Die Küchenuhr - eine kurze Verfilmung einer kurzen Geschichte-

Hier findest Du die Verfilmung der Kurzgeschichte "Die Küchenuhr". Schau Dir das Video an und notiere stichpunktartig , was Dir an dem Verhalten der Protagonisten auffällt. Denkst Du , dass die Verfilmung gut umgesetzt wurde?
Der Film dient auch als Hilfestellung für Deine Analyse ( speziell für die Inhaltsangabe).
Viel Spaß !

Übung: Abiturklausur / Klausur American Dream

Musterklausur / Abiturklausur : American Dream (Analysis of a non-finctional text)
President Obama´s Reelection Victory Speech 
Here is the Victory Speech of B.Obama:







Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward.

It moves forward because of you. It moves forward because you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and depression, the spirit that has lifted this country from the depths of despair to the great heights of hope, the belief that while each of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an American family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people.

Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America the best is yet to come.

I want to thank every American who participated in this election, whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very long time.

By the way, we have to fix that.

Whether you pounded the pavement or picked up the phone, whether you held an Obama sign or a Romney sign, you made your voice heard and you made a difference.

I just spoke with Governor Romney and I congratulated him and Paul Ryan on a hard-fought campaign.

We may have battled fiercely, but it's only because we love this country deeply and we care so strongly about its future. From George to Lenore to their son Mitt, the Romney family has chosen to give back to America through public service and that is the legacy that we honor and applaud tonight.

In the weeks ahead, I also look forward to sitting down with Governor Romney to talk about where we can work together to move this country forward.

I want to thank my friend and partner of the last four years, America's happy warrior, the best vice president anybody could ever hope for, Joe Biden.

And I wouldn't be the man I am today without the woman who agreed to marry me 20 years ago.

Let me say this publicly: Michelle, I have never loved you more. I have never been prouder to watch the rest of America fall in love with you, too, as our nation's first lady.

Sasha and Malia, before our very eyes you're growing up to become two strong, smart beautiful young women, just like your mom.

And I'm so proud of you guys. But I will say that for now one dog's probably enough.

To the best campaign team and volunteers in the history of politics. The best. The best ever. Some of you were new this time around, and some of you have been at my side since the very beginning.

But all of you are family. No matter what you do or where you go from here, you will carry the memory of the history we made together and you will have the life-long appreciation of a grateful president. Thank you for believing all the way, through every hill, through every valley.

You lifted me up the whole way and I will always be grateful for everything that you've done and all the incredible work that you put in.

I know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small, even silly. And that provides plenty of fodder for the cynics that tell us that politics is nothing more than a contest of egos or the domain of special interests. But if you ever get the chance to talk to folks who turned out at our rallies and crowded along a rope line in a high school gym, or saw folks working late in a campaign office in some tiny county far away from home, you'll discover something else.

You'll hear the determination in the voice of a young field organizer who's working his way through college and wants to make sure every child has that same opportunity.

You'll hear the pride in the voice of a volunteer who's going door to door because her brother was finally hired when the local auto plant added another shift.

You'll hear the deep patriotism in the voice of a military spouse whose working the phones late at night to make sure that no one who fights for this country ever has to fight for a job or a roof over their head when they come home.

That's why we do this. That's what politics can be. That's why elections matter. It's not small, it's big. It's important. Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. We have our own opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy.

That won't change after tonight, and it shouldn't. These arguments we have are a mark of our liberty. We can never forget that as we speak people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their ballots like we did today.

But despite all our differences, most of us share certain hopes for America's future. We want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the best schools and the best teachers.

A country that lives up to its legacy as the global leader in technology and discovery and innovation, with all the good jobs and new businesses that follow.

We want our children to live in an America that isn't burdened by debt, that isn't weakened by inequality, that isn't threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet.

We want to pass on a country that's safe and respected and admired around the world, a nation that is defended by the strongest military on earth and the best troops this -- this world has ever known.

But also a country that moves with confidence beyond this time of war, to shape a peace that is built on the promise of freedom and dignity for every human being. We believe in a generous America, in a compassionate America, in a tolerant America, open to the dreams of an immigrant's daughter who studies in our schools and pledges to our flag.

