THE ARTICLE. Cloned dogs in training to sniff for drugs

Cloned dogs in training to sniff for drugs

Task 3

LANGUAGE WORK

Scientists can make things invisible

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. T

c. T

d. F

e. T

f. F

g. F

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	closer	a.	appear
	cloak	b.	financed
3.	artificial	c.	enormous
4.	seem	d.	cover
5.	compared	e.	very
6.	huge	f.	synthetic
7.	concealing	g.	smaller
8.	extremely	h.	nearer
9.	funded	i.	hiding
10.	tinier	j.	likened

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	developing materials that could	a.	flowing around a rock
	materials that redirect	b.	in developing this idea
3.	measured in	c.	step forward
4.	absorb or reflect	d.	billionths of a metre
5.	They compared the light to water	e.	to the battlefield
6.	The new discovery is a huge	f.	how viruses are formed
7.	The U.S. military is extremely interested	g.	light around things
8.	bring the technology	h.	make people invisible
9.	look more closely at living cells and	i.	light
10.	scientists could look at	j.	even tinier objects

GAP FILL:

Scientists in the USA say they are a step closer to developing materials that could make people invisible. Researchers at the University of California have found a way to cloak humans and objects using special materials that redirect light around things. The findings, led by Professor Xiang Zhang, were published in the journals ‘Nature’ and ‘Science’. Zhang works at the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centre at the university. His team developed a set of artificial “meta-materials” on a microscopic scale that is measured in billionths of a metre. The researchers said the special “fishnet structure” of the nano- sized objects do not absorb or reflect light, which makes them seem invisible. They compared the light to “water flowing around a rock".

The new discovery is a huge step forward from earlier technology that only allowed the concealing of two-dimensional objects. In the future, scientists could make “invisibility clothing” to hide people and large objects. However, scientists are still a long way from designing and manufacturing invisibility cloaks. The U.S. military is extremely interested in developing this idea to bring the technology to the battlefield. The U.S. Army Research Office funded part of Dr. Zhang’s research. The technology could also lead to more powerful microscopes that are able to look more closely at living cells and even tinier objects. This means scientists could look at how viruses are formed and how they grow.

1 - d

2 - a

3 - b

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - d

8 - a

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

The world’s first purpose-cloned dogs have started training for their future careers. South Korea’s customs service ordered clones of its very best sniffer dog last year. It hopes the cloned canines will become experts at finding explosives and drugs at its airports. The cloning will reduce the costs involved in the months of training normal dogs. Only thirty per cent of dogs selected for training actually make the grade and become a sniffer dog. The seven cloned puppies, all named Toppy (short for Tomorrow’s Puppy), were born in October and November 2007. Cells were taken from their Labrador retriever father, called Chase, to clone them. Project manager Lim Jae-Yong believes the clones will be easier to train than ordinary dogs, because of their genes from expert sniffer Chase.

The $300,000 project was carried out by Lee Byung-Chun, who cloned the world’s first dog from a three-year-old Afghan hound. Each Toppy cost $60,000, which is half the cost of training a normal sniffer dog. All seven Toppies have been in training since they were born. They have successfully passed their first round of sniffer-dog tests, although one had to drop out with a bad leg. The dogs train together and all come running when their name is called. Their trainers only know who’s who via a microchip in each puppy’s ear. Lead trainer Kim Nak-seung said: "The differences [between them] are so small that I really can't tell the puppies apart." The Toppies should complete their training by early 2009 and start work sniffing baggage in the nation’s airports soon after.

Дата добавления: 2015-01-03