Read the text and translate it.
The Human Genome Project. Eyes of brown? or blue?… Curly hair? Or straight?… Dimples?…Freckles? … It’s in our genes. Heredity. Our mothers and fathers passed on all our traits when we were born. There are also many things in our genes that we would rather avoid, such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, muscular dystrophy, and other illnesses. Many diseases come from alterations in our genes. To decipher our genetic code, a scientific journey has begun called The Human Genome Project. The genetic code is the complete instructions of all the genes that tell our body how to develop. Over the years, some genes have been discovered for certain diseases. People who have a family history of these diseases can be tested for the specific gene. They will then know if they have this disease, even if no symptoms are present. But there are many more diseases with genetic components that have not yet been uncovered. Scientists are still unclear what or which genes affect those diseases. Francis Collins MD, PHD, is the Project Director at the National Center for Human Genome Research. He said that “by uncovering all 30,000 to 40,000 genes in the human genome, we should at the same time uncover the heredity basis of most diseases and that would put us in a position to diagnose them better, treat them better and practice better preventative medicine.” What are Genes? They are found in the part of the cell called the nucleus. Human cells contain 23 pairs of chromosomes, 46 in all. One member of each pair comes from the mother and one from the father. Genes occur in pairs, like the chromosomes. A chromosome is a very long chemical molecule called DNA. Genes are segments of DNA molecules. DNA is shaped like a twisted ladder. Rungs of the ladder are chemicals called “base pairs”. Chemical “A” is always paired up with “T” and “G” (all our DNA) contains three billion “base pairs”. The Human Genome Project will find the sequence of all of them. This knowledge will revolutionize our understanding of the way genes influence disease, because the genes’ “base pair” sequence is the code that determines what it does. What do genes do? They give cells the instructions they need to make complex molecules called proteins. Each gene code is for a different protein. A cell first converts DNA to a similar molecule called RNA. RNA carries the gene’s instructions to another part of the cell that acts like a protein factory. Most proteins that come out of the factory are enzymes. Other proteins form cell structures. Occasionally, the gene that codes for a protein has an error in its based pair sequence. The cell then makes a protein that is not able to do what it should. This is called a mutated gene. Mutated genes play a major role in human diseases. Since genes are incredibly small, it is difficult for scientists to isolate them. Making it easier for scientists to find disease causing genes is the main goal of the Human Genome Project. 13. Read the text again and answer the following questions: 1) What is the main goal of The Human Genome Project? 2) How many genes are there in the human genome? 3) What is the name of the Project Director at the National Center for Human Genome Research? 4) How many chromosomes does A human cell contain? 5) What kind of a molecule is a protein? 6) What is the shape of DNA? 7) How many based pairs does a complete human genome contain? 8) How is an error gene called? 9) What similar molecule does a cell convert DNA to? 10) What do many diseases come from? 14. Find the appropriate definitions to the following words:
15. Summarize what is Heredity. Talk about what you have inherited from each parent. Do you favor one parent? Do you have sisters and brothers? What have they inherited from your parents? 16. Play a game! Think a person in your class. Describe him/her so that the other people can guess. Use the vocabulary from the previous exercise. 17. Take a partner of the other sex or find a picture of your favorite artist/ actress etc. Imagine you would have a baby. What traits would you pass him? 18. Remember Modal verbs and its equivalents. Finish the second sentence with the same idea like in the first. Mind that sometimes you need the other modal verb! 1) She can ski really well. 2) She _______ really well when she was five. 3) I can finish it by Friday but it won't be easy. 4) I _______ it by Friday but it wasn't be easy. 5) John can't live here. It's the wrong street. 6) Shakespeare _____ in that house. It wasn't built until 1840. 7) I must check the oil before we leave. 8) I ______ check the oil before we left. 9) It must be raining. Everyone has their umbrella up. 10) It _______. The ground is wet. 11) Thank you very much. You needn't give me a lift, but it's very kind. 12) You _______ me a lift, but it was very kind. 13) He needn't collect me from the station. I'll walk. 14) He _______ me from the station. I walked. 15) Why don't you take the exam? You might pass. 16) Why didn't you take the exam? You _______. 17) He should stop smoking before it's too late. 18) He _______ stop smoking before it was too late. 19) I could visit you next Sunday. 20) I ________ you last Sunday. Why didn’t you ask me? 21) There's the phone. It'll be Paul. 22) Did he have a deep voice? It______Paul. 23) He'll sit in the armchair for hours, staring into space. 24) He_______ in the armchair for hours, staring into space. 25) Let's take the map. We may get lost. 26) I wonder where they are. They _______.
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