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  3. Handle With Care When Thomas Butler stepped off a plane in April 2002 on his return to the United States from a trip to Tanz

Handle With Care When Thomas Butler stepped off a plane in April 2002 on his return to the United States from a trip to Tanz

admin2013-07-11  79
问题                            Handle With Care
    When Thomas Butler stepped off a plane in April 2002 on his return to the United States from a trip to Tanzania, he set in motion a chain of events that now threatens to destroy his life. A microbiologist at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Butler was bringing back samples of the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis for his research. Yet on reentering the country, he is alleged to have passed right by US customs inspectors without notifying them that he was carrying this potentially deadly cargo. That move and its consequences have led the federal government to prosecute Butler for a range of offences. If convicted on all counts, he could be fined millions of dollars and spend the rest of his life in jail.
    The US scientific community has leapt to butler’s defence, arguing that his prosecution is overzealous, alarming and unnecessary. The presidents of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine have written to Attorney General John Ashcroft, claiming that the case could endanger research into countering the threat of bioterrorism. And the academy’s human-rights committee has asked its members to write letters on Butler’s behalf and to donate funds for his defense.
    Those who defend Butler argue that the rules governing the import of pathogens are so restrictive that bending them is the only option for researchers who are working to provide protection from deadly diseases that affect the developing world. Why, they ask, prosecute Butler for breaking the rules that made his work more difficult without serving a useful purpose?
    The supporters consider that the charge laid against Butler merely reflects the determination of federal prosecutors to throw the book at Butler to make an example of him to others. Many researchers now fear falling victim to an overzealous prosecution if they fail to dot all the i’s and cross all the i’s on their paperwork. Some US microbiologists are so frightened of being hauled off in handcuffs for a minor administrative error that they have decided to avoid biodefense research entirely—despite the current funding boom in the field.
    Whether Butler is a villain or a scapegoat is now for a jury to decide. But whatever verdict is eventually reached, scientists who are lobbying on Butler’s behalf would do well to consider public perceptions. If the rules governing the import of pathogenic bacteria make no sense, then microbiologists must make that case clearly, and lobby for the regulations to be changed. Researchers are also justified in making statements to help ensure that any punishment that Butler might receive is proportionate.
    But researchers risk a damaging public protest if the main message that emerges is that his peers think he was justified in carrying samples of the plague bacterium onto a commercial flight. Appearing to deny the importance of rules designed to protect the public from deadly pathogens—however unwieldy those rules may be in practice— will not generate trust. It will not foster a culture of responsibility. And it would show disregard for the public’s faith that scientific research will be conducted as safely and as competently as possible.
Who is likely to be least critical of Butler?
选项 A、the federal government.
B、the US scientific community.
C、the American public.
D、US Customs Service.
答案B
解析 本题考查综合细节。文章首段第三句明确指出，“美国海关检查人员声称巴特勒在没有通知他们的情况下携带有潜在致命性的物品入境”，表明海关总署对他这一行为很不满。因此排除[D]。首段第四句明确提出，联邦政府以多项罪名指控巴特勒，所以排除[A]。文章第五段第二句指出，为巴特勒辩护的科学家应该考虑公众的想法。第六段首句指出，如果有人认为他携带鼠疫细菌样本乘坐商业飞机是正当的；那么这些人可能会遭到公众的激烈反对。所以排除[C]。文章从第二段至第四段都在谈论巴特勒的支持者，即科学界的行为和观点，第二段的首句明确指出“美吲科学界立刻为巴特勒辩护”。
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