[讨论]GWD-3-5~GWD-3~7

kingdoms

  In American Genesis, which covers

       the century of technological innovation

       in the United States beginning in 1876,

Line       Thomas Hughes assigns special promi-

  (5)      nence to Thomas Edison as archetype

of the independent nineteenth-century

inventor.  However, Hughes virtually

ignores Edison’s famous contem-

porary and notorious adversary in

 (10)      the field of electric light and power,

George Westinghouse.  This com-

parative neglect of Westinghouse is

consistent with other recent historians’

works, although it marks an intriguing

 (15)      departure from the prevailing view

during the inventors’ lifetimes (and for

decades afterward) of Edison and

Westinghouse as the two “pioneer

innovators” of the electrical industry.

 (20)           My recent reevaluation of Westing-

       house, facilitated by materials found

       in railroad archives, suggests that

while Westinghouse and Edison shared

important traits as inventors, they

 (25)      differed markedly in their approach to

the business aspects of innovation.

For Edison as an inventor, novelty

was always paramount:  the overriding

goal of the business of innovation was

 (30)      simply to generate funding for new

inventions.  Edison therefore undertook

just enough sales, product development,

       and manufacturing to accomplish this.

Westinghouse, however, shared the

 (35)      attitudes of the railroads and other

industries for whom he developed

innovations:  product development,

standardization, system, and order

were top priorities.  Westinghouse

 (40)      thus better exemplifies the systematic

approach to technological development

that would become a hallmark of modern

corporate research and development.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q5:
     

The primary purpose of the passage is to

             

1. reevaluate a controversial theory
2. identify the flaws in a study
3. propose a new method of historical research
4. compare two contrasting analyses
5. provide a fresh perspective                                                               

Q6:
     

According to the passage, Edison’s chief concern as an inventor was the

             

1. availability of a commercial market
2. costs of developing a prototype
3. originality of his inventions
4. maintenance of high standards throughout production
5. generation of enough profits to pay for continued marketing

Q7:

The author of the passage implies that the shift away from the views of Westinghouse’s contemporaries should be regarded as

 

 

1. a natural outgrowth of the recent revival of interest in Edison
2. a result of scholarship based on previously unknown documents
3. reflective of modern neglect of the views of previous generations
4. inevitable, given the changing trends in historical interpretations
5. surprising, given the stature that Westinghouse once had

这篇文章觉得还是读懂了, 但是这几个答案怎么也想不明白.

第五题答案选E, 说作者提供了一个新视角, 那么B错在哪里呢? 不也是提出了一个study中的缺陷么? ignore......

第六题答案选C,还好说, 因为文章毕竟提到了novelty.  而且题中问的是chief concern

第七题问题我都没搞太明白, 哪位NN能给解释一下? 谢谢.(答案选E, )

[此贴子已经被作者于2006-10-12 11:12:07编辑过]

parisping

同问！！！