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 struck between an inventor and the state, by which the inventor gets a limited period of monopoly (壟斷) and publishes full details of his invention to the public after that period terminates. Only in the most exceptional circumstances is the lifespan 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 colour 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 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 or dedication, or through the availability of new technology, that makes news and money. The basic patent for the theory of magnetic recording dates back to 1886. Many of the original ideas behind television originate from the late 19th and early 20th century. Even the Volkswagen rear engine car was anticipated by a 1904 patent for a cart with the horse at the rear.

45. From the passage we learn that
[A] an invention will not benefit the inventor unless it is reduced to commercial practice
[B] products are actually inventions which were made a long time ago
[C]. it is much cheaper to buy an old patent than a new one
[D] patent experts often recommend patents to others by conducting a search through dead patents

[答案] A

[解題思路]

本題可以采用排除法。B選項的說法無中生有，可以首先排除。C選項也是錯誤的，因為文章沒有提到新老專利是否價格相同，只是推薦人們買過期專利。D選項對應于文章第四段的第二句話"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"（實際上，專利專家們常對希望開發有效專利而又想避免高額費用的人提出建議，即避免侵犯他人專利權的有效方法就是使用過期專利），這個建議只是向那些"anyone wishing to avoid the high cost"的人的建議，選項表述與原文不符。而A選項對應于最后一段的第二句話"It is their reduction to commercial practice, either through necessity or dedication, or through the availability of new technology, that makes news and money"（只有把握時代的需求，銳意進取，跟上新技術的步伐，專利才能變成商業實踐，從而實現名利雙收），反過來說還在商用之前專利不能使發明者受益，因此A選型符合文章意思。

[題目譯文]

從文中我們可以了解到
[A] 一項發明在進入商業用途之前是不能使發明者受益的
[B] 所有的產品在很長時間以前實際上都是發明
[C] 購買老專利比購買新專利便宜得多
[D] 專利專家們經常向人們推薦使用已經過期的專利

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