To the young boy on the south side of Chicago who sees a life beyond the nearest street corner.

To the furniture worker's child in North Carolina who wants to become a doctor or a scientist, an engineer or an entrepreneur, a diplomat or even a president -- that's the future we hope for. That's the vision we share. That's where we need to go -- forward.

That's where we need to go.

Now, we will disagree, sometimes fiercely, about how to get there. As it has for more than two centuries, progress will come in fits and starts. It's not always a straight line. It's not always a smooth path.

By itself, the recognition that we have common hopes and dreams won't end all the gridlock or solve all our problems or substitute for the painstaking work of building consensus and making the difficult compromises needed to move this country forward. But that common bond is where we must begin.

Our economy is recovering. A decade of war is ending. A long campaign is now over.

And whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you, I have learned from you, and you've made me a better president. And with your stories and your struggles, I return to the White House more determined and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do and the future that lies ahead.

Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual.

You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. And in the coming weeks and months, I am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together. Reducing our deficit. Reforming our tax code. Fixing our immigration system. Freeing ourselves from foreign oil. We've got more work to do.


But that doesn't mean your work is done. The role of citizens in our Democracy does not end with your vote. America's never been about what can be done for us. It's about what can be done by us together through the hard and frustrating, but necessary work of self-government. That's the principle we were founded on.

This country has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military in history, but that's not what makes us strong. Our university, our culture are all the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on earth.

The belief that our destiny is shared; that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations. The freedom which so many Americans have fought for and died for come with responsibilities as well as rights. And among those are love and charity and duty and patriotism. That's what makes America great.

I am hopeful tonight because I've seen the spirit at work in America. I've seen it in the family business whose owners would rather cut their own pay than lay off their neighbors, and in the workers who would rather cut back their hours than see a friend lose a job.

I've seen it in the soldiers who reenlist after losing a limb and in those SEALs who charged up the stairs into darkness and danger because they knew there was a buddy behind them watching their back.

I've seen it on the shores of New Jersey and New York, where leaders from every party and level of government have swept aside their differences to help a community rebuild from the wreckage of aterrible storm.

And I saw just the other day, in Mentor, Ohio, where a father told the story of his 8-year-old daughter, whose long battle with leukemia nearly cost their family everything had it not been for health care reform passing just a few months before the insurance company was about to stop paying for her care.

I had an opportunity to not just talk to the father, but meet this incredible daughter of his. And when he spoke to the crowd listening to that father's story, every parent in that room had tears in their eyes, because we knew that little girl could be our own.

And I know that every American wants her future to be just as bright. That's who we are. That's the country I'm so proud to lead as your president.

And tonight, despite all the hardship we've been through, despite all the frustrations of Washington, I've never been more hopeful about our future.

I have never been more hopeful about America. And I ask you to sustain that hope. I'm not talking about blind optimism, the kind of hope that just ignores the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. I'm not talking about the wishful idealism that allows us to just sit on the sidelines or shirk from a fight.

I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting.

America, I believe we can build on the progress we've made and continue to fight for new jobs and new opportunity and new security for the middle class. I believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that if you're willing to work hard, it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love. It doesn't matter whether you're black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in America if you're willing to try.

I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We're not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America.

And together with your help and God's grace we will continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on Earth.

Thank you, America. God bless you. God bless these United States.






Tasks:

1.In his speech the president talks about the past , the present and the future of the USA.Sum up what he says about it.

2.Analyse the structure , the content and the rethorical devices of the speech.

3.Choose one exercise:

a.) Imagine that you won the election, write a speech containing some aspects of the american dream as well as some problems of the USA. Do not forget to describe the future of the country you rule (perspectives of economy , globalization ,etc.)

b.) In his speech the president refers to the american dream.
Write an essay about this topic and briefly describe the history of the USA.

Good Luck 

Globalization and its victims- Great Barrier Reef-

Australian government pledges to protect Great Barrier Reef

Unesco warned last year that the World Heritage Site could be listed as 'in danger if there was no progress by 1 February

The Australian government pledged to stop coal port or shipping developments that would cause damage to the Great Barrier Reef as it responded to a Friday deadline amid UN warnings that the reef'sconservation status could be downgraded.

