In the Age of Genetics, you no longer have to try to cut out
smoking or think twice about gobbling that candy bar in your desk drawer. And
forget jogging in (1) ______ a cold morning. The die was
cast long ago, from the moment when the parental sperm
(2) ______ and egg first integrate. The resulting package of
chromosomes has programmed every (3) ______ step
of your life. So sit back, relax and leave the driving with someone else. But
one (4) ______ problem remains: this new world order is at sharp
odd with an older theism, that blame (5) ______ can and must be
assigned in every human transaction. We have built a vast
judicial- industrial complex that offers lawsuits for every need, satisfying
various urges like the (6) ______ wish for fairness or revenge, for getting
rich quick or simply getting your due. This all- blame all-the-time approach
applies to much more than determining culpability would a (7)
______ neighbor trip on your lawn and break an arm. It also says that people
are responsible for their own health- and illness. It is your error if you
develop cancer or a heart attack (8) ______ because you didn’t eat,
think or breathe right. You have allowed the corrosive effect of unresolved
anger or stress or poor self-esteem undermine your health. So if you are sick
(9) ______ or miserable or both, it’s your own darned fault. No wonder
we fled. The transition from the chaotic, barking family feud character of
lawsuits to the sleek silence of a future devotes to cloning and splicing
genes surely derives from something larger than
(10) ______ scientific opportunity or our fascination with "Star
Trek".