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Text 3

Each year, 1,400 high-school students from more than 40 countries are invited to compete in the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), the world鈥檚 largest precollege science contest. The select group of young scientists is chosen from the several million students who compete in local and regional science fairs throughout the year. Participants compete for $3 million in scholarships and prizes, presenting projects in 15 categories like medicine, biochemistry, computer science and zoology. Earning top honors isn鈥檛 the only goal for contestants. Nineteen percent (or 274) of the finalists at the 2005 competition held last month have already begun the process to patent their projects.

Ammem Abdulrasool, a senior at the Illinois Junior Academy of Science, won top honors at this year鈥檚 Intel ISEF for his project, 鈥淧rototype for Autonomy: Pathway for the Blind.鈥� He walked away with $70,000 in prize money and a free trip to October鈥檚 Nobel Prize ceremony. Abdulrasool developed technology that allows visually impaired individuals to navigate themselves from one location to another by using the Global Positioning System. Individuals wear a half-kilo Walkman-size device, a bracelet on each arm and a pair of earphones. After entering a starting and ending location into a personal digital assistant (PDA), they are guided with verbal commands that tell them when and in what direction to turn. Simultaneously, a bracelet vibrates signaling the correct direction. To test his device, Abdulrasool recruited 36 blind adults and asked them to visit five landmarks in his neighborhood. The navigational tool saved people an average of 26 minutes in travel time and reduced the number of errors (wrong turns and missed locations). 鈥淟ooking at how hard it was for them to travel and how they were dependent on everyone else motivated me to do something,鈥� he said. Abdulrasool hopes are applying for a patent and then plan to market the product commercially.

In the fair鈥檚 56-year history, a number of projects have been implemented for commercial use. Michael Nyberg, a 2001 competitor, hoped to reduce the number of West Nile virus infections through acoustics. With a bucket of mosquito larvae and a sound generator, Nyberg discovered that a 24 kHz frequency resonated with the natural frequency of mosquitoes鈥� internal organs: larvae that absorbed the acoustic energy would explode. His sound-emitting device, Larvasonic, is now sold online (www.larvasonic.com). Tiffany Clark, a 1999 competitor, found evidence that bacteria produced the methane gas found inside coal seams in Wyoming鈥檚 Powder River Basin. This suggested that injecting nutrients into coal seams might provide an unlimited supply of natural gas. A Denver-based technology firm is now continuing Clark鈥檚 high-school research. And someday soon, blind people around the world may be wearing bracelets that issue GPS commands.

31. How are young people selected to participate in Intel ISEF?

锛籄锛� They are pre-university students.

锛籅锛� They must win science competitions in their home countries.

锛籆锛� They must patent or be about to patent an invention.

锛籇锛� They are chosen from young people who take part in science competitions.

32. Which of these is NOT mentioned as an advantage of Abdulrasool鈥檚 device?

锛籄锛� It enables blind people to get from A to B faster.

锛籅锛� It helps them avoid obstacles.

锛籆锛� It gives information to blind people in more than one way.

锛籇锛� It is extremely light.

33. How are Abdulrasool鈥檚 invention and those of Michael Nyberg and Tiffany Clark similar?

锛籄锛� Their inventions all have organic components.

锛籅锛� They all won the Intel ISEF competition, though in different years.

锛籆锛� They all have, or could have, profitable applications.

锛籇锛� None of them have patents yet.

34. How does Tiffany Clark鈥檚 idea work?

锛籄锛� She feeds underground bacteria and they produce natural gas.

锛籅锛� Bacteria eat coal and produce natural gas.

锛籆锛� Bacteria are injected with coal molecules and produce natural gas.

锛籇锛� Bacteria extract natural gas from coal and are then harvested.

35. Which of the following statements about the Intel ISEF competition is true?

锛籄锛� It began in the 1960鈥檚.

锛籅锛� The biggest prize this year was $3 million.