Unesco warned last year that the World Heritage Site could be listed as "in danger" if there was no evidence of progress by1 February on protecting the reef from threats that also include climate change and the predatory crown-of-thorns starfish, which is wearing away the world's largest living structure.

"The Great Barrier Reef is an iconic Australian environmental asset, the government is absolutely committed to the protection of the reef and our oceans," said federal environment minister Tony Burke as he released the country's report to Unesco. "We will not cut corners or give an inch on protecting it."

Heralded as one of the seven natural wonders of the world, the 2,000 km (1,200 mile) Great Barrier Reef is home to 400 types of coral, 240 species of birds and 1,500 species of fish. It is worth AU$6bn a year in tourism to the local economy.

But coal is one of Australia's top export earners and the state of Queensland is the country's largest coal producer. The reef faces growing threats from shipping driven by coal project expansions.

Unesco, which gave the reef World Heritage status in 1991, made a number of proposals to the national and Queensland state governments on managing the reef, such as halting further port construction and limiting ship numbers.

"The World Heritage Committee can be assured that no new port developments or associated port infrastructure have been approved outside existing long-established major port areas since the committee made this recommendation," the government's report said.

"A project will only be approved by the Australian government environment minister if the residual impacts on protected matters, including 'outstanding universal value', are determined to be not unacceptable."

The Australian government has already invested A$200m in its Reef Rescue programme and said on Friday it would provide an additional $800,000 to fight the crown-of-thorns starfish, which prey on the reef and have multiplied amid nutrient rich flood waters in the past few years.

Most of the extra funding will be used to employ a second boat to remove the starfish from "high-value tourism reefs" identified as under threat, with the remainder going to the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) to investigate a long-term solution.

A recent study by AIMS researchers found that the pace of coral loss on the reef has increased since 2006 and if the trend continues, coral cover could halve again by 2022, with the southern and central areas most affected.

Globally, reefs are being assailed by myriad threats, particularly rising sea temperatures, but the threat to the Great Barrier Reef is even more pronounced, the AIMS study found.

The government said in its report it believed the reef has the "capacity to recover if the right conditions are in place."

Green groups, who are hoping place the reef on the political agenda this year amid campaigning for a federal election in September, said the report does not go far enough.

"The sheer size and speed of port and associated development along the reef coast is unprecedented, said Robert Leck, the campaign director of the World Wildlife Fund. "There's more dredging, more ships and more turtles and coral dying."

The world is shocked !

A heavily armed gunman killed 26 people, including 20 children from 5 to 10 years old, in a rampage at a Connecticut elementary school on Friday, one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.

The gunman - who according to a media report carried four weapons and wore a bulletproof vest - was dead inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, state police Lieutenant Paul Vance told a news conference.

Vance said authorities found 18 children and seven adults, including the gunman, dead at the school, and two children were pronounced dead later after being take to a hospital. Another adult was found dead at a related crime scene in Newtown, he said, bringing the toll to 28.

"Our hearts are broken today," President Barack Obama said in an emotional televised address to the nation.

"Evil visited this community today," Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy told reporters.

Two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation confirmed to Reuters the shooter had been identified as Adam Lanza, 20. Adam's brother Ryan Lanza was "either in custody or being questioned" at this hour, one of the sources said.

The New York Times reported that the gunman walked into a classroom where his mother was a teacher, shot his mother and then 20 students, most in the same classroom, before shooting five other adults and killing himself. One other person was shot at the school and survived, the Times said.

The holiday season tragedy was the second shooting rampage in the United States this week and the latest in a series of mass killings this year, and was certain to revive a debate about U.S. gun laws.

Chaos struck as children gathered in their classrooms for morning meetings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, a city of 27,000 in Fairfield County, about 80 miles northeast of New York City.

Police swarmed the scene and locked down the school, rushing children to safety, some of them bloodied. Distraught parents converged, frantically searching for their daughters and sons. Neighbors and friends wandered in shock, looking for information.

