肉组织。出售这种在实验室中培育的肉类将使大量动物免遭屠宰。韦斯特霍夫正在寻求投资者。他认为,可以在容积为5000升的巨型培养池中培育每块至少50克的现成瘦肉块。他和另外两位商人在全球很多地方都取得了这项计划的专利权。专利证书称赞这种肉没有脂肪和软骨。猪、牛、鸡、袋鼠和鲸鱼的细胞全都可以使用。这项计划仍需改进,因为迄今的试验结果显示,细胞要23天才能增加一倍。

　　答案及解析

　　1.词汇题【正确答案】A

　　有了问题便有研究来解决问题，注意本段比较后一句讲述研究成果时提到an arrangement similar to real muscle，即可推知答案。

　　2.细节事实题【正确答案】C

　　根据第三段第一句...believes the secret of growing healthy muscle tissue in a laboratory is to understand how it interacts with its surroundings.可知C是正确答案。

　　3.细节事实题【正确答案】D

　　第四段比较后一句This approach has the advantage that...so it should be possible to grow tissue cultures more than a millimetre thick—the current limit.明确指出了摘取新鲜细胞进行培育的优点。

　　4.推理题【正确答案】B

　　文中比较后两段讲到人工肉的优点，即更干净更健康，因此选B。由倒数第二段第二句可知A错误，C、D未提及。

　　5.判断题【正确答案】C

　　C的内容文章未提及，A、B、D的内容分别可以在第一段第一句、第六段比较后一句、比较后一段比较后一句中提及。

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