单选题   A recurring criticism of the UK's university sector is its perceived weakness in translating new knowledge into new products and services.
    Recently, the UK National Stem Cell Network warned the UK could lose its place among the world leaders in stem cell research unless adequate funding and legislation could be assured. We should take this concern seriously as universities are key in the national innovation system.
    However, we do have to challenge the unthinking complaint that the sector does not do enough in taking ideas to market. The most recent comparative data on the performance of universities and research institutions in Australia, Canada, USA and UK shows that, from a relatively weak starting position, the UK now leads on many indicators of commercialisation activity.
    When viewed at the national level, the policy interventions of the past decade have helped transform the performance of UK universities. Evidence suggests the UK's position is much stronger than in the recent past and is still showing improvement. But national data masks the very large variation in the performance of individual universities. The evidence shows that a large number of universities have fallen off the back of the pack, a few perform strongly and the rest chase the leaders.
    This type of uneven distribution is not peculiar to the UK and is mirrored across other economies. In the UK, research is concentrated: less than 25% of universities receive 75% of the research funding. These same universities are also the institutions producing the greatest share of PhD graduates, science citations, patents and licence income. The effect of policies generating long-term resource concentration has also created a distinctive set of universities which are research-led and commercially active. It seems clear that the concentration of research and commercialisation work creates differences between universities.
    The core objective for universities which are research-led must be to maximise the impact of their research efforts. These universities should be generating the widest range of social, economic and environmental benefits. In return for the scale of investment, they should share their expertise in order to build greater confidence in the sector.
    Part of the economic recovery of the UK will be driven by the next generation of research commercialisation spilling out of our universities. There are three dozen universities in the UK which are actively engaged in advanced research training and commercialisation work.
    If there was a greater coordination of technology transfer offices within regions and a simultaneous investment in the scale and functions of our graduate schools, universities could, and should, play a key role in positioning the UK for the next growth cycle.
单选题     What does the author think of UK universities in terms of commercialisation?______
 
 
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】本题考查作者对英国大学在商业化方面表现的看法。文章第一段提出批评(A recurring criticism…). 第二段又提出警告(the UK National Stem Cell Network warned…)，即英国国家干细胞网络警告“英国可能会失去其在干细胞研究领域的世界领先地位”。第三段用However转折，表示作者不同意以上观点，该段最后一句指出虽然英国起点低，但其在许多商业化活动指标中部处于领先地位(leads on many indicators of commercialisation activity)，故选A。 [参考译文] 关于英国大学的一项反复批评是，它在将新知识转化为新产品和服务方面被觉察到很薄弱。 最近，英国国家干细胞网络警告说：除非有充足的资金保障和立法保证，否则英国可能会失去其在干细胞研究领域的世界领先地位。我们应当认真对待这种担忧，因为大学是国家创新体系的关键所在。 然而，对于这种认为大学在将点子运用到市场上做得不够这个不假思索的抱怨，我们也不得不提出质疑。最近对澳大利亚、加拿大、美国和英国的大学和研究机构的表现数据进行的比较显示：虽然起点相对较低，但英国如今在许多商业化活动指标中都处于领先地位。 从全国范围来看，过去十年中，政策干预使英国大学的表现有所改观。证据表明英国大学的地位相比前一段时期更加稳固，而且仍表现出上升的态势。但是全国性数据掩盖了大学个体在表现上所存在的巨大差异。证据表明许多大学已经落后了，少数大学表现强劲，而其余的则在迎头赶上。 这种分布不均衡的情况并非英国独有，其他不少国家也是如此。在英国，研究有集中化现象：不到25%的大学获得了75%的研究资金。这些大学同样也是培养出最多博士生、发表最多科学论文、获得最多专利和许可收入的机构。在导致长期资源集中的政策的影响下，一批与众不同的大学也应运而生，它们以研究为导向，积极参与商业活动。显然，研究的集中和商业化活动使各大学之间产生了差异。 研究型大学的核心目标应该是使其研究成果的影响最大化。这些大学应当创造出最广泛的社会、经济和环境效益。为了回报大规模的投资，它们应当分享各自专长，以使大学树立更坚定的信心。 英国经济的复苏，部分要靠从大学涌现出的下一代研究成果的商业化来驱动。英国目前有36所大学正积极参与到先进研究培训和商业化活动中来。 如果能更好地协调各地区的技术转让部门，同时对研究生院进行投资以扩大其规模，并改善其功能，那么大学就能够而且应当在下一轮经济增长中为确立英国的(领先)地位发挥至关重要的作用。
单选题     What does the author say about the national data on UK universities' performance in commercialisation?______
 
 
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】文章第四段指出，全国性数据掩盖了大学个体在表现上所存在的巨大差别。接着对variation进行了具体说明——证据表明许多大学已经落后了，少数大学表现强劲，而其余的则在迎头赶上。由此推断全国性数据并没有反映大学间的差异，故选B。选项B中的differences对应原文中的variation。该段未提及政府政策、大学排名及政府资源，故其他三项均可排除。
单选题     We can infer from Paragraph 5 that 'policy interventions' (Line 1, Para. 4) refers to ______ .
 
 
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】policy interventions出现在文章的第四段，但对其的解释却在第五段。解答本题只需抓住第五段的三个关键词：uneven distribution，concentrated和resource concentration。该段指出，在英国，不到25%的大学获得了75%的研究资金，即资源集中在少数大学手中，故选A。该段并未提及大学和企业间的义务合作、政府资助非研究型大学及公平分配资金，故排除其他三项。
单选题     What does the author suggest research-led universities do?______
 
 
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】第六段首句提到研究型大学的核心目标应该是使其研究成果的影响最大化，接着指出这些大学应该创造出最广泛的社会、经济和环境效益，选项A中的Fully utilise，benefit all sectors of society分别相当于原文中的maximise the impact，generating the widest range of...benefits，故选A，其他三项文章均未提到。
单选题     How can the university sector play a key role in the UK's economic growth?______
 
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】文章最后一段用一个虚拟语气指出，如果能更好地协调各地区的技术转让部门，同时对研究生院进行投资以扩大其规模和改善其功能，那么大学就能够而且应当在下一轮经济增长中为确立英国的(领先)地位发挥至关重要的作用。故选C。