单选题 Invention and innovation have been quintessentially American pursuits from the earliest days of the republic. Benjamin Franklin was a world-famous scientist and inventor. Cyrus McCormick and his harvester, Samuel F. B. Morse and the telegraph, Alexander Graham Bell and the telephone—the 19th century produced a string of inventors and their world-changing creations. And then there was the greatest of them all, Thomas Alva Edison. He came up with the crucial devices that would give birth to three enduring American industries:electrical power, recorded music and motion pictures.
Much of the world we live in today is a legacy of Edison and of his devotion to science and innovation. Edison taught us to invent, and for decades we were the best in the world. But today, more than 160 years after Edison's birth, America is losing its scientific edge. A landmark report released in May by the National Science Board lays out the numbers:while U. S. investment in R&D as a share of total GDP has remained relatively constant since the mid-1980s at 2.7% , the federal share of R&D has been consistently declining—even as Asian nations like Japan and South Korea have rapidly increased that ratio. At the same time, American students seem to be losing interest in science. Only about one-third of U. S. bachelor's degrees are in science or engineering now, compared with 63% in Japan and 53% in China.
It's ironic that nowhere is America's position in science and technology more threatened than in the industry that Edison essentially invented: energy. Clean power could be to the 21st century what aeronautics and the computer were to the 20th, but the U. S. is already falling behind. Meanwhile, Congress remains largely paralyzed. Though in May the House of Representatives was finally able to pass the $ 86 billion America Competes Reauthorization Act, which would double the budgets of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Energy Department's Office of Science, the bill's fate is cloudy in the deadlocked Senate. "At this rate... we'll be buying most of our wind generators and photovoltaic panels from other countries, " former NSF head Arden L. Bement said at a congressional hearing recently. "That's what keeps me awake sometimes at night. "
Some erosion of the U. S. 's scientific dominance is inevitable in a globalized world and might not even be a bad thing. Tomorrow's innovators could arise in Shanghai or Seoul or Bangalore. And Edison would counsel against panic—as he put it once, " Whatever setbacks America has encountered, it has always emerged as a stronger and more prosperous nation. " But the U. S. will inevitably decline unless we invest in the education and research necessary to maintain the American edge. The next generation of Edisons could be waiting. But unless we move quickly, they won't have the tools they need to thrive.

单选题 The author mentioned many inventors in the first paragraph to ______.
A. remind American of their historical heritage
B. highlight American's loss of supremacy in scientific innovation
C. describe the heyday of America in science and innnovation
D. express his regret for the decline of American national power

单选题 According to paragraph 2, which of the following decreasessince the mid-1980s?
A. Federal spending in R&D.
B. Private spending in R&D.
C. Federal spending in R&D as a share of GDP.
D. Gross spending in R&D as a share of GDP.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】具体细节题
[解析] 本题考查第二段的具体细节。第二段用一些数据表明了美国与其他国家相比在科研领域的优势缩小。其中一个数据就是研发经费占GDP的份额，这是考量一个国家对于科研重视程度的指标。文中指出，尽管自20世纪80年代起，美国全国在研发领域的投资占GDP的份额基本持平，但是美国政府在其中所占的份额却在缩小。这说明在美国政府之外，来自私人领域的研发投资占的比重在上升。这一题有一定的迷惑性，关键就在于对“美国政府”投资和“总”投资，以及对“投资总额”和“投资份额”要加以区分。正确答案应该是[C]。

单选题 It can be inferred from paragraph 3 that US congress is ______ global developing trend.
A. insensitive to
B. upset at
C. responsive to
D. paralyzed by

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】推理引申题
[解析] 本题考查对第三段内容的推理引申。第三段内容紧接第二段提到的美国政府R&D投资占GDP份额减小的论点，通过具体的实例(能源领域的投资)说明问题所在。这一段首先点明了能源科学，尤其是清洁能源科技在21世纪的重要地位，接着介绍了美国政府在通过一项可以提高国家科学基金和能源办公室预算的议案上迟迟未能做出决定的表现。在关乎国家实力的科研领域，政府表现如此犹豫不决，这再一次验证了作者的担忧并不是杞人忧天。本题的题干问的是美国国会对于全球发展趋势的判断，通过这个例子来看，美国国会对于关乎国家命脉的行业也是全球将来竞争的焦点可以说不太敏感。[C]反向干扰，[B]和[D]都无从谈起。

单选题 Which of the following statements the author may agree with?
A. Science and innovation is crucial to a nation's power.
B. America will emerge as a stronger nation despite setabacks.
C. America will yield its superpower title to other countries in 21st century.
D. America's deline in scientific edge is inevitable and irreversible.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】作者观点题
[解析] 本题考查作者观点。全文都在讨论作者对美国科研和创新能力的担忧，之所以产生这种担忧，是因为众所周知现在科技是第一生产力，尤其是在关键领域，比如说本文提到的能源领域，科学与创新更是至关重要。[A]正确。[B]偷梁换柱，将文中爱迪生的一段话挪用为作者的观点。爱迪生曾经说过不用恐惧，因为它相信美国不管遇到什么困难都一定都够渡过难关。在爱迪生的话后面才是作者的观点，但是作者认为如果不加大科研投入，那么美国科学霸主的地位被他国代替将不可避免。[C]只是作者的担忧，而非断言。[D]利用原文最后一段前两句话设置干扰，这两句话提到美国霸主地位受到侵蚀在某方面来讲是不可避免的，但是并没有说是“无法逆转”的，如果无法逆转的话，作者就不会在本文中振臂高呼，要求加大研发投入了。