Question

In an ideal world, people would not test medicines on animals.Such experiments are stressful and sometimes painful for animals, and expensive and time­consuming for people.Yet animal experimentation is still needed to help bridge vast gaps in medical knowledge.That is why there are some 50 to 100 million animals used in research around the world each year.

Europe, on the whole, has the world's most restrictive laws on animal experiments. Even so, its scientists use some 12 million animals a year, most of them mice and rats, for medical research.Official statistics show that just 1.1 million animals are used in research in America each year.But that is misleading.The American authorities do not think mice and rats are worth counting and, as these are the most common laboratory animals, the true figure is much higher.Japan and China have even less comprehensive data than America.

Now Europe is reforming the rules governing animal experiments by restricting the number of animals used in labs.Alternatives to animal testing, such as using human tissue or computer models, are now strongly recommended.In addition, sharing all research results freely should help to reduce the number of animals for scientific use.At present, scientists often share only the results of successful experiments.If their findings do not fit the hypothesis being tested, the work never sees the light of day.This practice means wasting time, money, and animals' lives in endlessly repeating the failed experiments.

Animal experimentation has taught humanity a great deal and saved countless lives.It needs to continue, even if that means animals sometimes suffer.Europe' s new measures should eventually both reduce the number of animals used in experiments and improve the way in which scientific research is conducted.

16．What is the main idea of this passage?

A．The success of animal experiments should be ensured.

B．Ban on the use of animals in the lab should be enforced.

C．Greater efforts need to be taken to reduce the number of lab animals.

D．Scientists should be required to share their research results with each other.

17．Which of the following statements is true about animals used in the lab?

A．America uses only about 1.1 million lab animals per year.

B．Europe does not use mice and rats as lab animals at all.

C．Britain does not use as many lab animals as China does.

D．Japan has limited data on the number of lab animals used each year.

18．Which of the following is mentioned as an alternative to replace animal experiments?

A．Statistical studies. 

B．Computer models.

C．DNA planted in animals. 

D．Tissue from dead animals.

19．What usually happens to unsuccessful animal experiments?

A．They are not revealed to the public.

B．They are made into teaching materials.

C．They are collected for future publication.

D．They are not removed from the research topic list.

Answer 1

用动物进行试验被人们的舆论推向了风口浪尖，然而，受诸多因素的影响，终止动物实验的道路依然任重而道远。尽管欧洲有严格的法律限制，但是仍然需要另找突破口。

16．C　主旨大意题。文章第一段指出用动物进行试验难以杜绝的原因，第二段提到欧洲对动物实验的法律限制的效果并不理想，第三段讲了欧洲为限制动物实验所作出的努力，最后一段提到欧洲的新措施应该既要减少用于实验的动物的数量，又要改善科学研究的方法，所以C项最能概括文章大意。

17．D　正误判断题。第二段的最后一句提到日本和中国与美国的数据相比甚至更不全面，由此可推知日本对每年用于实验室动物的数据记录有限。

18．B　细节理解题。根据第三段第二句中的内容可知可用“人体组织”和“电脑模型”来取代动物实验。

19．A　推理判断题。根据第三段中的倒数第二、第三句可知，科学家们只分享成功的试验，如果结果与假设不符，所做的工作将不公开。由此可推断不成功的试验不会展示给公众。