Scientists had until very recently believed that there were around 100,000 human genes, available to make each and every one of us in our splendid diversity. Now, the two rival teams decoding the book of life, have each found that instead there are only somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 genes. So that grand panjandrum, the human, may not manage to boast twice as many genes as that microscopic nowhere-worm, with its 18,000 genes, the nematode. Even the fruit fly, considered so negligible that even the most extreme of animal rights activists don"t kick up a fuss about its extensive use in genetic experimentation, has 16,000 genes. Not for the first time it has to be admitted that it"s a funny old world, and that we humans are the beings who make it such.Without understanding in the least what the scientific implications of this discovery might be, anybody with the smallest curiosity about people—and that"s pretty much all of us—can see that it is pretty significant. The most obvious conclusion to be drawn from the limited number of genes available to programme a human is that biological determination goes so far and no further. Human complexity, on this information, can be best explained in the manner it looks to be best explained before scientific evidence becomes involved at all. In other words, in the nature versus nurture debate, the answer, thankfully, is "both".Why is this so important Because it should mean that we can accept one another"s differences more easily, and help each other when appropriate. Nurture does have a huge part to play in human destiny. Love can transform humans. Trust can make a difference. Second chances are worth trying. Life, to a far greater extent than science thought up until now, is what we make it. One day we may know exactly what we can alter and what we cannot. Knowing that there is a great deal that we can alter or improve, as well as a great deal that we must accept and value for its own sake, makes the human journey progressive rather than deterministic, complex and open, rather than simple and unchangeable.For no one can suggest that 30,000 genes don"t give the human race much room for manoeuvre. Look how many tunes, after all, we"re able to squeeze out of eight notes. But it surely must give the lie to the rather sinister belief that has been gaining credence in the West that there is a hard-wired, no-prisoners-taken, gene for absolutely everything, and that whole sections of the population can be labelled as "stupid" or "lazy" or "criminal" or somehow or other sub-human. Instead, like the eight notes which can only make music (albeit in astounding diversity), the 30,000 genes can only make people. The rest is up to US. The analogy to musical notes is used to make the point that ______
A. a limited number of genes can also make human beings diverse
B. some music pieces are bound to be pleasanter to hear than others
C. the limited number of genes does support some of the racist views about humans
D. inheritance has no role to play in making humans what they are
Imagine a classroom where the instructors speak a foreign language and the students can"t take notes, turn to a textbook, or ask any questions. Yet at the end of the final exam, one participant may face life in jail or even death. That"s the task handed to American jurors, briefly thrown together to decide accused criminals" fate.In "A Trial by Jury," Princeton history professor D. Graham Burnett offers a rare glimpse inside jury deliberations at a New York murder trial where he served as foreman last year. According to the prosecutor, the case seems clear cut: a sexual encounter between two men went wrong. The defendant stabbed his victim 26 times, but claims he acted in self-defense, killing a man who was attempting to rape him. Burnett opens with a detailed description of the crime. He then introduces the characters and walks readers through the 10-day trial. You hear the testimony of witnesses dressed in strange clothes and find yourself put off by a growling prosecutor and the judge"s indifference. Once retreated in the jury room, confusion reigns. Most jurors don"t understand the charges or the meaning of self-defense. Uninterested jurors seem more concerned about missing appointments. On the third day, one juror runs to a bathroom in tears after exchanging curses. By the final day, nearly everyone cries.Though he"s no more familiar with the law than the other jurors, who include a vacuum-cleaner repairman and a software developer, it"s fitting that Burnett is a teacher. For us, he serves as a patient instructor, illustrating with his experience just what a remarkable and sometimes remarkably strange duty serving on a jury can be.For many citizens, jury duty is their first exposure to our justice system. Jurors discover first hand the gap between law and justice. They face two flawed versions of the same event, offered by witnesses they may not believe. We assume jurors will take their job seriously. We expect them to digest complicated definitions that leave lawyers confused.But as Burnett quickly discovers, jurors receive little help. The judge offers them no guidance about how to conduct themselves and races through his delivery of the murder charges. Only within the past decade have we finally abandoned the misconception that jurors naturally reach the right decision without any assistance. Led by Arizona, states have instituted jury reforms as simple as letting jurors take notes or obtain written copies of their instructions. It"s not clear whether these changes improve the quality of justice, but the reforms certainly ensure that jurors leave their tour of duty with better feelings about the experience. Unfortunately, such reforms hadn"t come yet to New York at the time of this trial. Nonetheless, Burnett and his fellow jurors grope toward their own solution, ultimately reaching what he describes as an "avowedly imperfect" result. The average people used to take it for granted that ______
A. no jury could make a perfect decision
B. jurors were worse in legal knowledge than lawyers
C. jurors believed in neither of the stories told by the two parties in lawsuit
D. jurors had enough qualities to be trusted with a fair verdict