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There is widespread belief that the emergence of giant industries has been accompanied by an equivalent surge in industrial research. A recent study of important inventions made since the turn of the century reveals that more than half were the product of individual inventors working alone, independent of organized industrial research. While industrial laboratories contributed such important products as nylon and transistors, independent inventors developed air conditioning, the automatic transmission, the jet engine, the helicopter, insulin[U1] , and streptomycin.[U2] Still other inventions, such as stainless steel, television, silicones, and Plexiglas[U3] (Plexiglas: n.树脂玻璃(多用以制造飞机座舱罩、镜片等)) were developed through the combined efforts of individuals and laboratory teams.
Despite these finding, we are urged to support monopolistic power on the grounds that such power creates an environment supportive of innovation. We are told that the independent inventor, along with the small firm, cannot afford to undertake the important research needed to improve our standard of living while protecting our diminishing resources; that only the giant corporation or conglomerate, with its prodigious[U4] assets, can afford the kind of expenditures that produce the technological advances vital to economic progress. But when we examine expenditures for research, we find that of the more than $35 billion spent each year in this country, almost two-thirds is spent by the federal government. More than half of this government expenditure is funneled into military research and product development, accounting for the enormous increase in spending in such industries as nuclear energy, aircraft, missiles, and electronics. There are those who consider it questionable that these defense-linked research projects will either improve our standard of living or do much to protect our diminishing resources.
Recent history has demonstrated that we may have to alter our longstanding conception of the process actuated[U5] by competition. The price variable, once perceived as the dominant aspect of the process, is now subordinate to the competition of the new product, the new business structure, and the new technology. While it can be assumed that in a highly competitive industry not dominated by single corporation, investment in innovation—a risky and expensive budget item—might meet resistance from management and stockholders concerned about cost-cutting, efficient organization, and large advertising budgets, it would be an egregious[U6] error to equate[U7] the monopolistic producer with bountiful expenditures on research. Large-scale enterprises tend to operate more comfortably in stable and secure circumstances, and their managerial bureaucracies tend to promote the status quo and resist the threat implicit in change. Moreover, in some cases, industrial giants faced with little or no competition seek to avoid the capital loss resulting from obsolescence[U8] by deliberately obstructing[U9] technological progress. By contrast, small firms undeterred by large investments in plant and capital equipment often aggressively pursue new techniques and new products, investing in innovation in order to expand their market shares.
The conglomerates[U10] are not, however, completely except from strong competitive pressures. There are instances in which they too must compete with another industrial Goliath, and then their weapons may include large expenditures for innovation.
Q11
The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) advocate an increase in government support of organized industrial research
(B) point out a common misconception about the relationship between the extent of industrial research and the growth of monopolistic power in industry
(C) describe the inadequacies of small firms in dealing with the important matter of research and innovation
(D) show that
(E) encourage free-market competition among industrial giants
B
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Q12
According to the passage, important inventions of the twentieth century
(A) were produced largely as a result of governmental support for military weapons research and development
(B) came primarily from the huge laboratories of monopolistic industries
(C) were produced at least as frequently by independent inventors as by research teams
(D) have greater impact on smaller firms than on conglomerates（C）
(E) sometimes adversely affect our standard of living and diminish our natural resources
C
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Q13
It can be inferred from the passage that the author
(A) has little confidence in the ability of monopolistic industry to produce the important inventions of the future
(B) would rather see the federal government spend money on social services than on the defense establishment
(C) favors a conservative approach to innovation and places trust in conglomerates to provide efficient production
(D) feels that price should still be the dominant variable in the competitive process（A）
(E) believes that excessive competition is a deterrent to innovation
A
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Q14
The passage contains information that answers which of the following questions?
I. What portion of the research dollar in this country is spent each year by the federal government?
II. Under what circumstances is an industrial giant likely to invest heavily in innovation?
III. Why might a monopolistic producer want to suppress an innovation?
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) I and II only
(D) II and III only（E）
(E) I, II, and III
E
[U1]insulin (n.) – 胰島素
[U2]streptomycin(n.) -鏈黴素
[U3]Plexiglas(n.) - (商標)樹脂玻璃
[U4]Prodigious(adj.) – very large and impressive
[U5]Actuate(v.) - activate
[U6]Egregious(adj.) – grievous, very bad indeed
[U7]Equate(v.) – (+with) connect
[U8]Obsolescence(n.) - the state of being no longer needed because something newer or more efficient has been invented.
[U9]Obstruct(v.) – prevent sth from happening properly
[U10]Conglomerate(n.) - a large business firm consisting of several different companies.
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