One Good Reason to Let Smallpox Live

It’s now affair bet that we will never see the total extinction of the smallpox virus. The idea was to cap the glorious achievement of 1980, when smallpox was eradicated in the wild, by destroying the killer virus in the last two labs the are supposed to have it—one in the US and one in Russia. If smallpox had truly gone from the planet, what point was there in keeping these reserves?

____1____ reality, of course, it was naïve to ___2___ that everyone would let _____3_____ of such a potent potential weapon.1 Undoubtedly several nations still have _____4_____ vials. _____5_____ the last “official” stocks of live virus bred mistrust of the US and Russia,2 ______6_____ no obvious gain.

Now American researchers have ____7_____ an animal model of the human disease, opening the ____8____ for tests on new treatments and vaccines. So once again there’s a good reason to _____9_____ the virus—just in ____10____ the disease puts in a reappearance.

How do we _____11_____ with the mistrust of the US and Russia? ____12____. Keep the virus _____13_____ international auspices in a well-guarded UN laboratory that’s open to all countries. The US will object, of course, just at it rejects a multilateral approach to just about everything. But it doesn’t ____14____ the idea is wrong. If the virus _____15______ useful, then let’s make it the servant of all humanity—not just a part of it.

1. A) In           B) On           C) At           D) For

2. A) know        B) imagine        C) realize       D) be aware

3. A) to go         B) going         C) go           D) went

4. A) much         B) more         C) most         D) a few

5. A) And          B) While         C) Whereas      D) Although

6. A) since         B) for            C) because       D) of

7. A) looked for     B) sought         C) found         D) talked about

8. A) method        B) road          C) street         D) way

9. A) keep          B) put            C) destroy       D) eradicate

10. A) need         B) case           C)necessity      D) time

11. A) handle        B) tackle         C) deal          D) treat

12. A) Difficult       B) Hard          C) Safe         D) Simple

13. A) under         B) in             C) on          D) for

14. A) say           B) mean          C) state         D) declare

15. A) will be        B) would be       C) is            D) are