Vocabulary to the text:

clone [kləun]	клон; тварина (рослина), штучно вирощена з клітини клонуванням (без запліднення, без запилення)
outburst ['autbɜst]	вибух, спалах
DNA	дезоксирибонуклеїнова кислота, ДНК
cell [sel]	клітина
tadpole ['tædpəul]	пуголовок (the tailed aquatic larva of an amphibian (frog, toad, newt, or salamander), breathing through gills and lacking legs until the later stages of its development)
allegedly [ə'leʤɪdlɪ]	нібито; як стверджується
ewe [ju]	вівця
gaur ['gaʊə]	гаур (a wild ox having a large head, a dark brown or black coat with white stockings, and a hump, native to India and Malaysia)
halt, to [hɔlt]	зупинитися
xenotransplantation [zenətransplan'tāshən]	ксенотрансплантация (пересадка чужеродных тканей или органов)
viable ['vaɪəb(ə)l]	життєздатний
rebuke, to [rɪ'bjuk]	1) оголошувати догану 2) докоряти
frown upon =rebuke
to brace up to	бути готовим (до труднощів тощо)

1. Questions to the text:

1. What is cloning?

2. When were the first cloning attempts made?

3. What is the difference between therapeutic and reproductive cloning?

4. How does xenotransplantation work?

5. Speak about the successful attempts to clone human beings.

6. Meat from cloned animals: a perspective or a nightmare?

7. What is the religious stance on cloning?

2. Additional questions and discussion:

1. Which upsides do you see in various forms of cloning?

2. Do you remember the story of Dolly the sheep?

3. Imagine worst-case scenarios of cloning boom.

4. Do you find it justifiable – playing God?

5. Do you think that cloning attempts have been halted?

3. Write short notes about the key issues raised in the text.

4. Compose and write a plan of the text.

5. Retell the text using new vocabulary.

6. Prepare a report about the history of any cloning attempt

7. Prepare a composition (20-25 sentences) “Ethical implications of cloning.”

Module 12. Media mania.

Topic 37. Types of media.

Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.

--Jim Morrison

Having to live in the information-intensive era is having to experience all the means which are involved with the processing, analysis and modification of information. And one of such means, an extremely powerful and influential one, sometimes dubbed as Fourth Estate, is media, or mass media.

Mass media is media which is intended for a large audience. It may take the form of broadcast media, as in the case of television and radio, or print media, like newspapers and magazines. Internet media can also attain mass media status, and many mass media outlets maintain a web presence to take advantage of the ready availability of Internet in many regions of the world. Some people also refer to the mass media as the “mainstream media,” referencing the fact that it tends to stick to prominent stories which will be of interest to a general audience, sometimes ignoring controversial breaking news. Many people around the world rely on the mass media for news and entertainment, and globally, mass media is a huge industry.

It goes without saying that mass media have become a necessary part of any modern society. The press, the radio and television play a very important role in people's life. They inform, educate & entertain us. They also influence the way people look at the world & even make them change their views. In other words, mass media play a very important part in shaping public opinion.

Millions of people read popular issues of newspapers & magazines in their spare time. Newspapers publish articles which cover the latest international & national events, give a full coverage of commercial, financial and public affairs. Many people buy newspapers also for the radio & TV programs which are printed there. A lot of magazines give an opportunity for youth to be in known in the fashion world, cultural life, sensational news & nightlife events; there we can find reports on education & sports.

Television is one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century and the most popular kind of mass media. Television brings world to our living rooms. It gives people an opportunity to be well-informed by watching documentaries, science programs, panel discussions and so on. Television provides great opportunities for education. With the help of TV it is possible to study foreign languages, to learn a lot of amazing things.

At the same time there are many arguments against TV. Excessive watching has a bad effect on the eyes. Today a lot of people have become TV-addicts, in other words couch potatoes. Instead of going to a theatre or reading books mankind prefer to watch TV. But still, television plays a very important role in people's life in spite of the rise of the Internet & other high-technology sources of information.

Mass media play a significant role in shaping public perceptions on a variety of important issues, both through the information that is dispensed through them, and through the interpretations they place upon this information. They also play a large role in shaping modern culture, by selecting and portraying a particular set of beliefs, values, and traditions (an entire way of life), as reality. That is, by portraying a certain interpretation of reality, they shape reality to be more in line with that interpretation.

Usually, mass media aims to reach a very large market, such as the entire population of a country. By contrast, local media covers a much smaller population and area, focusing on regional news of interest, while specialty media is provided for particular demographic groups. Some local media outlets which cover state or provincial news may rise to prominence thanks to their investigative journalism, and to the clout that their particular regions have in national politics. The Guardian, formerly known as the Manchester Guardian, for example, is a nationally-respected paper in England which started as a regional daily.

One of the biggest criticisms of the mass media is that it is too topical. When a media outlet is forced to cover national and international news, it cannot address numerous interesting local stories because these stories are not of interest to very many viewers. For example, the residents of a community might view their fight against development as critical, but the story would only attract the attention of the mass media if the fight became controversial or if precedents of some form were set.

People often think of mass media as the news, but mass media also includes entertainment like television shows, books, and films. It may also be educational in nature, as in the instance of public broadcasting stations which provide educational programming to a national audience. Political communications including propaganda are also frequently distributed via mass media, as are public service announcements and emergency alerts.

While elitists may be tempted to sneer at the mass media, referring to it as the “opiate of the masses,” mass media is a critical part of human societies. Understanding mass media is usually key to understanding a population and culture, which is why the field of media studies is so huge. Watching, reading, and interacting with a nation's mass media can provide clues into how people think, especially if a diverse assortment of mass media sources are perused.

So today mass media offers us a great variety to choose from. There are many educational, political & entertainment programs, so everyone can find what to listen to, to read or to watch. Electronic media and print media include:

• Broadcasting, in the narrow sense, for radio and television.

• Many instances of various types of recorded discs or tapes. In the 20th century, these were mainly used for music. Video and computer uses followed.

• Film, most often used for entertainment, but also for documentaries.

• The Internet -- examples include Blogs and podcasts (such as news, music, pre-recorded speech, and video)

• Mobile phones, which can be used for rapid breaking news and short clips of entertainment like jokes, horoscopes, alerts, games, music, and advertising

• Publishing, including electronic publishing

• Video games, which have developed into a mass form of media