Questions 81 to 90 are based on the following passage.
【真题来源:2015年6月大学英语四级真题(第三套)Part Ⅲ,Section B,第46-55题】
Reaping the Rewards of Risk-Taking
A) Since Steve Jobs resigned as chief executive of Apple, much has been said about him as a peerless business leader who has created immense wealth for shareholders, and guided the design of hit products that are transforming entire industries, like music and mobile communications.
B) All true, but let's think different, to borrow the Apple marketing slogan of years back. Let's look at Mr. Jobs as a role model.
C) Above all, he is an innovator (创新者). His creative force is seen in products such as the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, and in new business models for pricing and distributing music and mobile software online. Studies of innovation come to the same conclusion: you can't engineer innovation, but you can increase the odds of it occurring. And Mr. Jobs' career can be viewed as a consistent pursuit of improving those odds, both for himself and the companies he has led. Mr. Jobs, of course, has enjoyed singular success. But innovation, broadly defined, is the crucial ingredient in all economic progress--higher growth for nations, more competitive products for companies, and more prosperous careem for individuals. And Mr. Jobs, many experts say, exemplifies what works in the innovation game.
D) "We can look at and learn from Steve Jobs what the essence of American innovation is," says John Kao, an innovation consultant to corporations and governments. Many other nations, Mr. John Kao notes, axe now ahead of the United States in producing what are considered the raw materials of innovation. These include government financing for scientific research, national policies to support emerging industries, educational achievement, engineers and scientists graduated, even the speeds of Internet broadband service.
E) Yet what other nations typically lack, Mr. Kao adds, is a social environment that encourages diversity, experimentation, risk-taking, and combining skills from many fields into products that he calls "recombinant mash-ups (打碎重组)," like the iPhone, which redefined the smartphone category. "The culture of other countries doesn't support the kind of innovation that Steve Jobs exemplifies, as America does," Mr. John Kao says.
F) Workers of every rank are told these days that wide-ranging curiosity and continuous learning are vital to tturiving in the modern economy. Formal education matters, career counselors say, but real- life experience is often even more valuable.
G) An adopted child, growing up in Silicon Valley, Mr. Jobs displayed those traits early on. He wasfascinated by electronics as a child, building Heathkit do-it-yourself projects, like radios. Mr. Jobs dropped out of Reed College after only a semester and traveled around India in search of spiritual enlightenment, before returning to Silicon Valley to found Apple with his friend, Stephen Wozniak, an engineering wizard (奇才). Mr. Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985, went off and founded two other companies, Next and Pixar, before returning to Apple in 1996 and becoming chiefexecutive in 1997.
H) His path was unique, but innovation experts say the pattern of exploration is not unusual. "It's often people like Steve Jobs who can draw from a deep reservoir of diverse experiences that often generate breakthrough ideas and insights," says Hal Gregersen, a professor at the European Institute of Business Administration.
I) Mr. Gregersen is a co-author of a new book, The Innovator's DNA, which is based on an eight-year study of 5,000 entrepreneurs (创业者. and executives worldwide. His two collaborators and co- authors are Jeff Dyer, a professor at Brigham Young University, and Clayton Christensen, a professor at the Harvard Business School, whose 1997 book The Innovator's Dilemma popularized the concept of "disruptive ( 颠覆性的. innovation. "
J) The academics identify five traits that are common to the disruptive innovators: questioning, experimenting, observing, associating and networking. Their bundle of characteristics echoes the ceaseless curiosity and willingness to take risks noted by other experts. Networking, Mr. Hal Gregersen explains, is less about career-building relationships than a consistent search for new ideas. Associating, he adds, is the ability to make idea-producing connections by linking concepts from different disciplines.
K) "Innovators engage in these mental activities regularly," Mr. Gregersen says. "It's a habit for them. " Innovative companies, according to the authors, typically enjoy higher valuations in thestock market, which they call an "innovation premium (溢价). " It is calculated by estimating the share of a company's value that cannot be accounted for by its current products and cash flow. The innovation premium tries to quantify ( 量化. investors' bets that a company will do even better in the future because of innovation.
L) Apple, by their calculations, had a 37 percent innovation premium during Mr. Jobs' first term withthe company. His years in exile resulted in a 31 percent innovation discount. After his return, Applee's fortunes inmroved gradv at first, and imp)roved markedly starting in 2005, yielding a 52percent innovation premium since then.
