题目信息

In American Genesis, which covers the century of technological innovation in the United States beginning in 1876,Thomas Hughes assigns special promi- nence to Thomas Edison as archetype of the independent nineteenth-century inventor. However, Hughes virtually ignores Edison's famous contemporary and notorious adversary in the field of electric light and power, George Westinghouse. This comparative neglect of Westinghouse is consistent with other recent historians' works, although it marks an intriguing departure from the prevailing view during the inventors' lifetimes (and for decades afterward) of Edison and Westinghouse as the two "pioneer innovators" of the electrical industry.


My recent reevaluation of Westinghouse, facilitated by materials found in railroad archives, suggests that while Westinghouse and Edison shared important traits as inventors, they differed markedly in their approach to the business aspects of innovation. For Edison as an inventor, novelty was always paramount: the overriding goal of the business of innovation was simply to generate funding for new inventions. Edison therefore undertook just enough sales, product development, and manufacturing to accomplish this. Westinghouse, however, shared the attitudes of the railroads and other industries for whom he developed innovations: product development, standardization, system, and order were top priorities. Westinghouse thus better exemplifies the systematic approach to technological development that would become a hallmark of modern corporate research and development.

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  • The author of the passage implies that the shift away from the views of Westinghouse's contemporaries should be regarded as

    A:a natural outgrowth of the recent revival of interest in Edison
    B:a result of scholarship based on previously unknown documents
    C:reflective of modern neglect of the views of previous generations
    D:inevitable, given the changing trends in historical interpretations
    E:surprising, given the stature that Westinghouse once had
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    正确答案: E:surprising, given the stature that Westinghouse once had

    读这段原文,注意黑体字:However, Hughes virtually ignores Edison’s famous contemporary and notorious adversary in the field of electric light and power, George Westinghouse. This comparative neglect of Westinghouse is consistent with other recent historians’ works, although it marks an intriguing departure from the prevailing view during the inventors’ lifetimes (and for decades afterward) of Edison and Westinghouse as the two “pioneer innovators ” of the electrical industry.

    题目是问应该怎样看待“后人对Westinghouse的view与Westinghouse's contemporaries不同”这个事实(How to regard the attitude`s shifting away from the views of Westinghouse's contemporaries )

    文章中the prevailing view during the inventors’ lifetimes of Edison and Westinghouse as the two “pioneer innovators ” 指E和W在其所在的时代被认为都很牛,都是“pioneer innovators ”,然后This comparative neglect ... marks an intriguing departure from the prevailing view指后世人对W的neglect标志着一个intriguing departure,这个departure就是指后世人在对W的态度上出现了转变,即“后世人对W的态度怎么就从与他当代的人的认为的pioneer innovators转变成后来的认为的又neglect又notorious了呢?”所以作者对于这个态度的转变是觉得surprising的,同时E选项里given the stature that Westinghouse once had也与他当时的pioneer innovators 地位相呼应。后文就是作者自己解答为神马后人对W的态度出现了转变——因为他不想E那么善于把新发明应用到商业当中去。

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