2010考研阅读text2-text3题源分析及参考答案

　　北京新东方学校  周雷

　　Text 2

　　A Pending Threat to Patents

　　by Michael Orey

　　Business Week  February 21, 2008

　　Over the past decade, thousands of patents have been granted for what are called business methods. Amazon.com (AMZN) received one for its "one-click" online payment system. Merrill Lynch (MER) got legal protection for an asset allocation strategy. One inventor patented a technique for lifting a box。

　　Now the nation's top patent court appears poised to scale back on business-method patents, which have been controversial ever since they were first authorized 10 years ago (第二十六题 D答案对 the controversy over authorization). In a move that has intellectual-property lawyers abuzz, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Feb. 15 said it would use a case pending before it to conduct a broad review of business-method patents. In re Bilski, as the case is known, is "a very big deal," says Dennis D. Crouch, a patent professor at the University of Missouri School of Law. It "has the potential to eliminate an entire class of patents. (第二十七题 D答案对 it may change the legal practice in US)"

　　Curbs on business-method claims would be a dramatic about-face (第二十八题 C答案对，change of the attitude，因为后面说联邦巡回法庭以前是很支持商业模式上的专利的，但是现在可能完全不支持了)， because it was the Federal Circuit itself that ushered in such patents with its 1998 decision in the so-called State Street Bank (STT) case, approving a patent on a way of pooling mutual-fund assets. That ruling produced an explosion in business-method patent filings, initially by nascent Internet companies trying to stake out exclusive rights to specific types of online transactions. Later, more established companies raced to add such patents to their portfolios, if only as a defensive move against rivals that might beat them to the punch. In 2005, IBM (IBM) noted in a court filing that it had been issued more than 300 business-method patents, despite the fact that it questioned the legal basis for granting them. Similarly, some Wall Street investment firms armed themselves with patents for financial products, even as they took positions in court cases opposing the practice。

　　The Bilski case involves a claimed patent on a method for hedging risk in the energy market. The Federal Circuit issued an unusual order stating that the case would be heard by all 12 of the court's judges, rather than a typical panel of three, and that one issue it wants to uate is whether it should "reconsider" its State Street Bank ruling。

　　The Federal Circuit's action comes in the wake of a series of recent decisions by the Supreme Court that has narrowed the scope of protections for patent holders. Last April, for example, the justices signaled that too many patents were being upheld for "inventions" that are obvious. (第二十九题B答案对are often unnecessarily issued。现在美国最高法院已经收紧了颁发专利的范围，那么联邦巡回法庭也会收紧对商业模式的专利的审核)The judges on the Federal Circuit are "reacting to the anti-patent trend at the Supreme Court," says Harold C. Wegner, a patent attorney and professor at George Washington University Law School。

　　纵观全文，最后一个题目第三十题，作为主旨题，答案应该是 A looming threat to business-method patents

　　26. Business-method patents have recently aroused concern because of

　　[A] their limited value to business

　　[B] their connection with asset allocation

　　[C] the possible restriction on their granting

　　[D] the controversy over authorization

　　27. Which of the following is true of the Bilski case?

　　[A] Its ruling complies with the court decisions

　　[B] It involves a very big business transaction

　　[C] It has been dismissed by the Federal Circuit

　　[D] It may change the legal practices in the U.S。

　　28. The word “about-face” (Line 1, Para 3) most probably means

　　[A] loss of good will

　　[B] increase of hostility

　　[C] change of attitude

　　[D] enhancement of density

　　29. We learn from the last two paragraphs that business-method patents

　　[A] are immune to legal challenges

　　[B] are often unnecessarily issued

　　[C] lower the esteem for patent holders

　　[D] increase the incidence of risks

　　30. Which of the following would be the subject of the text?

　　[A] A looming threat to business-method patents

　　[B] Protection for business-method patent holders

　　[C] A legal case regarding business-method patents

　　[D] A prevailing trend against business-method patents

　　Text 2 参考答案 26-30题 DDCBA

　　Text 3

　　The Accidental Influentials

　　Harvard Business Review  2007 02

　　In his best-selling book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell argues that “social epidemics” are driven in large part by the actions of a tiny minority of special individuals, often called influentials, who are unusually informed, persuasive, or well connected. The idea is intuitively compelling – we think we see it happening all the time – but it doesn’t explain how ideas actually spread。

