科研領域公開的秘密：學會站在巨人的肩膀上

An open secret about innovation is that most great breakthroughs don’t happen thanks to a single lone genius. While history is full of stories of famous inventors， who are often national heroes， in almost every case they were just the first people to improve an existing system to the final stage where it achieved great successes.

Think of how scientific discoveries from hundreds of years ago inspired the works of later generations of scientists. Or how the iPod revolutionised personal music thanks to the combination of progress in the completely different fields and various technological innovations.

As Isaac Newton so famously said in 1676： If I have seen further， it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. The following story is a perfect example of a famous invention that was the fruit of efforts by dozens or hundreds of people.

It is perhaps the most famous invention of all time， and its symbol actually stands for the concept of an idea. And yet， Thomas Edison didn’t invent the light bulb. He merely improved the previous designs to the point that they became commercially practical， in 1880.

The first electric light device， called an Arc-Lamp， was developed by Humphry Davy about 78 years before that， but didn’t last long and was far too bright. In 1850， Joseph Swan found that carbonized（碳化的） paper was a much better material and used them to make light bulbs， and in 1881 Swan developed his own lighting company. However， he couldn’t get his design to be efficient.

After further experimentation， both Swan and Edison found better materials， and Edison’s solution was to partner with Swan， forming a joint company， and then totally buying out Swan several years later.

Invention is a process that continuously builds on what came before it. While an individual may have a stroke of genius， these moments never happen in a vacuum（真空）.

So while you are thinking of innovations， just remember that you don’t need to always start from the beginning. Often， the best innovations are the ones which take previous ideas and find new ways to add value.

（材料出自“Idea to Value”網站，有刪改）

1. Why iPod is mentioned in the text？

A. To explain a dirty secret of great companies.

B. To give an example of improving existing solutions.

C. To demonstrate how iPod is inspired by light bulb.

D. To underline the importance of further experiment.

2. What does “It” underlined in Paragraph 4 refer to in the text？

A. iPod B. light bulb

C. Thomas Edison D. Isaac Newton

3. Who created a light bulb business first according to the text？

A. Humphry Davy B. Joseph Swan

C. Isaac Newton D. Thomas Edison

4. What is the core message of this text？

A. The details of a process make great inventions possible.

B. Cooperation helps us achieve our goals more easily.

C. Great inventions are usually the result of group wisdom.

D. Stealing others’ ideas is not healthy for great inventions.

1. B。解析：細節理解題。根據材料第一段中的“While history is full of stories of famous inventors， who are often national heroes， in almost every case they were just the first people to improve an existing system to the final stage where it achieved great successes.”，我們可知歷史上著名的發明家實際上大多是在現有成果的基礎上實現進一步改良的人，材料第二段提到的iPod就是一個具體的例子。故選B。

2. B。解析：詞義猜測題。材料第四段中，緊跟在畫線詞“It”所在句子后的是“And yet， Thomas Edison didn’t invent the light bulb.”，因而“It”指代的是后文的“light bulb”。故選B。

3. B。解析：細節理解題。材料第五段提到“In 1850， Joseph Swan found that carbonized paper was a much better material and used them to make light bulbs， and in 1881 Swan developed his own lighting company.”，再結合前文，我們可知雖然Humphry Davy早于Joseph Swan發明出了一種電燈泡，但是Joseph Swan是文中第一個成立電燈泡公司的。故選B。

4. C。解析：主旨大意題。此篇材料講的是偉大的發明通常并不是一個人的功勞，而是集體持續改善的結果。故選C。