Write and outline: Read the following passage carefully and compose a “topic outline” for it.Send in the Clones
“Scientists have made a breakthrough to clone a human being”, as one TV newsman put it. While his description was off the mark, the real news was almost as fantastic: researchers at George Washington University split single human embryos into identical copies, a technology that has sparked a storm of controversy around the world.
Claiming they began the experiments to spur a debate, the researchers got more than they bargained for. The Vatican condemned the technology as evil; one German magazine called the research “immoral”, and sociologists in the U.S. disagreed hotly over whether the technology should be offered to infertile couples, couples incapable of having children.
The news left people wondering what the technology is all about. Actually what the researchers did was to extend a technique that has been used in livestock for more than a decade. The physicians used tube fertilization technology to create 17 human embryos in a laboratory. When the embryos had grown enough to contain 2-8 cells, the researchers separated them into 48 cells. Two of the separated cells survived for a few days in the lab, developing into new human embryos smaller than the head of a pin.
Though no great technical feat, the procedure opens a range of unsettling possibilities. For example, parents could have one embryo implanted in the mother’s womb and store its identical siblings indefinitely. The spare embryos could be implanted later, allowing parents to create a family of identical children of different ages. Spare embryos could also be sold to other families, who could see from an already born child how their embryo would turn out. Even more bizarre, a woman conceived from a split embryo could give birth to her own twin.
Such scenarios raise painful issues about the rights of parents and meaning of individuality. Some sociologists maintain that parents have the right to do with embryos what they will, including having twins born years apart. But others fear that the procedure unacceptably alters what it means to be human being, especially when the younger twins are forced to see older versions of themselves.
Amid the controversy, one thing seems certain: the experiments will continue. While cloning is forbidden in Germany, fertility research is proceeding in the U.S. without federal regulations. But researchers must obtain approval from their hospital board. Without federal oversight, the highly competitive fertility business may soon use the new technology to attract clients. As a doctor told the scientific journal Science, “It was just a matter of time.”
【正确答案】：
Ⅰ. INTRODUCTION: HUMAN CLONING AND THE REACTION
      A. FANTASTIC NEWS
      B. THESIS: THE TECHNOLOGY HAS SPARKED A STORM OF CONTROVERSY.
Ⅱ.REACTIONS FROM DIFFERENT CIRCLES
      A. CONDEMNATION FROM THE VATICAN
      B. CRITICISM FROM A GERMAN MAGAZINE
      C. DISAGREEMENT FROM AMERCIAN SOCIOLOGISTS
Ⅲ. THE TECHNOLOGY OF CLONING
      A. THE TECHNOLOGY ALREADY USED IN LIVESTOCK FOR OVER A DECADE
      B. THE PROCESS OF CREATING HUMAN EMBRYOS
Ⅳ. UNSETTLING POSSIBILITIES AND PAINFUL ISSUES
      A. INDEFINITE IDENTICAL SIBLINGS
      B. IDENTICAL CHILDREN OF DIFFERENT AGES
      C. IDENTICAL CHILDREN IN OTHER FAMILIES AS A RESULT OF SELLING EMBRYOS.
      D. WOMAN GIVING BIRTH TO THER OWN TWIN
      E.  UNCERTAIN RIGHTS OF PARENTS AND MEANING OF INDIVIDUALITY 
Ⅴ. THE PROSPECTS OF THE TECHNOLOGY
      A. CONTINUING EXPERIMENTS IN THE U.S.
      B. POSSIBLE COMMERCIAL USE IN THE U.S. SOON 
        
【题目解析】：论点式提纲的步骤：
第一步：确定文章主题（题目多是主题）
第二步：确定中心论点（多在首段出现）
第三步：总结各段段落大意
第四步：整理全文提纲
Ⅰ. Introduction: human cloning and the reaction A. Fantastic news
B. Thesis: The technology has sparked a storm of controversy.
Ⅱ.Reactions from different circles
A. Condemnation from the Vatican
B. Criticism from a German magazine
C. Disagreement from Amercian sociologists
Ⅲ. The technology of cloning
A. The technology already used in livestock for over a decade
B. The process of creating human embryos
Ⅳ. Unsettling possibilities and painful issues
A. Indefinite identical siblings
B. Identical children of different ages
C. Identical children in other families as a result of selling embryos.
D. Woman giving birth to ther own twin
E. Uncertain rights of parents and meaning of individuality Ⅴ. The prospects of the technology
A. Continuing experiments in the U.S.
B. Possible commercial use in the U.S. soon
