The 1993 movie Jurassic Park wasn’t the first film to show dinosaurs in the modern world. But it did a good job of bringing the idea of cloning dinosaurs into popular culture. It represented dinosaur cloning in a way that made sense to a lot of people, and it was a successful film, making more than $900 million worldwide.
   Jurassic Park built on the idea of getting DNA from mosquitoes kept in amber. While this might seem possible at first sight, it’s highly unlikely that scientists could find usable dinosaur DNA in mosquito fossils. Scientists would need a very specific sample— a female mosquito that had taken lots of dinosaur blood immediately before being trapped in amber. Since fossilization in amber is a relatively rare event, the chances of this happening are pretty small.
   The lack of possible samples isn’t the only problem. Most insect fossils found in amber are also too young to contain dinosaur blood—dinosaurs were gone by the time the insects became trapped. Many insects went bad from the inside out after they were trapped, leaving nothing inside for scientists to try to find. Finally, the sample would have to be very dry, since DNA can break down quickly in the presence of water.
   But if researchers did find a perfectly kept mosquito with a body full of dinosaur blood, bringing back its DNA would still be difficult. The blood with the dinosaur DNA would be surrounded by the body of an insect, which has its own DNA. There could also be DNA from other cells trapped in the amber. Then, of course, there’s the DNA in the laboratory itself—and in the body of the scientist.
12. Why is the film Jurassic Park mentioned at the beginning?
A. To lead in the topic of cloning dinosaurs.
B. To encourage scientists to clone dinosaurs.
C. To give a simple introduction to dinosaurs.
D. To stress the possibility of cloning dinosaurs.
13. The key to cloning dinosaurs is to gain .
A. insect fossils B. dinosaur DNA
C. dinosaur blood D. mosquitoes in amber
14. What is the author’s opinion on cloning dinosaurs?
A. It is a step away from success.
B. It will be a fruitless attempt.
C. It requires further research.
D. It lacks creative work.
15. What can be a suitable title for the passage?
A. Why Was Jurassic Park Successful?
B. Reasons for Dinosaurs’ Dying out
C. Can Scientists Clone Dinosaurs?
D. Ways of Cloning Dinosaurs
【语篇解读】文章以电影《侏罗纪公园》引出了克隆恐龙的话题, 并论述了克隆恐龙的不可能性。
【答案与解析】
12. A  细节题。根据第1段中的it did a good job of bringing the idea of cloning dinosaurs into popular culture可知, 作者提到电影《侏罗纪公园》很受欢迎是为了引出克隆恐龙的话题。
13. B  细节题。根据第2段中的“Jurassic Park built on the idea of getting DNA from mosquitoes kept in amber.”可知, 克隆恐龙的关键是获取恐龙的DNA。
14. B  推断题。根据第3、4段内容可知, 提取恐龙的DNA几乎是不可能的事情, 由此可知作者认为克隆恐龙是不可能的。
15. C  主旨题。通读全文可知, 文章主要论述了克隆恐龙是不可能的, 故C项与文章内容吻合。