锛籆锛� There are 15 prizes in a variety of categories.

锛籇锛� Many participants have patented ideas and inventions.

Text 4

Ten years ago, Pierre Omidyar, a software engineer working in California鈥檚 Silicon Valley, began thinking about how to use the internet for a trading system in which buyers and sellers could establish a genuine market price. Over a long holiday weekend he wrote the computer code. At first, a trickle of users arrived at his website—including his girlfriend, who traded PEZ candy dispensers. By the end of 1995, several thousand auctions had been completed and interest in eBay was growing. And it grew and grew. From this modest beginning, eBay has become a global giant, with around 150m registered users worldwide who are set to buy and sell goods worth more than $40 billion this year.

The remarkable tale of eBay鈥檚 growth points to some important lessons for any business trying to operate online—and today that includes, one way or another, most firms. The commercial opportunities presented by an expanding global web seem almost limitless. But the pace of change is rapid, and so is the ferocity of competition. To succeed, firms need agility, an open mind and the ability to reinvent themselves repeatedly. Most of all, they need to listen carefully to their customers, paying close attention to what they do and don鈥檛 want.

Such qualities, of course, would be valuable in any kind of business. Yet for online firms they are not a luxury, but necessary for mere survival. This is true for a variety of reasons. The internet is not only growing, but changing rapidly—which, in turn, changes the rules of the game for any business relying on it. The barriers to entry are still low compared with those for most offline businesses, which means that just keeping track of your existing rivals is not enough. These may not represent the greatest competitive threat tomorrow or the next day. That could come from a number of directions—a firm in a different type of online business; one that does not yet exist; or even from one of your own customers. On top of all this, the behavior of many consumers is constantly changing as well, as individuals discover new ways to shop and interact with each other via the web.

All these factors make the internet a dangerous place to do business, as well as one full of promise. eBay鈥檚 history demonstrates both of those things. It is probably safe to say that nothing like eBay could have existed without the internet—or could have grown so fast. Even though there have been signs of the firm鈥檚 blistering pace slowing a bit in America, its most 鈥渕ature鈥� market, there remain vast opportunities overseas, particularly, some argue, in China. Meg Whitman, eBay鈥檚 chief executive, believes the company is still only at the beginning of what it could achieve.

36. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

锛籄锛� To introduce the founder of eBay and his girlfriend.

锛籅锛� To demonstrate how clever the founder of eBay is.

锛籆锛� To show how eBay started and has grown.

锛籇锛� To introduce eBay to people.

37. Which of the following best summarizes Pierre Omidyar鈥檚 intention with regard to eBay?

锛籄锛� To set up a global internet business.

锛籅锛� To allow people to freely buy and sell on the internet at acceptable prices.

锛籆锛� To set up a mechanism on the internet to allow people to trade at true market prices.

锛籇锛� To se up a business mechanism for his girlfriend.

38. Which of these is it NOT necessary for a company selling on the internet to do?

锛籄锛� Have the most competitive price for each of their online products.

锛籅锛� Be able to change to suit the prevailing market conditions.

锛籆锛� Be prepared to consider all options and alternatives.

锛籇锛� Have a good idea of what their customers do not want.

39. What does 鈥渂arriers to entry are still low compared with those for most offline businesses鈥� in paragraph 3 mean?

锛籄锛� It is easier to set up an internet business than a conventional one.

锛籅锛� Internet trade is growing faster than traditional business sector.

锛籆锛� It is cheaper to set up an internet business than a traditional one.

锛籇锛� Companies generally prefer to do business online rather than offline.

40. Why does the article conclude that the internet 鈥渋s a dangerous place to do business鈥�?

锛籄锛� Because companies that sell online may be unreliable.

锛籅锛� Because there are no controls on doing business on the internet.

锛籆锛� Because doing business online is unpredictable.

锛籇锛� Because even companies like eBay have problems doing business online.

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