单选题 It is only through innovation that large companies will be able to survive, according to Ron Mitsch, vice-chairman of UK-owned industrial giant 3M. However, says Mitsch, it remains difficult to run a truly innovative company. Innovation involves speculation, unproven technologies and unpredictable costs. It takes a lot of managing, because managers really have to be on top of what's happening. In addition, innovation does not fit easily into the orderly kind of organization that company accountants like. Despite this, Mitsch claims it is an essential policy to pursue.
The 3M group's record of growth aiding profitability indicates that it manages the orderly part of the business pretty well. The statistics are big. operations in more than 60 countries, sales in more than 200, around 60,000 products and 70,000 employees. But what makes 3M different is its innovative approach to innovation itself. Although it is a massive multinational with a turnover of $15 billion, the whole company is broken down into tiny groups which work together and help each other and are then encouraged to consult internally with the other groups. This positively encourages individual and collaborative research.
A further encouragement is that all research staff worldwide are expected to work on 3M projects for only 85% of their time; for the remaining 15% of time they are free to pursue ideas of their own, using company facilities. In this time they can work on their own or in a group. One hugely successful project that has come out of this 15% rule is the Post-it note. The idea came from an individual inventor and then, using the business skills of a large organization, was rapidly developed into a major product. The success of the Post-it note proves how profitable the innovative 15 % rule can be.
Ron Mitsch says innovation is at the heart of 3M. In 1996, more than 30% of sales were generated by products less than four years old. He says; "We almost always get into new markets through innovation. We're very good at adapting these innovations to lots of different markets so we have a high success rate. We take an idea and see how many applications it's got. Then we try to establish market dominance. We have a tremendous variety of technologies so we can adapt anything but we still need the original ideas to develop. "
In the past year 3M has introduced a group-wide program called Pacing Plus. This means that they are still actively seeking new ideas, but with the difference that they hope many of them will eventually lead to the establishment of completely new business. In this way, 3M will be able to invest in a wide range of markets and even create some new ones.
This emphasis on innovation creates unusual stresses and strains and makes a company like 3M a difficult business to manage. Technical people at 3M are given a large degree of intellectual freedom, and the company appears to specifically try to recruit people who think for themselves and who don't necessarily solve things by the traditional routes. The management encourages people to step outside of the security that comes from working in a big, stable group, and then to handle the consequences. So far the mixture of freedom and heavy responsibility seems to work; the 25 research schemes at present under review could generate business worth $ 6 billion a year.

单选题 Ron Mitsch says it can be difficult for companies to be innovative because this involves ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】第一段谈到Ron Mitsch认为大公司只有通过创新才能得以继续生存。然而经营一个真正有所创新的公司还是很难的。因为创新需要……有一些意想不到的费用，还需要做许多管理工作……另外，创新还不太容易与公司财会所喜欢的秩序井然的组织结构相协调。选项中A、B两项含义不符，C太片面，只有D能概括所陈述的总体情况。
单选题 3M's approach to innovation is different because it allows researchers to ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】作者在第二段谈到3M公司的革新方法不同于其他公司主要是因为“…the whole company is broken down into tiny groups which work together and help each other and are then encouraged to consult internally with the other groups．”作者在第三段中还谈到“…they can work on their own or in a group．”可见该公司允许它的研究人员在公司内部单独工作，或者在公司内部以团队形式工作(但不是与其他组织合作进行)。
单选题 The writer says that the Post-it note was invented as a result of ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】文章第三段介绍说：3M所有的研究人员只要把它们85%的时间用于公司的项目(project)中即可；在剩余的15%的时间内，他们可以利用公司的设备按自己的想法去自由工作(free to pursue ideas of their own)，而Post-in note正是来自于这15%的时间，是一项非常成功的方案。也就是说Post-in note实际上是研究者个人主动开发出来的。
单选题 When 3M has a new idea it tries to ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】文章第四段提出创新是3M公司的立足之本，而且他们“take an idea and see how many applications it's got”，这一点和选项C含义吻合。
单选题 3M sees the Pacing Plus program as ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】第五段谈到：3M把Pacing Plus计划看做是对新思想的追求，他们希望自己所追求的许多新思想最终都会lead to the establishment of completely new business。3M能以此在更广泛的市场范围投资甚至建立一些新的市场。可见3M是把Pacing Plus program看做是和先前工作方法的脱钩(a departure)。
单选题 The researchers at 3M need to be people who ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】作者在最后一段谈到3M公司需要招聘people who think for themselves而不是people…who solve things by the traditional routes；其中think for themselves和have an individual approach to problems含义一致。