《考研英語(yǔ)閱讀理解100篇 基礎(chǔ)版》第4章　科學(xué)研究類 Unit 49

Windsurfers in Hawaii might not seem to have much in common with the geeks who these days tinker with Linux software as part of the open-source movement．But in the late ’70s，the surfers freely swapped ideas on how to redesign their equipment right on the beach，and sporting-goods makers were quick to pick up on innovations like foot straps for leaping giant waves. 
Linux's success is making freely revealed innovation a hot idea again．After decades in which patents closed off innovation，open source has caught the attention of businesses because“it so violated accepted wisdom and so clearly worked,” says Yochai Benkler，a Yale scholar．Giants like IBM and HP，and newcomers like Red Hat，have made lots of money on Linux-based services and equipment. 
Pharmaceuticals represent one new and surprising area where freely shared innovation is catching on．Most industry profits have been made from expensive patented drugs．But now the BioBricks project at MIT is trying to establish standardized tools and processes for research．That way，researchers from everywhere can contribute．Open innovation also makes sense in industries where patents aren’t relevant—for example，finding new uses for existing drugs.① Eric Von Hippel，MIT's head of innovation and entrepreneurship，is studying FDA applications since 1998 for these so-called off-label uses of patented drugs to see whether，as he suspects，they come mostly from independent researchers rather than the big drugmakers holding the original patents. If they do，it means open-source innovation is already well underway. 
An open system would also work when the payback is too small to entice Big Pharma，as in the case of tropical diseases．Law professor Stephen Maurer of the University of California，Berkeley，has coauthored a proposal called the Tropical Disease Initiative that could give graduate students，for instance，a chance to work on finding drugs to help fight the likes of malaria．Because discoveries wouldn’t be patented，contracts could be awarded to the lowest bidder．Manufacturing prices could be kept down，too，because generic-drug makers could compete as soon as a drug was ready. 
Plant genetics is another field showing the promise of open innovation.② The basic tools for manipulating plant genes，and thereby modifying food，are protected by a thicket of patents largely controlled by multinationals，which means farmers in developing countries don’t have access to the techniques. The BIOS Initiative，recently launched by Cambia，an Australian nonprofit，aims to make publicly available an alternative technology.（People would be free to patent any resulting discoveries.）One early aim has been to help farmers find a way to breed their own corn，so they don’t need to buy expensive hybrid seeds each year．It's not yet clear just how far this kind of research can be democratized．But in many areas，the open-source option is becoming a serious one. 
注（1）：本文選自Newsweek； 
注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對(duì)象為2003年真題Text 3。 
1．The author compares windsurfers in Hawaii with the geeks who these days tinker with Linux software because ______. 
A) they loved adventures 
B) producers relied on their work 
C) they shared their new ideas with other people freely 
D) they redesigned their equipments 
2．What is businesses’ attitude toward Linux's open source? 
A) Indifferent． 
B) Apprehensive. 
C) Indignant． 
D) Happy. 
3．It can be inferred from Paragraph 3 that ______. 
A) patented drugs are expensive because they close off innovation 
B) independent researchers are more innovative 
C) BioBricks allows researchers from the world to share their ideas with each other 
D) new uses for existing drugs violate patents 
4．The word“entice” （Line 1，Paragraph 4）most probably means ______. 
A) satisfy 
B) attract 
C) repel 
D) persuade 
5．According to the text，open innovation is promising in the field of plant genetics because ______. 
A) farmers can lower their cost if they know how to breed seeds through open innovation 
B) genetically modified food has a bright perspective 
C) it can break the monopoly of big companies 
D) it is an important part of democracy