Name :

Date :

READING
COMPREHENSION
Family Uses Genetic Selection to
have a Baby to Save Their Other

READING COMPREHENSION  Follow the instructions and answer the questions

in English .

(Document 1)
 General Comprehension 

 Before reading, discuss what the headline tells you about what you may learn from the text.
We may expect the text to deal with the issue of genetic selection and the issue of test tube
babies . A family may use IVF (in vitro fertilization) to have a baby that could save the life
of their sick/diseased daughter or sick son.

 Briefly introduce the document

 We are dealing with a news article entitled “ Family Uses Genetic Selection to have a
Baby to Save Their Other Child’s Life ” which was taken from abcnews website.

 Identify the topic (What about ?) : It deals with genetic selection.

Detailed Comprehension 

 List all the people mentioned

 Elisabeth Hartmann, John Hartmann and Michael, Martina are mentioned.

 Explain how they are related .

Martina and John Hartmann are Michael and Elisabeth’s parents. Michael is Elisabeth’s baby
brother.

 Read again and highlight information about :

 Elisabeth’s health problem in yellow

 How the problem was solved in green
 the questions her parents’ decision raises in blue
 the father’s main argument to justify their decision
in red

 Use elements from the text and your findings to explain in your own words what you’ve
understood.

When Elizabeth Hartmann was 10 years old , she was dying of Fanconi anemia, a serious illness.
Consequently her parents used IVF and genetic selection to make a new baby who could save
Elizabeth. However only one embryo out of 4O was selected, which may raise ethical issues. Even if
the others were frozen or donated for research , we may wonder if it is fair to choose an embryo ?
 Say what the numbers or expressions refer to .

10  It refers to Elizabeth ‘s age when her baby brother was born.

40  It refers to the number of embryos (Michael’s potential siblings)

Fanconi anemia  It refers to the disease Elizabeth was dying of.

preimplantation genetic diagnosis  It refers to a scientific process used by the
Hartmann.

the “unchosen”  It refers to the 39 embryos left. / which weren’t chosen by the
parents to be born .

 Comment on line 40 : “The ethics of choosing which embryo will be born can be debated”

What happened to the other embryos? We may wonder if it is moral to freeze

or donate the 39 embryos that were unchosen or if it better to let a child die?
The only reason why they decided to have a second child was that they needed
a genetic match for Elizabeth.
Maybe if Elizabeth hadn’t been so ill, they wouldn’t have decided to have
another baby.
 Check your Vocabulary !
Match the vocabulary with the correct definition and write a-g next to the numbers 1-7

1 d. siblings Brothers and

sisters
2 e. ounce a unit of
weight/ = 28,3
grams

3 g. in deep freeze very

cold temperature

4 c.
marrow the fatty
network of connective
tissue that fills the
cavities of bones

5 f. a disease a serious
illness
6 b. a womb Uterus/a
place where
something is
conceived
7 a. a stem cell (cellule
souche) an
undifferentiated cell that
 Infer the meaning of the following words or expressions thanks to the
context .

 to be debated : être source de débat / être débattu

 to be no accident : être sans risque / ne pas être un accident /être voulu

 preimplantation genetic diagnosis: le diagnostic génétique préimplantatoire

 to be genetically selected : être génétiquement sélectionné