2020考研英语阅读理解精读100篇：Unit 49

Unit 49

Windsurfers in Hawaii might not seem to have much in common with the geeks who these days tinker with Linux software as part of the open-source movement. But in the late ’70s, the surfers freely swapped ideas on how to redesign their equipment right on the beach, and sporting-goods makers were quick to pick up on innovations like foot straps for leaping giant waves.

Linux’s success is making freely revealed innovation a hot idea again. After decades in which patents closed off innovation, open source has caught the attention of businesses because “it so violated accepted wisdom and so clearly worked,” says Yochai Benkler, a Yale scholar. Giants like IBM and HP, and newcomers like Red Hat, have made lots of money on Linux-based services and equipment.

Pharmaceuticals represent one new and surprising area where freely shared innovation is catching on. Most industry profits have been made from expensive patented drugs. But now the BioBricks project at MIT is trying to establish standardized tools and processes for research. That way, researchers from everywhere can contribute. Open innovation also makes sense in industries where patents aren’t relevant—for example, finding new uses for existing drugs.① Eric Von Hippel, MIT’s head of innovation and entrepreneurship, is studying FDA applications since 1998 for these so-called off-label uses of patented drugs to see whether, as he suspects, they come mostly from independent researchers rather than the big drugmakers holding the original patents. If they do, it means open-source innovation is already well underway.

An open system would also work when the payback is too small to entice Big Pharma, as in the case of tropical diseases. Law professor Stephen Maurer of the University of California, Berkeley, has coauthored a proposal called the Tropical Disease Initiative that could give graduate students, for instance, a chance to work on finding drugs to help fight the likes of malaria. Because discoveries wouldn’t be patented, contracts could be awarded to the lowest bidder. Manufacturing prices could be kept down, too, because generic-drug makers could compete as soon as a drug was ready.

Plant genetics is another field showing the promise of open innovation.② The basic tools for manipulating plant genes, and thereby modifying food, are protected by a thicket of patents largely controlled by multinationals, which means farmers in developing countries don’t have access to the techniques. The BIOS Initiative, recently launched by Cambia, an Australian nonprofit, aims to make publicly available an alternative technology.（People would be free to patent any resulting discoveries.） One early aim has been to help farmers find a way to breed their own corn, so they don’t need to buy expensive hybrid seeds each year. It’s not yet clear just how far this kind of research can be democratized. But in many areas, the open-source option is becoming a serious one.

注（1）：本文选自Newsweek；

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象为2003年真题Text 3。

1. The author compares windsurfers in Hawaii with the geeks who these days tinker with Linux software because ______.

A) they loved adventures

B) producers relied on their work

C) they shared their new ideas with other people freely

D) they redesigned their equipments

2. What is businesses’ attitude toward Linux’s open source?

A) Indifferent.

B) Apprehensive.

C) Indignant.

D) Happy.

3. It can be inferred from Paragraph 3 that ______.

A) patented drugs are expensive because they close off innovation

B) independent researchers are more innovative

C) BioBricks allows researchers from the world to share their ideas with each other

D) new uses for existing drugs violate patents

4. The word “entice” （Line 1, Paragraph 4） most probably means ______.

A) satisfy

B) attract

C) repel

D) persuade

5. According to the text, open innovation is promising in the field of plant genetics because ______.

A) farmers can lower their cost if they know how to breed seeds through open innovation

B) genetically modified food has a bright perspective

C) it can break the monopoly of big companies

D) it is an important part of democracy

篇章剖析

本文是一篇说明文，主要说明公开开放创意在各个领域所创造的巨大价值以及巨大潜力。第一段通过比较夏威夷的冲浪爱好者和那些修补Linux程序的怪才来说明二者的共同之处在于：都能够公开开放创意；接着在第二段介绍了Linux通过公开开放创意在IT领域所取得的成功及其影响；在第三段指出公开开放创意在医药品领域的广阔前景；第四段指出公开开放创意的现实意义；最后一段说明了公开开放创意在植物遗传学领域的应用前景。

词汇注释

windsurfer /ˈwɪndsɜːfə/ n. 风帆冲浪者；冲浪爱好者

geek /giːk/ n. 怪人；怪才

tinker /ˈtɪŋkə/ v. （与at, with连用）修补

swap /swɒp/ v. 交换

strap /stræp/ n. 带，皮带

patent /ˈpeɪtənt,ˈpætənt/ n. 专利权，执照，专利品 v. 取得…的专利权，请准专利

pharmaceutical /ˌfɑːməˈsjuːtɪkəl/ n. 药物

entrepreneurship /ˌɒntrəprəˈnɜːʃɪp/ n. 创业精神；企业家精神；企业家（主办人等）的身份（地位、职权、能力）

FDA 美国食品药品管理局（Food and Drug Administration）

off-label use 非适应症性用药

underway /ˈʌndəˈweɪ/ adj. 起步的，进行中的

entice /ɪnˈtaɪs/ v. 诱惑；吸引

coauthor /kəʊˈɔːθə/ v. 合著

initiative /ɪˈnɪʃɪətɪv/ n. 提案

malaria /məˈleərɪə/ n. 疟疾

bidder /ˈbɪdə/ n. 出价人，投标人

thicket /ˈθɪkɪt/ n. 丛状物，密集的东西

multinational /mʌltɪˈnæʃən(ə)l/ n. 跨国公司

alternative /ɔːltɜːnətɪv/ n. 二者择一，可供选择的办法

breed /briːd/ v. 育种

hybrid /ˈhaɪbrɪd/ n. /a. 杂交（的）

难句突破

① Eric Von Hippel, MIT’s head of innovation and entrepreneurship, is studying FDA applications since 1998 for these so-called off-label uses of patented drugs to see whether, as he suspects, they come mostly from independent researchers rather than the big drugmakers holding the original patents.