　　The supposed importance of influentials derives from a plausible-sounding but largely untested theory called the “two-step flow of communication”： Information flows from the media to the influentials and from them to everyone else. Marketers have embraced the two-step flow because it suggests that if they can just find and influence the influentials, those select people will do most of the work for them. The theory also seems to explain the sudden and unexpected popularity of certain looks, brands, or neighborhoods. In many such cases, a cursory search for causes finds that some small group of people was wearing, promoting, or developing whatever it is before anyone else paid attention. Anecdotal evidence of this kind fits nicely with the idea that only certain special people can drive trends。

　　In recent work, however, my colleague Peter Dodds and I have found that influentials have far less impact on social epidemics than is generally supposed. In fact, they don’t seem to be required at all。

　　Our argument stems from a simple observation about social influence: With the exception of celebrities like Oprah Winfrey – whose outsize presence is primarily a function of media, not interpersonal, influence – even the most influential members of a population simply don’t interact with that many others. Yet it is precisely these noncelebrity influentials who, according to the two-step-flow theory, are supposed to drive social epidemics, by influencing their friends and colleagues directly. For a social epidemic to occur, however, each person so affected must then influence his or her own acquaintances, who must in turn influence theirs, and so on; and just how many others pay attention to each of these people has little to do with the initial influential. If people in the network just two degrees removed from the initial influential prove resistant, for example, the cascade of change won’t propagate very far or affect many people。

　　Building on this basic truth about interpersonal influence, Dodds and I studied the dynamics of social contagion by conducting thousands of computer simulations of populations, manipulating a number of variables relating to people’s ability to influence others and their tendency to be influenced. Our work shows that the principal requirement for what we call “global cascades”– the widespread propagation of influence through networks – is the presence not of a few influentials but, rather, of a critical mass of easily influenced people, each of whom adopts, say, a look or a brand after being exposed to a single adopting neighbor. Regardless of how influential an individual is locally, he or she can exert global influence only if this critical mass is available to propagate a chain reaction。

　　31.By citing the book The Tipping Point, the author intends to

　　[A]analyze the consequences of social epidemics

　　[B]discuss influentials’ function in spreading ideas

　　[C]exemplify people’s intuitive response to social epidemics

　　[D]describe the essential characteristics of influentials。

　　32.The author suggests that the “two-step-flow theory”

　　[A]serves as a solution to marketing problems

　　[B]has helped explain certain prent trends

　　[C]has won support from influentials

　　[D]requires solid evidence for its validity

　　33.what the researchers have observed recently shows that

　　[A] the power of  influential goes with social interactions

　　[B] interpersonal links can be enhanced through the media

　　[C] influentials have more channels to reach the public

　　[D] most celebrities enjoy wide media attention

　　34.The underlined phrase “these people”in paragraph 4 refers to the ones who

　　[A] stay outside the network of social influence

　　[B] have little contact with the source of influence

　　[C] are influenced and then influence others

　　[D] are influenced by the initial influential

　　35.what is the essential element in the dynamics of social influence?

　　[A]The eagerness to be accepted

　　[B]The impulse to influence others

　　[C]The readiness to be influenced

　　[D]The inclination to rely on others

　　Text 3 参考答案 31-35题 BDACC

　　text 4

　　Banks and mark-to-market accounting

　　The Economist

　　April 8th, 2009

　　36. Bankers complained that they were forced to

　　[A] follow unfavorable asset uation rules

　　[B]collect payments from third parties

　　[C]cooperate with the price managers

　　[D]reuate some of their assets。

　　37.According to the author , the rule changes of the FASB may result in

　　[A]the diminishing role of management

　　[B]the revival of the banking system

　　[C]the banks’long-term asset losses

　　[D]the weakening of its independence

　　38.According to Paragraph 4, McCreevy objects to the IASB’s attempt to

　　[A]keep away from political influences。

　　[B]evade the pressure from their peers。

　　[C]act on their own in rule-setting。

　　[D]take gradual measures in reform。

　　39.The author thinks the banks were “on the wrong planet ”in that they

　　[A]misinterpreted market price indicators

　　[B]exaggerated the real value of their assets

　　[C]neglected the likely existence of bad debts。

　　[D]denied booking losses in their sale of assets。

　　40.The author’s attitude towards standard-setters is one of

　　[A]satisfaction。

　　[B]skepticism。

　　[C]objectiveness

　　[D]sympathy

　　Text 4 参考答案36-40题 ADCBD

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