阅读训练

Is GM Food Safe To Eat ?

Traditional plant breeding involves crossing varieties of the same species in ways they could cross naturally. For example, disease-resistant varieties of wheat have been crossed with high-yield wheat to combine these properties. This type of natural gene exchange is safe and fairly predictable.

Genetic engineering ( GE) involves exchanging genes between unrelated species that cannot naturally exchange genes with each other. GE can involve the exchange of genes between vastly different species — e.g. putting scorpion toxin genes into maize or fish antifreeze genes into tomatoes. It is possible that a scorpion toxin gene, even when it is in maize DNA1, will still get the organism to produce scorpion toxin — but what other effects may it have in this alien environment? We are already seeing this problem — adding human growth hormone genes to pigs certainly makes them grow — but it also gives them arthritis and makes them cross-eyed, which was entirely unpredictable.

It will be obvious, for example, that the gene for human intelligence will not have the same effect if inserted into cabbage DNA as it had in human DNA— but what side-effect would it have? In other words, is GM food2 safe to eat? The answer is that nobody knows because long-term tests have not been carried out.

Companies wanting a GM product approved in the UK or USA are required to provide regulatory bodies with results of their own safety tests. Monsanto’s3 soya beans were apparently fed to fish for 10 weeks before being approved. There was no requirement for independent testing, for long-term testing, for testing on humans or testing for specific dangers to children or allergic4 people.

The current position of the UK Government is that"There is no evidence of long-term dangers from GM foods."In the US, the American Food and Drug Administration5 is currently being prosecuted for covering up research that suggested possible risks from GM foods.

练习题：

Ⅰ. Match the words with their Chinese quivalents:

1. disease-resistant A. 掩盖( 真相)

2. side-effect B. 高产的

3. long-term dangers C. 长期危害

4. cover up D. 副作用

5. high-yield E. 抗病的

Ⅱ. Question:

What do companies wanting a GM product approved in the UK or USA do?

参考答案

Ⅰ. 1. E 2. D 3 . C 4. A 5 . B

Ⅱ. They are required to provide regulatory bodies with results of their own safety tests.

参考译文

食用转基因食品安全吗?

传统的植物培育方法, 是依照植物自然杂交的方式, 进行相同物种的人工杂交。比如,抗病小麦同高产小麦杂交, 形成了一种具有双重特性的新的小麦品种。这种自然的基因交换既安全, 又具有相当的可预见性。

基因工程是在彼此毫无关系的物种之间, 相互交换在自然条件下无法交换的基因。它可在有巨大差异的物种之间进行基因交换。比如, 将蝎子毒素基因注入玉米, 或者将鱼防冻基因注入西红柿。即使在玉米脱氧核糖核酸中, 蝎子毒素基因依然可能获得产生蝎子毒素的有机组织。但是在这种异质的环境中, 这种基因产品会有什么其他作用吗? 我们实际上已经发现这个问题: 将人类生长荷尔蒙基因植入猪的体内, 一定会使猪的生长加速, 但是同时也使猪患上了关节炎和内斜视, 而这一切是完全无法预测的。

打个比方, 人类的智力基因显而易见在人体脱氧核糖核酸内和注入卷心菜脱氧核糖核酸后的作用是不同的。但将它植入卷心菜中会产生什么样的副作用呢? 换句话说, 食用转基因食品安全吗? 没有人知道答案, 因为人们尚未进行长期的测试。

在英国或者美国, 一个公司如果希望其转基因产品获得批准, 它必须向管理机构提供本公司转基因产品安全测试的结果。孟山都公司的大豆在获得批准之前, 曾用了10 周时间 进行喂鱼试验。目前, 尚无要求对转基因产品进行独立测试、长期测试、人体测试, 或者就其对儿童及过敏者所造成的特定危险进行测试。

英国政府目前的态度是:“ 尚无证据表明食用转基因食品存在长期性的危险。”在美国, 人们正在起诉美国食品药品管理局掩盖转基因食品安全性的研究结果。这些研究结果指出, 食用转基因食品可能导致危险。

阅读解释

1. 即deoxyribonucleic acid ( 脱氧核糖核酸) 。储藏、复制和传递遗传基因的主要物质基础。大多数病毒的传染力就是由其中的脱氧核糖核酸决定的。

2. 即Genetically Modified food ( 转基因食品) 。GM一般有三个解释: ①General Manager( 总经理) ② General Motors Corporation ( 美国通用汽车公司) ③ guided missile ( 导弹) 。

3. 总部设在密苏里州圣路易斯市的美国孟山都公司。从1901 年创立至今, 这家公司已成为拥有90 多亿美元资产, 数万名员工, 集农药、生物化工、医药、甜味剂和食品添加剂生产于一体的生物技术公司, 被权威的美国《财富》杂志列为1997 年全美500 家最大企业的第159 位。企业出于经济利益驱动而对转基因产品敷衍了事, 但是相关职能部门为何让这种产品过关呢?

4. allergic a. 敏感症的, 过敏症的。过敏的最主要原因就是过分清洁。我们知道肮脏会导致人得病, 比如“非典”传播渠道之一就是用被污染的手吃食物。但是过分清洁会导致人对于相对不那么干净的环境反应过敏。现在大城市中得过敏症的小孩子越来越多, 实际上就是孩子的家长把他们弄得太干净了。加上钢筋水泥丛林中他们的游乐场越来越少,
他们没地方玩泥沙这类让他们父辈不那么干净但又躲过过敏打击的玩具。

5. 常缩略为FDA, 即美国食品药品管理局, 是美国食品和医药安全检测的权威机构。他们的验证结果往往具有美国市场乃至世界多国市场通行证的作用。同时, 因为他们检测不带感情色彩, 所以受到民众的信赖, 比如前几年他们发现美国史克公司的康泰克中含有致死成分PPA, 该药就被全面回收了。