2020考研英语阅读理解精读100篇：Unit 92

Unit 92

“The fundamental question is whether it is still worthwhile to invest in pharmaceutical science,” says Severin Schwan, the newish boss of Roche, a once-stodgy Swiss drugs firm. A cursory glance at his rivals, who have been trying to concentrate less on coming up with new medicines and more on making simpler things such as “branded” generics and over-the-counter drugs, suggests that the answer is no. Indeed, some analysts claim that the industry’s giants face such a precipitous decline in sales from drugs coming off patent, with so few promising new prospects to replace them, that their entire business model is collapsing.

That argument has Mr Schwan leaping out of his seat with indignation. Using a deck of PowerPoint slides he sets out to disprove “the chorus of gloom”. Drug making is “so crude”, he argues, that half of all known diseases cannot be treated at all, and the drugs for the other half work properly only half the time and with huge side effects. “Imagine a car that starts only half the time, and whose brakes often don’t work,” he says. He sees this sorry state of affairs as a huge business opportunity. In particular, he is convinced that rapid advances in diagnostics, genomics and biotechnology will bring “a brand new revolution” in personalised medicine.

Accordingly, Roche is betting big on research into new drugs, even as rivals seek to diversify and “de-risk”. Earlier this year it bought Genentech, a Californian biotech pioneer. It hopes these deals will put it in the vanguard, since developing drugs tailored to individuals will involve tying manufacturing to the results of genetic tests—as, for example, with Genentech’s treatment for breast cancer, Herceptin.

By taking over Genentech, Roche has added promising drugs for cancer and other potentially lucrative treatments to its otherwise anaemic research pipeline. Tim Anderson of Bernstein Research calculates that Roche is now among the big drugs firms best positioned to cope with the coming generic assault. He projects that its revenues will grow by a quarter over the next five years and its earnings per share will increase by half.

Several potential snags could hold Roche back, however. One fear is that the bureaucracy of a big pharmaceutical firm will crush Genentech’s more innovative culture（it has been called the Google of biotech）. “There is no interference in the way we do things,” insists Richard Scheller, head of research and early development at Genentech. That very few senior executives have left since the takeover supports his claim. Even so, scale is usually not an advantage when it comes to pharmaceutical research and a creative atmosphere can easily dissipate.

Another worry is that Roche’s long-term vision may come at the expense of the shorter-term returns expected by some shareholders. Michael Leuchten of Barclays Capital, an investment bank, reckons that personalised medicine will not start generating profits for some time. That may be fine with Roche’s patient founding family, which controls the firm thanks to its dual-share structure, but it could dismay other investors. Moreover, there is a risk of catastrophic failure. Mr Schwan notes that new drugs earn outsized rewards—but that is because they are much harder to make. It is anybody’s guess whether Roche’s newly filled pipeline of early-stage drugs will become commercial hits in ten or 20 years’ time.

注（1）：本文选自Economist；

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象：第1、2题分别模仿1999年真题Text 4第1题和Text 2第2题；第3题模仿1998年真题Text 3第2题；第4、5题分别模仿2004年真题Text 2第3题和Text 3第5题。

1. We can learn from the first paragraph that ______.

A) Severin Schwan believes that the entire business model is to destroy the industry

B) drugs with patent expired tend to make less profit in the market

C) Roche may switch its strategy to focus on generics and over-the-counter drugs

D) Roche’s competitors will not answer the question raised by Severin Schwan

2. Speaking of personalised medicine, the author implies that ______.

A) it is a new business model for the pharmaceutical industry

B) it will bring a brand new revolution to Roche

C) it may not be approved by Roche’s shareholders

D) it may not be feasible in the new future

3. Paragraphs 5 and 6 are written to ______.

A) argue against Severin Schwan’s point of view

B) predict the future of Roche

C) introduce Roche’s fears

D) point out potential problems of Roche’s approach

4. By saying “Roche is now among the big drugs firms best positioned to cope with the coming generic assault” （Lines 3~4, Paragraph 4）, Tim Anderson of Bernstein Research means that ______.

A) Roche will beat all the other rivals in terms of producing generic drugs

B) Roche is now capable of competing against generic drugs

C) Roche will acquire a much better capacity in anaemic research

D) Roche is giving the public its promises to produce more new drugs

5. To which of the following is the author likely to agree?

A) Roche’s acquisition of other firms is to reduce its innovativeness.

