Some people think that it is acceptable to use animals in medical research for the benefit of humans,while others argue this is fundamentally wrong. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Animal rights is a subject which can inflame passions like almost no other; there are even terrorist groups which commit acts of violence in the name of animal rights. Perhaps the most divisive issue related to animal rights is the use of animals in medical research. Decried as cruel and exploitative by some,it is also defended by others as essential for human progress 1 .
“动物权利”这个话题可以引发无与伦比的激烈讨论。甚至有恐怖组织以动物权利为名义实施暴力行径。或许和动物权利有关的最有争议的话题就是用动物做医学实验了。有些人谴责其为残忍的压榨,也有人维护该行为,认为这对于人类进步是必要的。
It isn't difficult to understand why animal rights activists are so enraged by animal testing. The experiments carried out frequently result in suffering or death for the animals. Sometimes this suffering can be considerable; the internet is awash with 2 images of hideously deformed rats. The argument is that all creatures are equal,and humans have no right to use the suffering of others in order to seek benefits.
不难理解为什么动物权利倡导者对于动物实验的反应会如此激烈。频繁进行的实验会让动物受尽折磨或者死亡。有时这种折磨是非常严重的——网络上充斥着可怕的畸形老鼠的图片。动物权利者认为所有生物都是平等的,人类没有权利折磨其他物种以获得利益。
Clearly 3 the suffering of animals is undesirable,but it is important to be clear about the benefits that are a direct result of scientific experiments on animals. Almost all major medical breakthroughs of the past hundred years relied on animal testing to a significant degree,and it is no exaggeration to say every human alive has benefited directly. To give just a few examples,the vaccinations for smallpox and polio could not have been developed without the use of animals,and organ transplantation was pioneered in animal testing. The number of lives saved by these treatments alone is incalculable. If some laboratory animals died during the research then this is a cost that most would be willing to accept. At the core of this debate is the question of whether animals and humans are equal. It seems deeply callous to suggest that the life of a rat is worth the same as that of a human child,and only an extremist would actually put this theory into practice.
当然没人愿意让动物受折磨,但是搞清楚动物实验的直接好处很重要。过去百年中几乎所有的重大医学突破都极大地依赖于动物实验,而且说每个活着的人都直接从中受益过是毫不夸张的。举几个例子:如果不利用动物,天花和小儿麻痹的疫苗就不可能被研制出来;器官移植也是率先在动物身上进行的实验。光是这些医疗手段就拯救了不计其数的生命。如果有些实验室的动物在研究过程中死亡,那么这也是大部分人愿意接受的代价。这个问题争论的核心是动物和人是否平等。认为老鼠的生命和人类孩子的生命有同样的价值似乎是极为冷酷无情的,只有极端主义者才会真正实践这种理论。
Although nobody wants to see animals suffer,the benefits of scientific tests on animals are simply too great to give up. The vast majority of people would be willing to sacrifice a few rats in order to gain medical progress,progress that might one day save their life or that of a loved-one.
尽管没人愿意看到动物受苦,但是我们确实无法放弃动物科学实验带来的巨大好处。绝大部分人愿意牺牲一些老鼠的性命以换取医学进步,或许某天他们的生命或他们所爱的人的生命会因此被拯救。
表达方式解析
避免说“some people think…others think”的方法之一是模仿本文开头段末句的结构。例如:Decried as a waste of money by some,government spending on art is defended by others as critical to a nation's cultural well-being.
“ awash with ”与“full of something”或“flooded with something”意思相近,但通常所指的“充满的”状态又是不好的,所以和汉语的“充斥”一词比较相似。例如:①Magazines are awash with rumours of the couple's divorce.②With the city awash with drug addicts,it is definitely time for action.
第三段的转折并不一定总要以“however”开始,可以使用“ clearly ”来承认上一段某些论述的合理性,然后再接着进行观点的转折论述。例句:①Clearly children need to spend a lot of time in school,but there comes a point when that length of time becomes excessive and counterproductive.②Clearly nobody wants to see their cities polluted,but banning the use of coal and oil would bring about even greater consequences.