"It's hard to believe that anything like this could happen in this town," said resident Peter Alpi, 70, as he fought back tears. "It's a very quiet town. Maybe it's too quiet."

Hours later, Obama, wiping away tears and pausing to collect his emotions, mourned the "beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old" who were killed. He ordered flags flown at half staff at U.S. public buildings.

"As a country, we have been through this too many times," Obama said, ticking off a list of recent shootings.

"We're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics," Obama said in apparent reference to the influence of the National Rifle Association over members of Congress.

Obama remains committed to trying to renew a ban on assault weapons, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

BLOODIED CHILDREN LEAVE SCHOOL

Vance said the shootings took place in two rooms of Sandy Hook Elementary School, which teaches children from kindergarten through fourth grade, roughly aged 5 to 10.

Witnesses reported hearing dozens of shots; some said as many as 100 rounds.

"It was horrendous," said parent Brenda Lebinski, who rushed to the school where her daughter is in the third grade. "Everyone was in hysterics - parents, students. There were kids coming out of the school bloodied. I don't know if they were shot, but they were bloodied."

Lebinski said a mother who was at the school during the shooting told her a "masked man" entered the principal's office and may have shot the principal. Lebinski, who is friends with the mother who was at the school, said the principal was "severely injured."

Lebinski's daughter's teacher "immediately locked the door to the classroom and put all the kids in the corner of the room."

Melissa Murphy, who lives near the school, monitored events on a police scanner.

"I kept hearing them call for the mass casualty kit and scream, ‘Send everybody! Send everybody!'" Murphy said. "It doesn't seem like it can be really happening. I feel like I'm in shock."

The toll exceed that of one of the most notorious U.S. school shootings, the 1999 rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, where two teenagers killed 13 students and staff before killing themselves.

A girl interviewed by NBC Connecticut described hearing seven loud "booms" while she was in gym class. Other children began crying and teachers moved the students to a nearby office, she said.

"A police officer came in and told us to run outside and so we did," the unidentified girl said on camera.

In Hoboken, New Jersey, police cordoned off a block in connection with the Connecticut shootings, but an officer told reporters there was no body inside, contrary to an earlier media report.

The United States has experienced a number of mass shooting rampages this year, most recently in Oregon, where a gunman opened fire at a shopping mall on Tuesday, killing two people and then himself.

The deadliest came in July at a midnight screening of a Batman film in Colorado that killed 12 people and wounded 58.

The Connecticut shootings appear certain to trigger renewed debate over U.S. gun laws. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, founder of the advocacy group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, said it was "almost impossible to believe that a mass shooting in a kindergarten class could happen.

"We need immediate action. We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership - not from the White House and not from Congress," Bloomberg said. "That must end today."

In 2007, 32 people were killed at Virginia Tech university in the deadliest act of criminal gun violence in U.S. history.

In another notorious school shooting outside the United States, a gunman opened fire in 1996 in an elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland, and killed 16 children and an adult before killing himself.

The Gangnam Style

'Gangnam Style' the Year's 2nd Most Popular Google Search

Psy's global hit "Gangnam Style" was the second most popular search on Google this year. Google on Thursday said it tallied more than 1 trillion search terms from 55 countries this year, and pop diva Whitney Houston, who died in February, was the most popular search in 2012.

But "Gangnam Style" was the most-searched in Korea, Australia, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates, demonstrating the soaring popularity of the song which also racked up more than 900 million views on YouTube. Not only is it the most-viewed video ever on YouTube, is also on its way to garnering more than 1 billion views.

Third was Hurricane Sandy, which wreaked havoc on the U.S. east coast in October, and fourth Apple's iPad 3, followed by online game "Diablo III," Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, and the London Olympics.

In the area of home appliances, the iPad 3 was followed by Samsung's Galaxy S3. Samsung's Galaxy Note 2 tablet PC was the fifth most-searched appliance. Apple's iPad Mini and iPad 4 were also among the most frequently searched words on Google, but the iPhone 5 did not even make it into the top 10.

Just enjoy ;)

USA -Klausur , Analyzing a political speech

 'I Have a Dream' 

By The Rev. MARTIN LUTHER KING Jr.

