Windsurfers in Hawaii might not seem to have much in common with the geeks who these days tinker with Linux software as part of the open-source movement. But in the late '70s, the surfers freely swapped ideas on how to redesign their equipment right on the beach, and sporting-goods makers were quick to pick up on innovations like foot straps for leaping giant waves.
Linux's success is making freely revealed innovation a hot idea again. After decades in which patents closed off innovation, open source has caught the attention of businesses because "it so violated accepted wisdom and so clearly worked," says Yochai Benkler, a Yale scholar. Giants like IBM and HP, and newcomers like Red Hat, have made lots of money on Linux-based services and equipment.
Pharmaceuticals represent one new and surprising area where freely shared innovation is catching on. Most industry profits have been made from expensive patented drugs. But now the BioBricks project at MIT is trying to establish standardized tools and processes for research. That way, researchers from everywhere can contribute. Open innovation also makes sense in industries where patents aren't relevant--for example, finding new uses for existing drugs. Eric Von Hippel, MIT's head of innovation and entrepreneurship, is studying FDA applications since 1998 for these so-called off-label uses of patented drugs to see whether, as he suspects, they come mostly from independent researchers rather than the big drugmakers holding the original patents. If they do, it means open-source innovation is already well underway.
An open system would also work when the payback is too small to entice Big Pharma, as in the case of tropical diseases. Law professor Stephen Maurer of the University of California, Berkeley, has coauthored a proposal called the Tropical Disease Initiative that could give graduate students, for instance, a chance to work on finding drugs to help fight the likes of malaria. Because discoveries wouldn't be patented, contracts could be awarded to the lowest bidder. Manufacturing prices could be kept down, too, because generic-drug makers could compete as soon as a drug was ready.
Plant genetics is another field showing the promise of open innovation. The basic tools for manipulating plant genes, and thereby modifying food, are protected by a thicket of patents largely controlled by multinationals, which means farmers in developing countries don't have access to the techniques. The BIOS Initiative, recently launched by Cambia, an Australian nonprofit, aims to make publicly available an alternative technology. (People would be free to patent any resulting discoveries.) One early aim has been to help farmers find a way to breed their own corn, so they don't need to buy expensive hybrid seeds each year. It's not yet clear just how far this kind of research can be democratized. But in many areas, the open-source option is becoming a serious one.
1.The author compares windsurfers in Hawaii with the geeks who these days tinker with Linux software because ____________.
[A] they loved adventures
[B] producers relied on their work
[C] they shared their new ideas with other people freely
[D] they redesigned their equipments
2.What is businesses’ attitude toward Linux’s open source
[A] Indifferent
[B] Apprehensive
[C] Indignant
[D] Happy
3.It can be inferred from Paragraph 3 that ____________.
[A] patented drugs are expensive because they close off innovation
[B] independent researchers are more innovative
[C] BioBricks allows researchers from the world share their ideas with each other
[D] new uses for existing drugs violate patents
4.The word “entice” (Line 1, Paragraph 4) most probably means ___________.
[A] satisfy
[B] attract
[C] repel
[D] persuade
5.According to the text, open innovation is promising in the field of plant genetics because ___________.
[A] farmers can lower their cost if they know how to breed seeds through open innovation
[B] genetically modified food has a bright perspective
[C] it can break the monopoly of big companies
[D] it is an important part of democracy
答案：C D C B A
篇章剖析：
本篇文章是一个说明文，主要说明开放创意在各个领域所创造的巨大价值以及巨大潜力。第一段通过比较夏威夷的冲浪爱好者和那些修补Linux程序的怪才来说明二者的共同指出：都能够开放创意。接着在第二段介绍了Linux通过开放创意在IT领域所取得的成功及其影响；在第三段指出开放创意在医药品领域的广阔前景，第四段指出开放创意的现实意义，最后一段说明了开放创意在植物遗传学领域的应用前景。
难句突破
1.Eric Von Hippel, MIT's head of innovation and entrepreneurship, is studying FDA applications since 1998 for these so-called off-label uses of patented drugs to see whether, as he suspects, they come mostly from independent researchers rather than the big drugmakers holding the original patents.
主体句式：Eric Won Hippel is studying FDA application
结构分析：本句为复杂句，在主语后面有一个同位语短语MIT’s ….，在宾语之后有一个介词for引起定语和不定时to see引起的目的状语，在这个目的状语里又包含有一个whether引起的宾语从句，这个宾语从句里也有一个as引导的定语从句和rather than这一短语。
句子译文：麻省理工学院的创新和创业精神负责人埃里克·冯·希普尔正在研究1998年以来美国食品药品管理局收到的将专利药物用于所谓“非适应症性用药”的申请，目的是想了解这些申请是否像自己猜想的那样主要来自于独立研究人员而非那些拥有专利权的大制药公司。
2.The basic tools for manipulating plant genes, and thereby modifying food, are protected by a thicket of patents largely controlled by multinationals, which means farmers in developing countries don't have access to the techniques.
主体句式：the basic tools are protected
结构分析：本句为复杂句，主语由for引导的介词短语修饰，介词宾语为两个并列动名词短语，by a thicket of patents这个介词短语在句中作状语，which引导了一个非限定性定语从句，对整个句子加以修饰。
句子译文：处理植物基因，并以此改良食物的基本工具都被各种专利保护起来，而这些专利大都由跨国公司控制，这就意味着发展中国家的农民无法获得这些技术。
词汇注释：
windsurfer: [`wInds\:f] n. 风帆冲浪者；冲浪爱好者
geek: [^i:k] n. 怪人；怪才
tinker: [5tiNkE] v. （与at, with连用）修补
swap: [swCp] v. 交换
strap: [strAp] n. 带, 皮带
patent: [5peitEnt, 5pAtEnt] n. 专利权, 执照, 专利品 v. 取得...的专利权, 请准专利
pharmaceutical: [7fB:mE5sju:tikEl] n. 药物
entrepreneurship: [7CntrEprE5nE:Fip] n. 创业精神；企业家精神；企业家[主办人等]的身分[地位、职权、能力]
FDA: 美国食品药品管理局
off-label use: 非适应症性用药
underway: [5QndE5wei] adj. 起步的,进行中的
entice: [in5tais] v. 诱惑；吸引
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