首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early America-breakthroughs such as the telegraph, the steamboat and
What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early America-breakthroughs such as the telegraph, the steamboat and
admin
2010-04-24
70
问题
What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early America-breakthroughs such as the telegraph, the steamboat and the weaving machine? Among the many shaping factors, I would single out the country’s excellent elementary schools; a labor force that welcomed the new technology; the practice of giving premiums to inventors; and above all the American genius for nonverbal, "spatial" thinking about things technological. Why mention the elementary schools? Because thanks to these schools our early mechanics, specially in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, were generally literate and at home in arithmetic and in some aspects of geometry and trigonometry. Acute foreign observers related American adaptiveness and inventiveness to this educational advantage. As a member of a British commission visiting here in 1853 reported, "With a mind prepared by thorough school discipline, the American boy develops rapidly into the skilled workman."
A further stimulus to invention came from the "premium" system, which preceded our patent system and for years ran parallel with it. This approach, originated abroad, offered inventors medals, cash prizes and other incentives. In the United States, multitudes of premiums for new devices were awarded at country fairs and at the industrial fairs in major cities. Americans flocked to these fairs to admire the new machines and thus to renew their faith in the beneficence of technological advance.
Given this optimistic approach to technological innovation, the American worker took readily to that special kind of nonverbal thinking required in mechanical technology. As Eugene Ferguson has pointed out, "A technologist thinks about objects that cannot be reduced to unambiguous verbal descriptions; they are dealt with in his mind by a visual, nonverbal process... The designer and the inventor.., are able to assemble and manipulate in their minds devices that as yet do not exist."
This nonverbal "spatial" thinking can be just as creative as painting and writing. Robert Fulton once wrote, "The mechanic should sit down among levers, screws, wedges, wheels, etc. , like a poet among the letters of the alphabet, considering them as an exhibition of his thoughts, in which a new arrangement transmits a new idea."
When all these shaping forces — schools, open attitudes, the premium system, a genius for spatial thinking- interacted with one another on the rich U. S. mainland, they produced that American characteristic, emulation. Today that word implies mere imitation. But in earlier times it meant a friendly but competitive striving for fame and excellence.
According to the passage, the premium system ______.
选项
A、was an American invention
B、appeared before the patent system
C、is as important as the patent system
D、is supported by the federal government
答案
B
解析
细节题。第五段第二句说奖赏制度出现在专利制度之前,可见B正确。而其余几个选项原文未提及。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/5T2K777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
TheaimoftheconferenceisallofthefollowingEXCEPT______.
WhichofthefollowingisNOTtrueforeachofthefivewinners?
Theideaofabalanceddietishardto______tothosewhoknowsnothingaboutnutriology.
Ourape-menforefathershadnoobviousnaturalweaponsinthestruggleforsurvivalintheopen.Theyhadneitherthepowerfult
Prisonsinsomecountriesareshortofstaff,______meanseachprisonofficerisoverworkedandunderpaid.
Uniformaccelerationoccurs______therateofchangeremainsthesameoversuccessiveequalintervalsoftime.
Onceitwaspossibleto【C1】______maleandfemaleroleseasilybythe【C2】______oflabour.Menworkedoutsidethehomeandearn
Yesterday’sstrikecausedcompleteconfusionfor______.
ThemenandwomenofAnglo-SaxonEnglandnormallyboreonenameonly.Distinguishingepithetswererarelyadded.Thesemightbe
Wearealwaystaughttobehonestsincechildhood.However,somebelievehonestyisnotalwaysthebestpolicyandItispractic
随机试题
A.缓释片B.舌下片C.泡腾片D.阴道栓E.颗粒剂用药后2h内尽量不排尿或局部冲洗的剂型是()。
药物保管中,剧毒药瓶上的标签颜色是
对有关节能管理的理解,不正确的是()。
根据以下资料。回答问题。2017年1—2月,全国造船完工936万载重吨,同比增长123%;承接新船订单221万载重吨,同比增长133%。2月末,手持船舶订单9207万载重吨,同比下降22.6%,比2016年末下降7.6%。2017年1—2月,全
若一个三角形的所有边长都是整数,其周长是奇数,且已知其中的两边长分别为8和2012,则满足条件的三角形总个数是?
被称为我国近代以来爱国知识分子以西方社会学方法与技术进行的,以县为单位的社会调查的代表作是
毛泽东在《论持久战》中
初步可行性研究是在立项申请书(项目建议书)获得批准后对该项目做粗略的论证估计,下列不是初步可行性研究的目的是()。
Youwillhavetotalkaboutthetopicforonetotwominutes.Youhaveoneminutetothinkaboutwhatyouaregoingtosay.Yo
IndustrialpollutionisnotonlyaproblemforthecountriesofEuropeandNorthAmerica.Itisanextremelyseriousproblemin
最新回复
(
0
)