主体句式：Eric Won Hippel is studying FDA application.

结构分析：本句为复合句，MIT’s head of innovation and entrepreneurship是主语Eric Von Hippel的同位语，宾语之后的for these...to see是目的状语，whether...the original patents是宾语从句，其中，as he suspects是as引导的方式状语，作插入语。

句子译文：麻省理工学院的创新和创业精神负责人埃里克·冯·希佩尔正在研究1998年以来美国食品药品管理局收到的将专利药物用于所谓“非适应症性用药”的申请，目的是想了解这些申请是否像自己猜想的那样主要来自于独立研究人员而非那些拥有专利权的大制药公司。

② The basic tools for manipulating plant genes, and thereby modifying food, are protected by a thicket of patents largely controlled by multinationals, which means farmers in developing countries don’t have access to the techniques.

主体句式：The basic tools are protected.

结构分析：本句为复杂句，主语由for引导的介词短语修饰，介词的宾语为两个并列的动名词短语，by a thicket of patents这个介词短语在句中作状语，which引导了一个非限定性定语从句，对整个句子加以修饰。

句子译文：处理植物基因，并以此改良食物的基本工具都被各种专利保护起来，而这些专利大都由跨国公司控制，这就意味着发展中国家的农民无法获得这些技术。

题目分析

1. C 细节题。第一段讲冲浪爱好者在海滩上自由交换想法，制造商们迅速pick up on innovations。第二段说起Linux的时候，作者说Linux的成功使freely revealed innovation流行起来。两段中都出现了innovation一词，可见自由地同他人交换想法是两者的共同之处。

2. D 情感态度题。根据第二段，Linux的成功吸引了很多企业的注意，而且从大型企业到新兴企业都从中受益良多，可见企业欢迎Linux开放源码。

3. C 推理题。文章提到BioBricks时说它可以让各地的研究人员贡献自己的想法，加上本文主要是探讨公开开放创意，因此这一项目可以使研究人员自由交换思想。

4. B 语义题。文中第四段第一行里有一个too...to...结构，表示“太…而不能…”。如果回报太少，大制药厂自然不愿意做。那么entice最有可能的意思就是“吸引”。

5. A 细节题。文中最后一段提到由于很多跨国公司控制着生产转基因食品的工具和技术，使第三世界的农民无法获得这些技术。通过一个开放创意项目，农民们就可以breed their own corn, so they don’t need to buy expensive hybrid seeds each year。可见选项A是正确的。

参考译文

夏威夷的风帆冲浪爱好者似乎与那些在开放源代码活动中不断修补Linux软件的怪才们没有多少共同之处。但在上个世纪70年代末，这些冲浪爱好者经常在海滩上就如何重新设计他们的装备自由地交换想法，运动商品制造商们很快就熟悉了诸如用于跳过巨浪的脚带等新创意。

Linux的成功使自由展示创意的做法再次流行。经过了几十年专利对创意的封锁，公开开放源代码由于其“既大大打破常规又立竿见影”的特性吸引了企业的注意力，耶鲁大学的教授尤查·本克勒说。像IBM和惠普这样的大企业以及红帽子（Red Hat）这样的新秀已经在基于Linux平台的服务和设备上获得了丰厚的利润。

医药品代表了另一个流行创意免费共享的不同寻常的新领域。这一行业的大部分利润都来自昂贵的专利药品。不过现在麻省理工学院的“生物砖”（BioBricks）项目正在尝试确立供研究用的标准化工具和程序。这样，来自世界各地的研究人员都可以贡献自己的想法。公开开放创意对于那些和专利无关的行业也有一定的意义——比如，为现有药物找到新用途。麻省理工学院的创新和创业精神负责人埃里克·冯·希佩尔正在研究1998年以来美国食品药品管理局收到的将专利药物用于所谓“非适应症性用药”的申请，目的是想了解这些申请是否像自己猜想的那样主要来自于独立研究人员而非那些拥有专利权的大制药公司。如果确实如此的话，那就意味着开源创新的实践已经起步了。

当回报太小不足以吸引大公司的时候，比如对热带疾病的研究，一个开放系统就可以派上用场。加州大学伯克利分校的法律教授斯蒂芬·莫勒和他人一起撰写了一个《热带病提案》，以使研究生有机会从事诸如寻找治疟疾药物的工作。由于发现不会受到专利保护，那些出价最低的竞标者就可以拿到合同。一旦找到了药物，由于基因药物制药商参加竞争，制药价格也可以被压低。

植物遗传学是公开开放创意大有可为的另一个领域。处理植物基因，并以此改良食物的基本工具都被各种专利保护起来，而这些专利大都由跨国公司控制，这就意味着发展中国家的农民无法获得这些技术。最近由澳大利亚非营利机构“堪比亚”（Cambia）所发起的“BIOS行动”就是要使公众能够得到一项可选择的技术。（人们将可以自由地为任何由此带来的发现申请专利。）该活动的一个最初目标就是帮助农民们找到一条培育自己玉米品种的方法，这样他们就不需要每年购买昂贵的杂交种子了。目前还不清楚这种研究能够普及到多大范围。但在很多领域，开源正在成为一种严肃认真的选择。