Read the passage and select the best option for each question.
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who have been amazed by the world created in Michael Crichton’s novel Jurassic Park and others who are terrified by the possibility of it.
世界には二種類の人がいる。マイケル・クライトンの小説『ジュラシック・パーク』で描かれた世界に驚嘆した人々と、その可能性に恐怖を感じる人々である。
But ever since director Steven Spielberg brought the novel to life with his 1993 film of the same name, there has been one question on many minds: is it possible to re-create dinosaurs, given the developments in science and the study of DNA?
しかし、スティーブン・スピルバーグ監督が1993年に同名の映画としてこの小説を映像化して以来、多くの人々の心には一つの疑問がある。科学の進歩やDNA研究を考えると、恐竜を再現することは可能なのだろうかという疑問である。
In Jurassic Park, scientists use DNA to create a variety of dinosaur species, including Triceratops, Velociraptor, and the T. Rex.
『ジュラシック・パーク』では、科学者たちはDNAを使ってトリケラトプス、ヴェロキラプトル、ティラノサウルスなど、さまざまな恐竜の種を作り出す。
In reality, experts say it is easier imagined than performed.
しかし実際には、専門家によれば、それは想像するよりも実行する方がはるかに難しい。
William Ausich, a professor at Ohio State University, explained in an article that the task becomes extremely difficult given the fact that all that is left of dinosaurs are their fossils.
オハイオ州立大学の教授ウィリアム・オーシックは、記事の中で、恐竜について残っているのは化石だけであるという事実を考えると、この作業は極めて困難になると説明している。
DNA, on the other hand, is more easily obtained from the soft parts of a living creature, such as organs, nerves, muscle, and fat.
一方でDNAは、臓器、神経、筋肉、脂肪など、生物の柔らかい部分から比較的容易に得られる。
“Buried for tens of millions of years in ancient mud, minerals, and water, the fossils come from the dinosaur’s so-called ‘hard parts’ such as its bones and teeth,” says Ausich.
「古代の泥や鉱物や水の中に何千万年も埋もれていた化石は、骨や歯といった恐竜のいわゆる『硬い部分』からできている」とオーシックは述べている。
“The soft parts had either broken down or been eaten by another dinosaur.”
「柔らかい部分は分解されたか、あるいは別の恐竜に食べられてしまったのです。」
Explaining the complexities of DNA, Ausich says, “It is something in every cell of everything that ever lived on Earth, including dinosaurs.”
DNAの複雑さを説明しながら、オーシックは次のように述べている。「DNAは恐竜を含め、これまで地球上に存在したすべての生物の細胞に含まれているものです。」
But recent studies show DNA breaks down and ultimately disappears after about 7 million years.
しかし最近の研究によると、DNAは分解され、約700万年後には最終的に消滅してしまうことが示されている。
So given that the last dinosaur died 65 million years ago, chances of finding DNA are extremely slim.
したがって最後の恐竜が6500万年前に絶滅したことを考えると、DNAが見つかる可能性は極めて低い。
And even if the scientists were able to come up with fragments of a dinosaur, they would not be able to make a complete one.
さらに、たとえ科学者が恐竜のDNAの断片を見つけたとしても、完全な恐竜を作ることはできないだろう。
“Instead, they would have to combine the fragments with the DNA of a modern-day creature to create a living animal,” says Ausich.
「その代わりに、科学者はその断片を現代の生物のDNAと組み合わせて、生きた動物を作る必要があるでしょう」とオーシックは述べている。
This animal would not be a complete or actual dinosaur but, for example, half dinosaur and half bird.
その動物は完全な、あるいは本物の恐竜ではなく、例えば半分が恐竜で半分が鳥のような存在になるだろう。
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who have been amazed by the world created in Michael Crichton’s novel Jurassic Park and others who are terrified by the possibility of it. But ever since director Steven Spielberg brought the novel to life with his 1993 film of the same name, there has been one question on many minds: is it possible to re-create dinosaurs*, given the developments in science and the study of DNA? In Jurassic Park, scientists use DNA to create a variety of dinosaur species, including Triceratops, Velociraptor, and the T. Rex.
In reality, experts say it is easier imagined than performed. William Ausich, a professor at Ohio State University, explained in an article that the task becomes extremely difficult given the fact that all that is left of dinosaurs are their fossils. DNA, on the other hand, is more easily obtained from the soft parts of a living creature, such as organs, nerves, muscle, and fat. “Buried for tens of millions of years in ancient mud, minerals, and water, the fossils come from the dinosaur’s so-called ‘hard parts’ such as its bones and teeth,” says Ausich. “The soft parts had either broken down or been eaten by another dinosaur.”
Explaining the complexities of DNA, Ausich says, “It is something in every cell of everything that ever lived on Earth, including dinosaurs. But recent studies show DNA breaks down and ultimately disappears after about 7 million years.” So given that the last dinosaur died 65 million years ago, chances of finding DNA are extremely slim. And even if the scientists were able to come up with fragments of a dinosaur, they would not be able to make a complete one.
“Instead, they would have to combine the fragments with the DNA of a modern-day creature to create a living animal,” says Ausich. This animal would not be a complete or actual dinosaur but, for example, half dinosaur and half bird.
- Who are the “two kinds of people” referred to in the first paragraph?
- People who have a favorite dinosaur, and people who think all dinosaurs are amazing.
- People who have seen the movie Jurassic Park, and people who haven’t.
- People who think re-creating dinosaurs would be interesting, and people who think it would be scary.
- People who think the book Jurassic Park was better than the movie, and people who think the movie was better.
- What is the main idea of the second paragraph?
- Dinosaur bodies often fill up with water when buried in the mud for a long time.
- It is difficult to create dinosaurs because fossils come from the “hard parts” of a dinosaur, but scientists need the “soft parts” to get DNA.
- It is easy to create dinosaurs because DNA can be found in dinosaur bones and teeth more often than it can in organs like the heart.
- There are not many fossils left because dinosaurs sometimes ate each other.
- According to the passage, which ofthe following statements is true about DNA?
- DNA is only found in special cells of animals, not plants.
- Getting dinosaur DNA is almost impossible because they lived so long ago.
- Many dinosaur fossils contain complete sets of usable DNA.
- Scientists have used DNA to re-create fragments of a small dinosaur.
- What does Ausich think about the possibility of re-creating true dinosaurs?
- It’s complex, because scientists need both bone and teeth fossils, and it would take a long time.
- It’s creative, because even if scientists can get the DNA, they don’t know what dinosaurs really looked like.
- It’s impossible, because even if some dinosaur DNA was found, it would have to be combined with the DNA of other species to make a living creature.
- It’s profitable, because scientists can use similar DNA from a bird to fill in the missing organs of a dinosaur.
- . Which is the correct order of events in the passage?
- Crichton asked a question, Ausich gave an answer, Spielberg made a film.
- Crichton wrote a book, Spielberg made a film, Ausich commented on re-creating dinosaurs.
- Spielberg made a film, Ausich re-created a dinosaur, Crichton wrote a book about it.
- Spielberg made a film, Crichton wrote a book, Ausich couldn’t re-create a dinosaur.
