单选题 When an invention is made, the inventor has three possible courses of action open to him: he can give the invention to the world by publishing it, keep the idea secret, or patent it.
A granted patent is the result of a bargain made between an inventor and the state, by which the inventor gets a limited period of monopoly (垄断) and publishes full details of his invention to the public after that period terminates (终止).
Only in most exceptional circumstances is the life-span of a patent extended to alter this normal process of events.
The longest extension ever granted was to Georges Valensi: his 1939 patent for color TV receiver circuitry was extended until 1971 because for most of the patent's normal life there was no color TV to receive and thus no hope of reward for the invention.
Because a patent remains permanently public after it has terminated, the shelves of the library attached to the patent office contain details of literally millions of ideas that are free for anyone to use and, if older than half a century, sometimes even re-patent. Indeed, patent experts often advise anyone wishing to avoid the high cost of conducting a search through live patents that the one sure way of avoiding violation of any other inventor's right is to plagiarize a dead patent. Likewise, because publication of an idea in any other form permanently invalidates (使无效) further patents on that idea, it is traditionally safe to take ideas from other areas of print. Much modern technological advance is based on these presumptions of legal security.
Anyone closely involved in patents and inventions soon learns that most "new" ideas are, in fact, as old as the hills. It is their reduction to commercial practice, either through necessity of dedication, or through the availability of new technology, that makes news and money. The basic patent for the theory magnetic recording dates back to 1886. Many of the original ideas behind television originate from the late 19^th and early 20^th century. Even the Volkswagen rear engine car was anticipated by a 1904 patent of a cart with the horse at the rear.

单选题 The passage is mainly about ______.
A. an approach to patents B. the application for patents
C. the use of patents D. the access to patents

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 主旨题。文章一开头就提出一项发明可以有三种处理方法，其中之一是申请专利。然后作者用文章的其余篇幅介绍专利意味着什么、专利到期后如何，最后又指出许多专利的新观点其实都是很早就开始有的1日观点。因此可知D符合。A很容易被误选，A的意思是这篇文章主要是讲“申请专利的一种方法”，这显然是不对的。

单选题 Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. When a patent becomes out of effect, it can be re-patented or extended if necessary.
B. It is necessary for an inventor to apply for a patent before he makes his invention public.
C. A patent holder must publicize the details of his invention when its legal period is over.
D. One can get all the details of a patented invention from a library attached to the patent office.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 是非题。根据第二段，一个发明获得专利后，其发明人在一定时期内对它拥有垄断，但当专利到期后，专利拥有者必须将发明的全部细节公之于众。因此B不合本句意思，而C与此符合。在第三段讲，只有在特别例外的情况下，专利的期限才可以延长，故A与此不符。而根据第五段，在图书馆中只可查到已过期的专利的详细资料，所以D也不对。

单选题 Georges Valensi's patent lasted until 1971 because ______.
A. nobody would offer any reward for his patent prior to that time
B. his patent could not be put to use for an unusually long time
C. there were not enough TV stations to provide color programs
D. the color TV receiver was not available until that time.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。在第四段中，Georges Valensi在1939年获得的对彩色电视接收器电器的专利得以延长到1971年，是因为在这个专利期限内的大部分时间还没有彩色电视，因此此发明也没有任何利益回报。所以B为正确答案。

单选题 The word "plagiarize" (Line 5, Para. 5) most probably means ______.
A. steal and use B. give reward to
C. make public D. take and change

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 词汇题。plagiarize一词是“剽窃，抄袭”的意思，故A为正确答案。根据上下文也可推知。上文中说，有些专利过期很久之后可能会重新被注册专利，为了避免侵犯其他发明人的权利，一个办法就是去plagiarize a dead patent。由此可知plagiarize就是“剽窃，抄袭”的意思。

单选题 The main idea of the last paragraph is that ______.
A. most new ideas are, in fact, as old as hills.
B. it is the reduction to commercial practice that makes news and money
C. many of the original ideas behind TV originated earlier
D. Volkswagen rear engine car originated from a cart with the horse at the rear

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 段落大意题。本段第一句就是主题句(topic sentence)，就是说如果一个人仔细研究专利和发明的话很快就会发现，其实很多新观点都跟山脉一样那么老了，也就是说许多新发明都是基于以前的许多旧观点。然后作者用了磁记录理论、电视机的发明、后引擎大众汽车等例子来说明这一点。因此A是正确答案。