单选题 Barack Obama, in his state-of-the-union speech on February 12th, called fora new era of scientific discovery. "Now is the time to reach a level of research and development not seen since the height of the space race," he declared. He praised projects to map the human brain and accelerate regenerative medicine. This would mean spending more on research. As The Economist went to press, America's government was about to do the opposite.
Federal spending is due to be cut on March 1st, the result of a long brawl over the deficit. Complex politics triggered this "sequester" (Congress excels at nothing if not elaborate dysfunction) but the sequester itself is brutally simple. America will cut $85 billion from this year's budget (about 2.5% of spending), split between military and non-military programmes. Among the areas to be squeezed is R&D, and medical research in particular.
For year America has enjoyed pre-eminence in research, but this is fading. Chinese investment (including both public and private money) more than quintupled from 2000 to 2010, to $160 billion, in 2005 prices. America's R&D spending rose by just 22% over that period, according to the OECD. Research also make up a smaller portion of America's economy than some other countries'. In a ranking of R&D spending as a share of GDP, America came tenth in 2011. A decade earlier it was sixth.
Nevertheless, America remains the world's biggest engine for innovation. It spent $366 billion on research in 2011, compared with $275 billion by all 27 countries of the European Union. Despite China's rapid ascent, America still spends more than twice as much on R&D. Subsidies help. America's government pays for about one-third of all domestic research and for most basic science.
Medicine is one of the main beneficiaries. America's National Institutes of Health(NIH) is the world's biggest funder of biomedical research. It pays for risky basic science; companies pay for later stages of development. For example, the NIH supported early research into monoclonal antibodies. By 2010 such research underpinned five of America's 20 bestselling drugs. As drug firms trim their budget, the NIH's work is becoming even more vital. But since 2003, inflation-adjusted spending on medical research has declined.
单选题 We can infer from the first paragraph that ______.
  • A.U.S. will spend more on research
  • B.Obama objected to the project to map the human brain
  • C.Obama praised scientists' endeavour on scientific research
  • D.regenerative medicine is an area America focuses on for long
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。 选项与原文对比。A根据文章首段最后两句：This would mean spending more on research. As The Economist went to press, America's government was about to do the opposite.关键是最后一句America's government was about to do the opposite(美国政府却将反其道而行)，可见A美国将在研究领域投入更多开支是错误的。B该段第三句明确提出：He praised projects to map the human brain and accelerate regenerative medicine.可见Obama对于绘制人脑图的态度是praised(支持的)，而非objected(反对的)，故B项错误。C文章首句提到：Obama called for a new era of scientific research；后面又提到He praised projects to map the human brain and accelerate regenerative medicine.可见C项是正确的。D文章虽然提到了regenerative medicine，但并没有说美国关注这个领域已经很久了，for long一词在原文未体现，故D错误。
单选题 Federal spending is to be cut because of ______.
  • A.deficit
  • B.sequester
  • C.complex politics
  • D.dysfunction of Congress
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。 选项与原文对比。答案出现在第二段首句：Federal spending is due to be cut on March 1st, the result of a long brawl over the deficit.其中the result of a long brawl over the deficit为答案，当中关键词为deficit(赤字)，故该题答案为A。而其余几项仅是该段提及信息，并非削减开支的原因。
单选题 The word "squeezed" (Para. 2) most probably means ______.
  • A.cut
  • B.split
  • C.spent
  • D.triggered
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 语义题/词义题。 选项与原文对比。第二段最后两句提到：America will cut $85 billion from this year's budget (about 2.5% of spending), split between military and non-military programmes. Among the areas to be squeezed is R&D, and medical research in particular.我们可以判断squeezed为动词，原意为“挤压”，而在文章背景中，离这个同最近的动词是cut和split，cut意为“缩减”，split意为“撕开，分摊”，cut一词更接近squeeze，故答案为A。
单选题 We learn from Paragraph 3-4 that ______.
  • A.America is no more the world's No. 1 engine for innovation
  • B.America's dominance in research is not as eminent as before
  • C.China spends twice more on R & D compared with America
  • D.Chinese investment has doubled from year 2000 to year 2010
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。 选项与原文对比。A来自第四段首句：Nevertheless, America remains the world's biggest engine for innovation.A项中no more与原文remains相反，可见该项错误。B来自第三段首句：For year America has enjoyed pre-eminence in research，but this is fading.其中this is fading表示美国在研究领域的主导地位正在衰退。故B正确。C来自原文第四段第三句：Despite China's rapid ascent, America still spends more than twice as much on R&D.(美国开支是中国的两倍多)，而非C项说的中国开支比美国多了两倍。D来自原文第三段第二句：Chinese investment (including both public and private money) more than quintupled from 2000 to 2010，可见中国投资是quintupled(翻了五倍)，而非D项doubled(翻了两倍)。
单选题 We know from the last paragraph that NIH ______.
  • A.is the world's biggest funder of all medical research
  • B.pays for basic science and later stages of development
  • C.didn't support early research of monoclonal antibodies
  • D.plays an important role in America's medical research
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。 选项与原文对比。A原文：(NIH) is the world's biggest funder of biomedical research.原文是biomedical research而非A．all medical research，故A错误。B原文：It pays for risky basic science; companies pay for later stages of development.是companies pay for later stages of development而非NIH，故B错误。C原文：For example, the NIH supported early research into monoclonal antibodies.可见C项与原文是黑白颠倒。D原文先说：(NIH) is the world's biggest funder of biomedical research.后又说：As drug firms trim their budget, the NIH's work is becoming even more vital.可见D项表达是正确的。