时文选读| 全球大学对经济增长的贡献减弱

Universities are failing to boost economic growth

四级 适中| 414词

刘立军供稿

Part I. Passage

In the past few decades, universities around the world have grown quickly. The number of researchers working in universities has increased a lot. Since 1980, the number of academic papers published every year has become five times higher. Governments have spent a lot of money on universities because they believe that universities help the economy by creating new ideas and inventions for businesses and society.

However, even with this growth, productivity has slowed down. In the 1950s and 1960s, worker productivity in rich countries grew by about 4% every year. But in the 10 years before the COVID-19 pandemic, it grew by only 1%. Even though we now have powerful technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), productivity is still not growing much.

A new study by some economists suggests that there may be a link between the rise of universities and the slow growth of productivity. In the past, most big scientific discoveries were made by businesses, not universities. In the middle of the 20th century, companies like AT&T and General Electric spent a lot of money on research. These companies sometimes published more scientific papers than top universities. One reason for this was that strict competition laws encouraged companies to develop their own innovations.

But in the 1970s and 1980s, competition rules became weaker. As a result, companies stopped investing as much in research and started depending on universities to do the work instead. The study says that moving from company-led research to university-led research has not helped productivity very much. Even though universities produce important studies, these studies are often hard for companies to use. One reason is that many companies no longer have their own research labs, which used to help different experts work together. Also, university researchers often focus more on getting academic success than on solving real-world problems.

When universities do try to create useful inventions, the results are not always good. For example, university patents can sometimes stop companies from doing their own research. The study found that company patenting has gone down by about 1.5% each year because of competition from university start-ups. This means that public funding for university research might be hurting private research by companies.

In the future, better teamwork between universities and businesses could help increase productivity. Stronger competition laws might also push companies to invest more in their own research again. But if university research does not clearly help the economy, governments may need to rethink how much money they spend on it.

【Vocabulary】

1. productivity n. 生产率；工作效率

2. publish v. 发表；出版

3. invention n. 发明；创造物

4. patent n. 专利；专利权

5. funding n. 资金；拨款

Part II. Questions

Q1. According to the passage, what was a reason for the decline in corporate research efforts in the 1970s?

A. Universities had taken over the role of corporate research.  

B. Anti-monopoly laws had been strictly enforced.  

C. Competition policies had been relaxed.  

D. Corporate labs have been closed.

Q2. What is a challenge universities face when engaging in real-world innovation according to the passage?

A. Their research often focuses on academic recognition.  

B. Their patents are not recognized by businesses.  

C. Their research labs are not well-equipped.  

D. Their ideas are too difficult for businesses to apply.

Q3. What is one problem caused by university patents, according to the passage?

A. They help companies create more patents.
B. They reduce the number of students in universities.
C. They increase public interest in science.
D. They make it harder for companies to do their own research.

Q4. What can be inferred about the future of university research from the passage?

A. It will continue to drive economic growth.  

B. It may face increased scrutiny from governments.  

C. It will replace corporate research entirely.  

D. It will lead to stronger collaboration with businesses.

Q5. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Universities have failed to drive economic growth despite their expansion.  

B. Corporate research labs were more effective than universities in driving innovation.  

C. Governments should invest more in university research to boost productivity.  

D. Collaboration between universities and businesses is the key to future innovation.

Part III. KEY

Q1.【答案】C
【解析】细节题。题目出处为“But in the 1970s and 1980s, competition rules became weaker. As a result, companies stopped investing as much in research and started depending on universities to do the work instead.” 意为：“然而，随着20世纪70年代和80年代竞争政策的放松，企业减少了研究工作，转而依靠大学来进行研究。” 因此，正确答案为C。

Q2.【答案】A

【解析】细节题。题目出处为“Also, university researchers often focus more on getting academic success than on solving real-world problems.” 意为：“此外，大学研究往往优先考虑学术认可而非实际应用。” 因此，正确答案为A。

Q3.【答案】D  
【解析】细节题。题目出处为“The study found that company patenting has gone down by about 1.5% each year because of competition from university start-ups.” 意为：“研究发现，由于大学初创企业的竞争，公司的专利申请量每年减少了约1.5%。” 因此，正确答案为D。

Q4. 【答案】B  
【解析】推理题。题目出处为“But if university research does not clearly help the economy, governments may need to rethink how much money they spend on it.” 意为：“然而，如果大学科研的经济效益仍然不明朗，政府可能需要重新考虑给予大学的财政支持。” 因此，可以推断大学研究未来可能会受到政府更严格的审查。正确答案为B。

Q5. 【答案】A  
【解析】主旨题。文章整体讨论了尽管大学在全球范围内经历了快速扩张，但生产力增长却放缓，大学研究未能有效推动经济增长。因此，正确答案为A。

（本文图片来源于摄图网，版权归摄图网所有)