(In einer Klausur wäre die Rede gekürzt ,zur Übung schadet es aber nicht die komplette Rede zu analysieren.)

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

Tasks:

1.Point out what Martin Luther King Jr. says about the situation about Bblack people in the USA 100 years ago and in 1963. (Comprehension)

2.Analyse the structure of the speech and the stylistic devices which make the speech so powerful and identifiy some of the historical and Biblical allusions king uses. (Analysis)

3.What aspects of the American Dream can be found in Kings speech ? Comment on the speech refering to the American Dream then and now.

Genetic Engineering Klausur

Embryo genetic screening controversial - and successful

By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY

A "slippery slope" to "a world of eugenics," as bioethics authorities once worried, or a healthy life for a teenage girl?

Once at the center of a science controversy, Molly Nash, 15, represents the human answer to the debate over a genetic screening technique, " pre-implantation genetic diagnosis," (PGD) that made headlines a decade ago.

In Molly's case, her mother and father turned to PGD to pick out the embryo implanted to give birth to her brother, Adam, in an effort to save Molly's life.

"She's a typical teenage girl, she loves to dance, loves the theater," says nurse Lisa Nash of Denver, Molly's mom. "We never thought she would live to see 15."

A bone marrow transplant in 2000 cured Molly of "Fanconi´s Anemia", a rare illness that kills many of its victims before the age of 7. The cord blood cells transplanted into Molly came from her then newborn brother, Adam. Now 9, Adam was the first reported case of baby selected as an embryo in a fertility lab for birth because his immune system characteristics made him an ideal transplant candidate for his sister. For the Nashes, giving birth to another child with those matching characteristics offered the only chance to save their daughter.

"Adam knows he helped his sister, that's all. They're normal kids," says Lisa Nash.

Of all the corners of science, fertility procedures have one of the longest track records for stirring controversy. In 1978, the delivery of the first "test tube" baby, Louise Brown, in the United Kingdom gave birth to arguments that such procedures would harm children. Similarly, Adam Nash's birth raised worries at the 2002 President's Council on Bioethics meeting that pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) would lead to a widespread era of sex selection procedures at fertility clinics.

In particular, council members worried that embryos would be destroyed as families resorted to fertility clinic screening techniques to check embryos for hereditary diseases. In PGD, an embryologist plucks one or two cells from a few-day-old embryo, and destroys those cells in assays for Huntington's disease, cystic fibrosis, childhood cancer and many other ailments. In 2007, the most recently-available statistical year, about 5% of the 132,745 U.S. in-vitro-fertilization procedures included PGD, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

"Parents are coming to us from all over the world with many kinds of rare genetic diseases," says Oleg Verlinsky of the Reproductive Genetics Institute in Chicago, which did the immune system screening on Adam Nash before his birth. Since then, RGI has performed more than 250 such screenings, Verlinsky says, for children whose birth led to the treatment of an older sibling.

"Molly Nash is a wonderful story," Verlinsky says. "We worked so hard on her assay. The little girl was dying. Most patients come to us just for screening, but cases where parents come to you with an already-sick child are very hard."

Some bioethicists, such as former bioethics council chiefLeon Kass of the American Enterprise Institute, raised worries that children born from such procedures would feel unloved, if they see themselves as exploited. The council also asked the public to weigh concerns about an era of "designer babies" arriving trhough such techniques. The history of eugenics, where 30 U.S. states passed mandatory sterilization laws during the 1920's, in a bid to weed out the "unfit," hung heavily over the debate.

"People are certainly entitled to their opinions. But we were doing what was best for our family," says Lisa Nash. She has become an advocate for cord-blood banking from newborns as a result of her experience. "I'd urge people to really think about it early in their pregnancy."

Tasks:

1.Explain why the case of Molly Nash raised concern at the Council on Bioethics and point out what was done to save her life. (Comprehension)

2.Analyse how the article influences the reader´s opinion on PGD.(Analysis)

3.Do you think PGD ist good if it can save the life of a child? Write an argumentation about this topic.(Evaluation)