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There is widespread belief that the emergence of giant industrieshas been accompanied by an equivalent surge in industrialresearch. A recent study of important inventions made since theturn of the century reveals that more than half were the productof individual inventors working alone, independent of organizedindustrial research. While industrial laboratories contributed suchimportant products as nylon and transistors, independentinventors developed air conditioning, the automatic transmission,the jet engine, the helicopter, insulin, and streptomycin. Stillother inventions, such as stainless steel, television, silicones, andPlexiglas were developed through the combined efforts ofindividuals and laboratory teams.
Despite these finding, we are urged to support monopolisticpower on the grounds that such power creates an environmentsupportive of innovation. We are told that the independent inventor,along with the small firm, cannot afford to undertake the importantresearch needed to improve our standard of living while protectingour diminishing resources; that only the giant corporation orconglomerate, with its prodigious assets, can afford the kind ofexpenditures that produce the technological advances vital toeconomic progress. But when we examine expenditures forresearch, we find that of the more than $35 billion spent each yearin this country, almost two-thirds is spent by the federalgovernment. More than half of this government expenditure isfunneled into military research and product development,accounting for the enormous increase in spending in such industriesas nuclear energy, aircraft, missiles, and electronics. There arethose who consider it questionable that these defense-linkedresearch projects will either improve our standard of living or domuch to protect our diminishing resources.

Recent history has demonstrated that we may have to alter ourlongstanding conception of the process actuated by competition.The price variable, once perceived as the dominant aspect of theprocess, is now subordinate to the competition of the new product,the new business structure, and the new technology. While it can beassumed that in a highly competitive industry not dominated bysingle corporation, investment in innovation—a risky and expensivebudget item—might meet resistance from management andstockholders concerned about cost-cutting, efficient organization,and large advertising budgets, it would be an egregious error toequate the monopolistic producer with bountiful expenditures onresearch. Large-scale enterprises tend to operate more comfortablyin stable and secure circumstances, and their managerialbureaucracies tend to promote the status quo and resist the threatimplicit in change. Moreover, in some cases, industrial giants facedwith little or no competition seek to avoid the capital loss resultingfrom obsolescence by deliberately obstructing technologicalprogress. By contrast, small firms undeterred by large investmentsin plant and capital equipment often aggressively pursue newtechniques and new products, investing in innovation in order toexpand their market shares.

The conglomerates are not, however, completely except fromstrong competitive pressures. There are instances in which they toomust compete with another industrial Goliath, and then their weaponsmay include large expenditures for innovation.


7. Which of the following proposals best responds to the issues raisedby the author?
(A) Governmental restraints on monopolies should be lifted, andgovernment funding should be made available to large corporationswishing to engage in research.
(B) Governmental restraints on monopolies should be tightened, andgovernment funding should be made available to small corporationsand independent individuals wishing to engage in research.
(C) Governmental restraints on monopolies should be tightened, andno government funding should be provided to any corporations orindividuals wishing to engage in research.
(D) The amount the government spends on military research should bedecreased, and the amount it spends to improved the standard ofliving should be increased.
(E) Governmental restraints on monopolies should be lifted, and nogovernment funding should be provided to any corporations orindividuals wishing to engage in research.


为什么选B呀？我选的D虽然觉得BD都没有问题，作者Raised the issue: 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.这篇阅读用了20分钟才做完，这速度考试根本来不及，怎么办啊？