Genes Are Us - Unit 2

C2 Proficiency · Multiple Choice Cloze · Close-up C2, National Geographic Learning

For questions 1–8, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.

look

glimpse

sight

glance

sprang

proceeded

descended

originated

vital

key

prime

crucial

shed

aim

hurl

pitch

played

enforced

served

favoured

very

barely

rarely

hardly

or

and

nor

but

sift

seek

scan

sweep

A human and a grain of rice not, at first (1) ___ , look like cousins. And yet we share a quarter of our genes with that fine plant. All animals, plants and fungi share an ancestor that lived about 1.6 billion years ago. Everything that (2) ___ from that progenitor retains part of its original genome, embodying one of evolution's (3) ___ principles: if it's not broken, don't fix it. Since evolution has conserved so many genes, exploring the genomes of other species can (4) ___ light on genes involved in human biology and disease. Genes can disappear and new ones can arise from mutations in DNA that previously (5) ___ some other function or no function at all. It's (6) ___ surprising that we share more genes with chimpanzees than with rice because, by (7) ___ large, we've shared most of our evolutionary journey with those apes. And as we (8) ___ through the small portion of our genes with no counterpart in chimpanzees, we may be able to find additional clues as to what makes us uniquely human.

Genes Are Us

Available as a free printable PDF worksheet with an optional answer key.

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