第 40 至 43 題為題組         In an ideal world, people would not test medicines on animals. Such experiments are stressful andsometimes painful for animals, and expensive and time-consuming for people. Yet animalexperimentation is still needed to help bridge vast gaps in medical knowledge. That is why there are some50 to 100 million animals used in research around the world each year.        Europe, on the whole, has the world’s most restrictive laws on animal experiments. Even so, itsscientists use some 12 million animals a year, most of them mice and rats, for medical research. Officialstatistics show that just 1.1 million animals are used in research in America each year. But that ismisleading. The American authorities do not think mice and rats are worth counting and, as these are themost common laboratory animals, the true figure is much higher. Japan and China have even lesscomprehensive data than America.        Now Europe is reforming the rules governing animal experiments by restricting the number ofanimals used in labs. Alternatives to animal testing, such as using human tissue or computer models, arenow strongly recommended. In addition, sharing all research results freely should help to reduce thenumber of animals for scientific use. At present, scientists often share only the results of successfulexperiments. If their findings do not fit the hypothesis being tested, the work never sees the light of day.This practice means wasting time, money, and animals’ lives in endlessly repeating the failedexperiments.        Animal experimentation has taught humanity a great deal and saved countless lives. It needs tocontinue, even if that means animals sometimes suffer. Europe’s new measures should eventually bothreduce the number of animals used in experiments and improve the way in which scientific research isconducted.
【題組】40. What is the main idea of this passage?
(A) The success of animal experiments should be ensured.
(B) Ban on the use of animals in the lab should be enforced.
(C) Greater efforts need to be taken to reduce the number of lab animals.
(D) Scientists should be required to share their research results with each other.