新編大學(xué)英語(yǔ)第三冊(cè)u(píng)nit4 Text C: Back from the Dead

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UNIT 4 AFTER-CLASS READING 2; New College English (III)

Back from the Dead

Last year, a group of South African researchers claimed to have brought a frozen rat's heart back to life. Their discovery gave new hope to the cryonics movement, which is trying to find ways to preserve human beings so they can be revived in the future.

1 One morning in the year 2070, a man called Duane awakens. He looks up and sees a doctor in a white coat smiling at him. "Why am I in hospital?" he asks.

2 "You've been sick," the doctor replies.

3 Then Duane notices a badge on the doctor's coat. It reads "Alcor Resuscitation." Suddenly Duane remembers everything. He has come back to life, 70 years after he "died."

4 The reason this was possible is because, instead of being buried or cremated when he died, Duane's body was preserved in a "flask" of liquid nitrogen (at 196 degrees Celsius). And there it "waited" until science had developed the technology to revive a frozen human being.

5 Suddenly, a woman appears beside the doctor. It is Duane's wife Jeannie, looking more beautiful than ever. For the past 70 years, she has been taking drugs that prevent her body from aging. Duane looks lovingly at her, and then at his own body. That, too, is in perfect condition. The people at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation have not only brought Duane back to life, they have given him back his youth, using the latest computer technology.

6 The couple look at each other apprehensively after all, they haven't seen each other for 70 years. "I guess we've got some stuff to talk about, huh?" Duane says to her.

7 This scenario is a shortened version of that which is outlined in the Alcor Foundation's publicity material. It claims that for around $125,000 plus storage fees you, too, might be able to experience a miracle similar to Duane's. But, the brochure warns, "This scenario does not prove that cryonics can or will succeed. It may, however, facilitate discussion of that possibility."

8 If $125,000 sounds too expensive, there is a cheaper alternative. If you're a little short of cash, Alcor will dispose of your body, and just freeze your head. This is the option that Paul Garfield, a 79-year-old American man, has chosen. When he dies, his head will be cut off and preserved in liquid nitrogen until such time if ever that science has worked out how to revive it.

9 Many people would probably find the idea of "waking up" in the future without a body a little disconcerting. But Mr Garfield isn't worried. Such is his confidence in science that he believes it will not only be able to revive his head, but that it will also be able to build him a new body. "They could just take a small piece of tissue which contains your entire DNA, and from that DNA reconstitute the body in the future."

10 Mr Garfield seems to hold science in higher regard than most people, including scientists themselves. The orthodox scientific community regards cryonics as an absurd idea one scientist recently likened it to trying to "turn a hamburger back into a cow."

11 The process of preserving a body begins by replacing the blood with glycerin or anti-freeze. It is then frozen in ice and moved to a storage facility, where "cryonic suspension" takes place. This involves placing the body in a huge flask of liquid nitrogen. In theory, the body could remain in this state for hundreds of years without further deterioration.

12 But the main problem is that it has so far proved impossible to freeze bodies without causing irreparable damage to the internal organs. When water freezes, it expands, and when this happens in an organ, it causes the cells to rupture.

13 At present, the only "living" things that are regularly frozen and then reanimated are embryos and sperm. But these are just tiny parcels of living cells with no organs. Preserving and reviving an entire human body in the same way has so far proved impossible.

14 This is why the reported breakthrough by researchers in South Africa, who claim to have revived a frozen rat's heart, has created a new sense of optimism among cryonicists. They hope that they may eventually be able to use a similar technique to bring humans hack to life. Scientists remain skeptical, though the South African team's findings have been rejected by all the scientists who have seen them.

15 And what of the psychology of people who want their bodies frozen? What makes them want to "wake up" hundreds of years in the future? Sociologist Jim Lippard believes they are like a cult, seeking a substitute for religion.

16 "This type of person seems to be someone who has little or no faith in traditional religion, and who believes in the power of science and rationality to solve problems. They believe that they will be able to live forever through technology."

17 Indeed, most of these people seem to regard death as an illness that should be cured, while others equate it with a calamity that one should try to avoid. As one man put it, when asked why he wanted to live forever: "It's like being on a sinking ship, and asking someone why they are interested in lifeboats."

18 For people like Paul Garfield, the fact that cryonics may never work is no reason for not trying. "We may be completely off our rockers," he says. "But if it works, it'll be absolutely wonderful. And if it doesn't work it won't be any different than just dying. That'll be the end of it, and you will have lost nothing.