B) Roche may emerge as the new Google of the biotechnology industry.

C) Roche’s new drugs in research may not be commercialized in a decade.

D) Roche’s shareholders support the company’s R&D efforts in new drugs.

篇章剖析

本文前三段首先介绍了世界主要制药公司在新药研发上减少投入的趋势，并主要说明了瑞士的罗氏制药公司在新药研发投资决策中的立场，随后讨论了使用基因生物技术的前景。文章的后三段讨论了罗氏制药公司在未来发展过程中可能面临的一些问题，以及罗氏商业模式的利弊。

词汇注释

stodgy /ˈstɒdʒi/ adj. 平庸的；乏味的；非常守旧的

cursory /ˈkɜːsəri/ adj. 仓促的，草率的；粗略的

generic /dʒɪˈnerɪk/ n. 非专利药，仿制药

precipitous /prɪˈsɪpɪtəs/ adj. 急促的；急剧的

indignation /ˌɪndɪgˈneɪʃən/ n. 愤怒，愤慨，义愤

genomics /dʒəˈnəʊmɪks/ n. 基因组学；基因体学

vanguard /ˈvængɑːd/ n. 前卫，先锋；领导者

tailor /ˈteɪlə/ v. 修改；使合适

anaemic /əˈniːmɪk/ adj. 贫血的；无活力的

assault /əˈsɔːlt/ n. 攻击，袭击；谴责，抨击

snag /snæg/ n. 意料不到的障碍

dissipate /ˈdɪsɪpeɪt/ v. 驱散（雾等），使消散；消除，使消失

catastrophic /ˌkætəˈstrɒfɪk/ adj. 悲惨的；惨败的

outsized /ˈaʊtsaɪzd/ adj. 特大号的

难句突破

A cursory glance at his rivals, who have been trying to concentrate less on coming up with new medicines and more on making simpler things such as “branded” generics and over-the-counter drugs, suggests that the answer is no.

主体句式：A cursory glance at his rivals...suggests that the answer is no.

结构分析：本句的主体句式其实非常简单，但是因为中间有一个很长的定语从句干扰，考生比较容易混淆句子的结构，理解本句的关键是要抓住句子主干。由who引导的定语从句修饰rivals，其中包含了两个并列结构，即concentrate less on... and more on...，也就是做了一个对比，说明其他制药公司关注的重点。此外，定语从句中还用such as引导了两个例子。

句子译文：粗略地看一下罗氏的竞争对手们，他们都在设法减少对新药研发的投入，将更多的精力投入到生产“品牌”仿制药和非处方药这些更容易的事情上，这说明他们对这个问题的回答是“不值得”。

题目分析

1. B 推理题。本题的对应信息在文章第一段。该段最后一句指出，业界巨头们认为整个医药行业的商业模式正在垮塌，但这并不是塞韦林·施万的观点，因此A不正确。该段提到了generics and over-the-counter drugs，但这是罗氏的竞争对手的做法，并非罗氏的做法，因此C也不正确。第一段的the answer is no不是说对手们不会回答这个问题，而是说如果他们回答这个问题的话，答案应该是“不”，因此D也不正确。第一段还提到“专利药到期后销售量会大幅下降”，可以推出专利过期后就不会创造那么多利润，因此B是正确选项。

2. C 推理题。文章第二段和最后一段都提到了personalised medicine。首先看第二段：塞韦林·施万将这种令人遗憾的现象看作是巨大的商机，他相信诊断学、基因组学和生物技术领域的飞速发展将给个性化药品带来“全新的革命”。这里并没有明确说明个性化药品是一个全新的商业模式，故A不正确；同样这里所谓的革命是指个性化药品的研制，而不是指罗氏公司发生变化，所以B也不正确。再来看最后一段：罗氏的长期愿景可能将以牺牲部分股东的短期回报为代价。巴克莱投资银行的迈克尔·勒奇顿认为，个性化药品在短时间内不会赢利。但这并不表示个性化药品就不可行，因此D不正确。正是因为个性化药品不会很快盈利，“可能会使其他投资者感到沮丧”，所以很可能股东会反对这一决策，因此C是正确答案。

3. D 细节题。文章第五段指出“Several potential snags could hold Roche back, however”，也就是说最后两段开始谈罗氏这一战略面临的问题。即使不知道snag这个词的意思，也可以从however这个转折词和上下文的意思来综合判断，很显然只有D是正确答案。

