Using LanguageIS CLONING CRUEL?Xiao Qing (XQ) and Rachel Brown (RB) are discussing whether cloning is cruel to animals or not.Listen again and fill in the blanks.RB: Xiao Qing, do you think clonings cruel?XQ: What do you mean by that? The scientists are doing a wonderful job. Soon they may be able to bring peoples favourite pets back to life!RB: Yes, I know. But doesnt it seem cruel to you that it took 276 experiments before Dolly was successfully cloned? Think of all those live cells and eggs that died in order for Dolly to be born. I dont approve of that!XQ: But, Rachel, be reasonable. Isnt it always like that with a new science? This is the way people learn to do things better. RB: I suppose so but they also make the animals do such unnatural things. One poor cow was made to give birth to a bison. What was the poor creature to think when it saw its baby?XQ: I dont quite understand why so many people are against cloning. I think the scientists need a bit of encouragement. Think of the benefits. Cloning may help medical science to produce cures for serious illnesses.RB: Yes, I know and I agree with that. Its just that I dont agree with the methods. XQ: Why not?RB: Well, I think its a dead end. Dolly the sheep was “middle-aged” when she was born because her DNA came from a middle-aged “mother”. Cloning your grandmother would mean a new baby started life as an old lady!XQ: Really? I never thought of that.RB: And it weakens the species. Cloning means that theres less variety in the species. So the animals may not be able to resist a particular illness and they might die out.XQ: Oh dear! And that was just what you and I were trying to avoid. In spite of all these, dont you think scientists would still be able to solve the problems?Workbook-ListeningIS HUMAN CLONING A GOOD IDEA?Wang Qiao (WQ) is talking to Clare Peters (CP) about human cloning.Listen again and fill in the blanks.WQ: What do you think about human cloning, Clare? CP: I dont know what to think. But I suppose itll come one of these days. I think there are many problems that nobody has thought of yet.WQ: What do you mean by that?CP: Well, a clone will be an exact copy of the original donor. Right?WQ: Yes, so what?CP: Well, whats the relationship between the clone and his original donor?WQ: I suppose they must be like one person. The clone is the same as his original donor.CP: Lets suppose that you take a baby to a laboratory to be cloned. Does it matter if the laboratory returns you the real baby and one clone or two clones?WQ: Yes, it does. But how could this possibly happen?CP: Well, the scientists may get confused.WQ: My goodness. Surely they would notice if there is an age-gap between the donor and the clone?CP: Maybe. What if the donor and the clone are very close in age? Let us suppose they are both babies.WQ: OK.CP: Lets suppose that the laboratory wanted to use the real baby to make more clones. Perhaps they know parents who would like to buy a cloned baby. Perhaps this family is unable to have children of their own. So the laboratory keeps the real baby and sells the clones as they grow.WQ: But thats a baby factory! Thats not moral at all!CP: I know, and thats why its important to get our ideas sorted out now. So we really have to think about the problems of human cloning.WQ: Yes. Now I see your point. We should do something about this. How about a class discussion? What do you think? Workbook-Listening TaskA DISCUSSION ABOUT CLONINGBilly (B) and Frank (F) are having a discussion about cloning pets.Listen again and fill in the blanks.B: You know, Frank, I agree with cloning. My mum has a pet dog and she is devoted to her. I think if anything happened to this pet she would be very upset. So we want to keep my mother happy by keeping her pet alive forever!F: Whats this all about? A little dog! Surely you can make your mother happy again in another way! Does she know what people did before cloning was a possibility?B: Yes, and she knows the cloning procedure. Shes read about the experiments in America. They offer chances for pets to produce their own stem cells. These stem cells will produce new pets at a very reasonable price.F: Reasonable price! Surely it will be very expensive.B: Well, my mother is saving money to go to America with the dog just before it dies. If she goes to the laboratory, well all spend a week in America. If were lucky, well be able to return after a few months with a new dog.F: Now I understand. You just want a holiday trip to America, and getting a new dog is just an excuse.B: Yes and why not?F: You are encouraging your mother to love her dog, so she will want to clone it when it gets old. Then you will take advantage of that to have a good holiday. Dont you think about the moral problems of cloning?B: No, I dont. Its fine by me, if I can make my mother happy and enjoy myself as well. Thats