M) There is no conclusive proof, but Mr. Hal Gregersen says it is unlikely that Mr. Jobs could havereshaped industries beyond computing, as he has done in his second term at Apple, without the experience outside the company, especially at Pixar—the computer-animation (动画制作) studio that created a string of critically and commercially successful movies, such as "Toy Story" and "Up".
N) Mr. Jobs suggested much the same thing during a commencement address to the graduating class atStanford University in 2005. "It turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing thatcould have ever happened to me," he told the students. Mr. Jobs also spoke of perseverance ( 坚持. and will power. "Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick," he said. "Don't losefaith. "
O) Mr. Jobs ended his commencement talk with a call to innovation, both in one's choice of work andin one's life.Be curious, experiment, take risks, he said to the students.His advice wasemphasized by the words on the back of the final edition of The Whole Earth Catalog, which hequoted: "Stay hungry. Stay foolish. " "And," Mr. Jobs said, "I have always wished that formyself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. "
Steve Jobs called on Stanford graduate to innovate in his commencement address.
由题干中的Stanford graduates和commencement address定位到文章O段首句。
同义转述题。定位句指出,乔布斯先生以对工作选择和生活方面创新的呼吁结束了毕业典礼演讲。根据上文可知这是在斯坦福大学的毕业典礼上,题干是对定位句的同义转述,故答案为O。
Steve Jobs considered himself lucky to have been fired once by Apple.
由题干中的lucky和fired定位到文章N段第二句。
同义转述题。定位句提到,事实证明,被苹果公司辞退是乔布斯遇到的最好的事情。题干是对定位句的同义转述,故答案为N。
Steve Jobs once used computers to make movies that were commercial hits.
由题干中的movies和commercial hits定位到文章M段。
同义转述题。定位段侧重交代了乔布斯离开苹果公司后的经历,后半部分提到他在电脑动画制作工作室皮克斯时制作了评论和商业上都很成功的商业电影,题干中的commercial hits是对原文中commercially successful movies的同义转述,故答案为M。
My governments have done more than the US government in providing the raw material for innovation.
由题干中的US government和raw materials定位到文章D段第二句。
同义转述题。定位句提到了Many other nations和the United States,并指出其他国家在创造被认为是创新的原材料方面领先于美国。题干中的have done more是对定位句中ahead of的同义转述,故答案为D。
Great innovators are good at connecting concepts from various academic fields.
由题干中的concepts和various academic fields定位到文章J段末句。
细节推断题。定位句提到,这里的联想指的是通过联系不同知识领域的概念,进而形成想法的能力。这是颠覆性创新者的特点之一,也就是伟大的创新者的特点之一。题干中的various academic fields对应原文中的different disciplines,故答案为J。
Innovation is vital to driving economic progress.
由题干中的vital和economic progress定位到文章C段倒数第二句。
同义转述题。定位句指出,从广义上来说,创新是所有经济发展中的关键要素。题干中的vital和定位句中的crucial为近义词,均表示“关键的,重要的”,为同义转述,故答案为C。
America has a social environment that is particularly favorable to innovation.
由题干中的social environment和innovation定位到文章E段。
细节归纳题。定位段指出,其他国家通常缺少的是这样一种社会环境:鼓励多样性、实践、冒险和把多种不同领域的技术融入到产品中。而其他国家的文化并不都像美国那样能够支持乔布斯所诠释的那种创新。由此可知,与其他国家相比,美国的社会环境更有利于创新。题干是对定位段的总结归纳,故答案为E。
Innovative ideas often come from diverse experience.
由题干中的diverse experiences定位到文章H段第二句。
同义转述题。定位句提到,像史蒂夫·乔布斯这样能从自己累积的多种经历中汲取灵感的人,才能经常产生突破性的想法和见解。句中的draw from非常形象地描绘出从丰富的经历中提炼灵感的情况,和题干中come from表达的含义相同,故答案为H。
Real-life experience is often more important than formal education for career success.
由题干中的Real-life experience和formal education定位到文章F段第二句。
该段提到,正规教育很重要,但是真实的生活经历通常甚至更有价值,且做出这个结论 的是职业顾问,因此是对于成功的职业发展而言的。题干与该部分所表达的意思一致,故答案为 F。
Apple's fortunes suffered from an innovation discount during Jobs' absence.
由题干中的innovation discount和Jobs" absence定位到文章L段第二句。
同义转述题。定位句提到,乔布斯离开苹果公司的时间里发生了31%的创新折价。题干中的absence和定位句中的in exile均表示乔布斯“离开公司”的意思,为同义转述,故答案为L。