With the rapid globalization of science
itself (more than 40 percent of scientific Ph.D. students trained in the United
States are now foreign nationals, roughly half of whom return to their countries
of origin) , the once undisputed U.S. scientific lead, whether relevant to
product lead or not, is diminishing. The competition of foreign
students for positions in U.S. graduate schools has also contributed to making
scientific training relatively unattractive to U.S. students, because the
rapidly increasing supply of students has diminished the relative rewards of
this career path. For the best and brightest from low-income countries, a
position as a research assistant in the United States is attractive, whereas the
best and brightest U.S. students might now see better options in other fields.
Science and engineering careers, to the extent that they are opening up to
foreign competition (whether imported or available through better
communication), also seem to be becoming relatively less attractive to U.S.
students. With respect to the role of universities in the
innovation process the speculative boom of the 1990s (which, among other things,
made it possible to convert scientific findings into cash rather quickly) was
largely unexpected. The boom brought universities and their faculties into much
closer contact with private markets as they tried to gain as much of the
economic dividends from their discoveries as possible. For a while, the path
between discoveries in basic science and new flows of hard cash was considerably
shortened. But during the next few decades, this path will likely revert toward
its more traditional length and reestablish in a healthy way, the more
traditional (and more independent) relationship between the basic research done
at universities and those entities that translate ideas into products and
services. In the intervening years, another new force also
greatly facilitated globalization: the rapid growth of the Internet and cheap
wide-bandwidth international communication. Today, complex design activities can
take place in locations quite removed from manufacturing, other business
functions and the consumer. Indeed, there is now ample opportunity for real-time
communication between business functions that are quite independent of their
specific locations. For example, software are development, with all its changes
and complications, can to a considerable extent be done overseas for a U.S.
customer. Foreign call centers can respond instantly to questions from thousands
of miles away. The result is that low-wage workers in the Far East and in some
other countries are coming into even more direct competition with a much wider
spectrum of U.S. labor: unskilled in the case of call centers; more highly
skilled in the case of programmers.
单选题
The rapid globalization of science ______.
A. has led to the rapid growth of the Internet
B. has diminished the relative rewards of science and engineering
careers
C. has resulted in the fierce competition of scientific training the
U.S.
D. has contributed to the diminish of U.S. scientific leadership
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 由第一段可知“With the rapid globalization of science itself, the once undisputed U.S. scientific lead... is diminishing”，可知，随着科学全球化的加速，美国曾经无可置疑的科学领导地位正在减弱，所以选项D为正确表述。
单选题
According to this text ______.
A. the careers unattractive to U.S. students may not be so to foreign
students
B. science and engineering careers are unattractive exclusively to U.S.
students
C. U.S. students age not courageous enough to face foreign competition
D. U.S. students are not well prepared to compete with foreign
students
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 在文章第二段中，“For the best and brightest from low-income countries, a position as a research assistant in the United States is attractive, whereas the best and brightest U.S. students might now see better options in other fields”可看出，A项与其意思相符，美国和其他国家的学生兴趣不同，而并不是美国学生没有勇气和没准备好去面对竞争，可排除C，D选项，而B项过于绝对。
单选题
It can be inferred from the text that ______.
A. scientists rarely expect to make money from their discoveries in basic
science
B. it will be much easier to convert scientific findings into cash in the
near future
C. the boom of the 1990s could be considered somewhat unhealthy
D. the boom of the 1990s will last at least for several decades
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 根据第三段最后一句中的“But during the next few decades, this path likely will... reestablish, in a healthy way, the traditional relationship...”可知，作者本文隐含的意思是，“the boom of the 1990s was not healthy”。
单选题
All of the following might have contributed to globalization except
______.
A. the unprecedented development of Internet
B. the closer contact of universities with private markets
C. real time communication between business functions
D. the prevalence of wide bandwidth international communication
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 第四段第一句说“...another new force also greatly facilitated globalization...”A，C，D选项都是该段提到的“another new force”的具体实例，只有B项未曾提到。
单选题
This text is mainly about ______.
A. the scientific leadership of the U.S.
B. the shortage of scientists in the U.S.
C. the rapid globalization of science
D. better communication and globalization
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 第一段开头即点明了文章主旨：“the once, undisputed U.S. scientific lead... is diminishing.”。其他三段从三个方面对此作了阐述：“scientific training relatively unattractive to U.S. students”，“during the next few decades, this path likely will revert toward its more traditional length and reestablish, in a healthy way, the more traditional relationship...”，“another new force also greatly facilitated globalization”。由此可知，本文着重讨论的是科学全球化造成美国科技领先地位的下降。主旨归纳题，应明确文章的中心思想。