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  3. When an invention is made, the inventor has three possible courses of action open to him: he can give the invention to the world

When an invention is made, the inventor has three possible courses of action open to him: he can give the invention to the world

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问题     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 made between an inventor and the state, by which the inventor gets a limited period of monopoly (垄断) and publishes full details of his invention to the public after that period terminates (终止).
    Only in most exceptional circumstances is the life-span 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 color 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 any-one 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 (使无效) 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 of dedication, or through the availability of new technology, that makes news and money. The basic patent for the theory 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 of a cart with the horse at the rear.
The main idea of the last paragraph is that______.
选项 A、most new ideas are, in fact, as old as hills.
B、it is the reduction to commercial practice that makes news and money
C、many of the original ideas behind TV originated earlier
D、Volkswagen rear engine car originated from a cart with the horse at the rear
答案A
解析 段落大意题。本段第一句就是主题句(topic sentence)，就是说如果一个人仔细研究专利和发明的话很快就会发现，其实很多新观点都跟山脉一样那么老了，也就是说许多新发明都是基于以前的许多旧观点。然后作者用了磁记录理论、电视机的发明、后引擎大众汽车等例子来说明这一点。因此A是正确答案。
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