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Do you often worry about how to improve your reading comprehension level efficiently? Now, our website has carefully prepared a series of reading comprehension questions closely related to Civil Service Examination, covering a wide range of topics and question types, aiming to hone your reading analysis and comprehension skills in all aspects.
Read the passages and answer the questions that follow. Good luck!
Biotechnology can be broadly defined as “using living organisms or their products for commercial purposes.” As such, biotechnology has been practiced since the beginning of recorded history in such activities as baking bread, brewing alcoholic beverages, or breeding food crops or domestic animals.
A narrower and more specific definition of biotechnology is “the commercial application of living organisms or their products, which involves the deliberate manipulation of their DNA molecules.” This definition implies a set of laboratory techniques developed within the last 20 years that have been responsible for the tremendous scientific and commercial interest in biotechnology, the founding of many new companies, and the redirection of research efforts and financial resources among established companies and universities.
Combining DNA from different existing organisms (plants, animals, insects, bacteria, etc.) results in modified organisms with a combination of traits from the parents. The sharing of DNA information takes place naturally through sexual reproduction and has been exploited in plant and animal breeding programs for many years.
However, sexual reproduction can occur only between plants and animals of the same species. A Holstein cow can be mated with a Hereford bull because the two animals are different breeds of the same species, cattle. But trying to mate a cow with a horse, a different species of animal, would not be successful.
What’s new since 1972 is that scientists have been able to identify the specific DNA genes for many desirable traits and transfer only those genes, usually carried on a plasmid or virus, into another organism. This provides a method to transfer DNA between any living cells (plant, animal, insect, bacterial, etc.). Virtually any desirable trait found in nature can, in principle, be transferred into any chosen organism. An organism modified by genetic engineering is called transgenic.
Specific applications of genetic engineering are abundant and increasing rapidly in number. Genetic engineering is being used in the production of pharmaceuticals, gene therapy, and the development of transgenic plants and animals.
1. Which of the following best describes the tone of the passage?
a. ambivalent
b. critical
c. defensive
d. enthusiastic
e. objective
2. Based on what’s been said thus far, what is the next paragraph most likely to discuss?
a. the effects of what would happen if a cow and horse were mated
b. the specific examples of biotechnology and its benefits to science
c. what happened in 1972 and which scientists were involved
d. who opposes the use of biotechnology
e. how the production of beer is not so different from the production of pharmaceuticals
3. The outcome of the mating of a Holstein cow and a Hereford bull would be called:
a. an abomination
b. transgenic
c. improbable
d. manipulation
e. transference
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