Q13 （Q11~Q14: PP-RC 1 GWD32-Q25-Q28 ）求解

bettylll

There is widespread belief thatthe emergence of giant industries has been accompanied by an equivalent surgein industrial research. A recent study of important inventions madesince the turn of the century reveals that more than half were the product ofindividual inventors working alone, independent of organized industrialresearch. While industrial laboratories contributed such important products asnylon and transistors, independent inventors developed air conditioning, the automatictransmission, the jet engine, the helicopter, insulin, and streptomycin. Stillother inventions, such as stainless steel, television, silicones, and Plexiglas (Plexiglas: n.树脂玻璃(多用以制造飞机座舱罩、镜片等)) were developed through the combined effortsof individuals and laboratory teams.
Despite these finding, we areurged to support monopolistic power on the grounds that such power creates anenvironment supportive of innovation. We are told that the independentinventor, along with the small firm, cannot afford to undertake the importantresearch needed to improve our standard of living while protecting ourdiminishing resources; that only the giant corporation or conglomerate, withits prodigious assets, can afford the kind of expenditures that produce the technologicaladvances vital to economic progress. But when we examine expenditures forresearch, we find that of the more than $35 billion spent each year in thiscountry, almost two-thirds is spent by the federal government. More than halfof this government expenditure is funneled into military research and productdevelopment, accounting for the enormous increase in spending in suchindustries as nuclear energy, aircraft, missiles, and electronics. There arethose who consider it questionable that these defense-linked research projectswill either improve our standard of living or do much to protect ourdiminishing resources.
Recent history has demonstratedthat we may have to alter our longstanding conception of the process actuatedby competition. The price variable, once perceived as the dominant aspect ofthe process, is now subordinate to the competition of the new product, the newbusiness structure, and the new technology. While it can be assumed that in ahighly competitive industry not dominated by single corporation, investment ininnovation—a risky and expensive budget item—might meet resistance frommanagement and stockholders concerned about cost-cutting, efficientorganization, and large advertising budgets, it would be an egregious error toequate the monopolistic producer with bountiful expenditures on research.Large-scale enterprises tend to operate more comfortably in stable and securecircumstances, and their managerial bureaucracies tend to promote the statusquo and resist the threat implicit in change. Moreover, in some cases,industrial giants faced with little or no competition seek to avoid the capitalloss resulting from obsolescence by deliberately obstructing technologicalprogress. By contrast, small firms undeterred by large investments in plant andcapital equipment often aggressively pursue new techniques and new products,investing in innovation in order to expand their market shares.

     The conglomerates are not, however,completely except from strong competitive pressures. There are instances inwhich they too must compete with another industrial Goliath, and then theirweapons may include large expenditures for innovation.

Q13:  It can be inferred fromthe passage that the author
(A) has little confidencein the ability of monopolistic industry to produce the important inventions ofthe future
(B) would rather see thefederal government spend money on social services than on the defenseestablishment
(C) favors a conservativeapproach to innovation and places trust in conglomerates to provide efficientproduction

(D)feels that price should still be the dominant variable in the competitiveprocess(E) believes that excessive competition is adeterrent to innovation


OA: A， 答案会不会太绝对了啊？最后一段不是还说了一个however嘛？然后第一段也说了industrial laboratories contributed such important products as nylon and transistors，虽然说这个是用来于independent inventors做对比，说明monopolistic industry在innovation上的投入不足，但是毕竟还是有发明出important products的啊。
我选的E. 根据见文中记号部分。highly competitive=excessive competition， resistance =deterrent
求解！！！

bettylll

UP

vivhua

选B，highly competitive指充分竞争，excessive competition 指过度竞争，两者与本质区别。投入社会服务的直接效果就是提高生活水平，所以选B