4. B 语义题。引文来自文章第四段第二句：伯恩斯坦研究公司的蒂姆·安德森认为，罗氏现在已经成为世界上定位最佳的大型制药公司之一，能够应对即将到来的仿制药袭击。只有B选项与这个意思最为贴切。

5. C 细节题。文章倒数第二段指出“就药品研发而言，规模通常不是优势，相反容易对创新的氛围造成伤害”，但前文也说明罗氏尽量保持被收购公司原有的行事方式，因此作者在这一点上也只是提出猜测，并不是一个明确的观点，因此A不正确。文章第五段中提到，被称为生物技术领域的谷歌的是已经被罗氏并购的基因泰克公司，并非罗氏，文章也没有提及罗氏可能成为生物技术领域的谷歌，故B是错误的。D与文章最后一段意思相反，作者指出有些股东可能反对开发新药，所以该选项也不正确。C是正确答案，因为作者在最后一句话中指出“至于罗氏刚刚投入研发的新品能否在10年或20年后获得商业利润，目前谁都说不准”。

参考译文

“问题的根本在于，新药研发是否还值得我们进行投资。”一度行动保守的瑞士罗氏制药公司刚刚走马上任的总裁塞韦林·施万说道。粗略地看一下罗氏的竞争对手们，他们都在设法减少对新药研发的投入，将更多的精力投入到生产“品牌”仿制药和非处方药这些更容易的事情上，这说明他们对这个问题的回答是“不值得”。的确，一些分析人士称，制药业巨头们都面临专利药到期后销售量大幅下降的问题，况且目前也没有前景看好的新药来替代前者的位置，整个医药行业的商业模式正在崩溃瓦解中。

这一争论使得施万先生感到气愤不已，他再也沉不住气了。他用一组PPT幻灯片对那一片“忧郁之声”进行反驳。他说，制药业是“非常残酷的”，在我们所知道的疾病中，半数都是不能治愈的，而对于另一半，药品也只有一半的时间会起作用，并且伴有严重副作用。他说：“这就像一辆汽车仅有一半时间可以正常行驶，而刹车又经常不灵。”塞韦林·施万将这种令人沮丧的现象看作是巨大的商机。他尤其相信诊断学、基因组学和生物技术领域的飞速发展将给个性化药品带来“全新的革命”。

因此，罗氏在新药研究上下了很大的赌注，即便其竞争对手都在寻求多样化的产品组合和“化解风险”的办法。今年早些时候，罗氏收购了位于美国加州的生物技术先锋基因泰克公司。罗氏希望这些交易能使其成为业界先锋，因为根据个性化需求开发药品意味着要把制药与遗传学的试验结果结合在一起，例如，与基因泰克公司用于治疗乳腺癌的药品赫赛汀相结合。

通过收购基因泰克，罗氏弥补了原先研究领域的不足，将其研究领域扩展到了有前景的抗癌药和其他潜在的有利可图的疗法。伯恩斯坦研究公司的蒂姆·安德森认为，罗氏现在已经成为世界上定位最佳的大型制药公司之一，能够应对即将到来的仿制药袭击。他预测罗氏今后五年内营业收入将增长四分之一，股票每股收益将增长过半。

但是，罗氏在其发展道路上可能会遇到几个障碍。人们的一个担忧是大型制药公司的官僚作风会摧垮基因泰克的更具创新性的文化（该公司曾被称为生物技术领域的谷歌）。曾经供职于基因泰克开发部，现任罗氏研发负责人的理查德·谢勒强调：“没人会干涉我们行事的方式。”罗氏接管该公司后几乎没有高管离职这一事实充分支持了他的说法。即便如此，就药品研发而言，规模通常不是优势，相反容易对创新的氛围造成伤害。

另一个担忧是，罗氏的长期愿景可能将以牺牲部分股东的短期回报为代价。巴克莱投资银行的迈克尔·勒奇顿认为，个性化药品在短时间内不会赢利。这对罗氏也许是有利的，其创始家族通过双重股权结构牢牢地控制着公司，但也可能会使其他投资者感到沮丧。更严重的是，这种商业模式还存在溃败的风险。施万先生强调说，新药之所以能获得巨大的回报，是因为这些药的生产具有相当难度。至于罗氏刚刚投入研发的新品能否在10年或20年后获得商业利润，目前谁都说不准。