考博英語閱讀理解模擬題（五十一）

以下是希賽網考博英語頻道為大家整理的考博英語閱讀理解模擬試題，請注意查收。

John Kao is an innovation guru described as “Mr Creativity” by thisnewspaper a decade ago. Now he is concerned about America losing its globallead and becoming “the fat, complacent Detroit of nations”. In his new book,“Innovation Nation”, he points to warning signs, such as America'sunderinvestment in physical infrastructure, its slow start on broadband, itspitiful public schools and its frostiness toward immigrants since September11th 2001—even though immigrants provided much of America's creativity.What America needs, he reckons, is a big push by federal government to promoteinnovation, akin to the Apollo space project that put a man on the moon

As head of California's Stanford Research Institute, Mr Carlson knows thestrengths of Silicon Valley from first-hand experience. And yet here he isinsisting that America's information technology, services and medical-devicesindustries are about to be lost. “I predict that millions of jobs will bedestroyed in our country, like in the 1980s when American firms refused toadopt total-quality management techniques while the Japanese surged ahead.” Theonly way out, he insists, is “to learn the tools of innovation” and forgeentirely new, knowledge-based industries in energy technology, biotechnologyand other science-based sectors.

It is natural to be sceptical of such dour arguments and calls forgovernment action. After all, the United States still leads in innovation. Whetherit is by traditional measures, like spending on research and the number ofpatents registered, or less tangible but more important ones, like the numberof entrepreneurial start-ups, levels of venture-capital funding or thepayback from new inventions, America is invariably at the top of the league.Indeed, the Council on Competitiveness recently concluded in a report that, byand large, the outlook is bright for America.

Yet the same council's innovation task force also gave warning that othercountries are making heavy investments that threaten to erode America'sposition. It would like a big push in four areas: improving science,engineering and maths education; welcoming skilled immigrants; beefing upgovernment spending on basic research; and offering tax incentives to spur “US-based innovation.”

These are mostly sensible recommendations because they focus on thoseframework conditions and bits of infrastructure that the market would notprovide on its own. Where such prescriptions tend to go awry is whenthey argue for specific subsidies or tax breaks for favoured industries (likesupporting only “US-based” innovation in today's worldof global creative networks). After all, the Schumpeterian forces ofcreative destruction must be allowed to work their magic.

Resiliencein the face of those disruptive forces gave Silicon Valley the edge over itsnearest high-tech rival, Boston's Route 128 technology corridor. Both clusterswere riding high until the personal computer and distributed-computing changedthe market. Firms went through wrenching change, but those in northernCalifornia, like Hewlett-Packard and Xerox, emerged stronger than those nearBoston, like Digital Equipment and Wang—which no longer exist. As Berkeley'sAnnaLee Saxenian has shown, Silicon Valley's champions were nimble andnetworked but those on Route 128 were brittle, top-down bureaucracies.

1. John Kao compares America to “Detroit of nations” because______

[A] Detroit is the representative of innovation.

[B] Detroit is experiencing the decline of similar nature.

[C] Detroit paid less attention to creativity.

[D] Detroit lacks the push by federal government.

2. The word “dour” (Line 1 Paragraph 3) most probably means_____

[A] serious.

[B] exaggerated.

[C] gloomy.

[D] false.

3. Which one of the following statemetns is NOT true of America’s position on innovation?

[A] It is still in the lead of the whole world.

[B] It is threatened by the Schumpeterian forces of creative destruction.

[C] It is facing great chanllenges brought by some countries paying great attention on innovation.

[D] It needs a big push so as to keep ahead.

4. Towards the outlook of America’s innovation, the Council on Competitiveness’s attitude is_____

[A] ambitious.

[B] optimistic.

[C] ambiguous.

[D] reserved.

5. Firms on Route 128 were not so competitive as Silicon Valley due to _____

[A] its lack of quick and appropriate response to new development.

[B] its wrenching change of computer technologies.

[C] its fragile and inefficient structure.

[D] its poor and inflexible management.

[答案]

1. B

2. C

3. B

4. B

5. A