Unit 01 素材文档

College English Creative Reading 3 跨文化交际英语·阅读教程 3

Unit 1 Intellectual Property

Note on the Topic

Learning Objectives

1. Gain a full understanding of the concept of intellectual property;

2. Explore the differing attitudes within different societies and among different people towards the concept of ownership of ideas and how freely other people should be able to use these ideas;

3. Consider various text structures and identify contrasting information within a text;

4. Discuss and create a short role-play on the theme of plagiarism.

Before You Read

1.Watch the following video and discuss the following questions with a partner.

2.Discuss the following questions with a partner.

2.1 What is the video about?

This video explains what intellectual property is and the reasons why

people should care.

2.2 According to the video, what is intellectual property?

According to the video, intellectual property is trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and patents.

2.3 Why should people know the concept of intellectual property? Because intellectual property is in everybody’s business. People should know intellectual property so that they can protect their own values and avoid i nfringing others’ intellectual property.

2.4 According to the video, why do people care about intellectual property?

Because companies’ values, projects’ values, inventions’ values and even people’s values are in that intellectual property.

2.5Do you think intellectual property is important to you? Why or why not?

Answers will vary to this question. A sample answer could be:

I think intellectual property is important to me because I have spent a lot of time on making my ideas into concrete product. I need to protect it so as to protect my own value. Also, intellectual property helps me to respect others’ fruits of labor.

Reading A

Piracy in the Twenty-First Century

Text 1____________________________________________ Modern societies are reliant upon technological innovation, which is underpinned by secure intellectual property rights. Great progress has been made in getting countries across the world to accede to international agreements on enforcing intellectual property rights. But it was not always thus, and much remains to be done. Let us review the situation in the past as a lesson in what happens without adequate protection for intellectual property holders.

Background Information:

The Texts: Piracy in the Twenty-First Century

The texts discuss intellectual property and express particular views about this topic. The term “intellectual property” suggests that products of the mind can be identified and owned, bought, or sold just as physical goods or land can be owned, bought, or sold. This has been viewed in very different ways in history. It has also been viewed in different ways in different cultures. Even goods and land have been thought about in quite different ways in different cultures. In many traditions, for example among many native Americans, concepts of ownership did not include the idea of owning land. Similarly, there are different traditions about owning ideas or artistic productions.

Today intellectual property is protected by the world intellectual

property organization (WIPO), which is a specialized agency of the United Nations. The majority of United Nations members are members of WIPO. WIPO offers a means of protecting intellectual property across borders and also offers ways of resolving potential infringement issues without going to court. This last point is quite important because, as the writer of Text 2 notes, there is a lot of money involved in intellectual property. Many large firms, particularly technological companies, spend much time and money involved in possible infringement cases.

The two texts here offer opposing views of intellectual property rights and thus reflect the current debate. On the one hand, many people regard intellectual property (ip) as crucial to a company or a product’s success. On the other hand, the high costs involved in attaining any item protected by IP can have a negative effect on the spirit of collaboration and innovation.

参考译文：

二十一世纪的盗版现象

课文一

现代社会依赖于技术创新，而技术创新须依靠知识产权来保障。越来越多的国家遵守国际条约，实行知识产权保护。但这方面做得还远远不够。我们来回顾一下过去，看看缺乏知识产权保护会导致什么样的后果，从而吸取教训。

Reading B

As many Western companies once discovered to their cost, investing in Southeast Asia before the advent of secure intellectual property rights was an expensive proposition. To enter these markets, Western companies had to disclose to authorities details not only of their products, but also of the processes whereby their products were created. The result, all too often, was rapid and blatant copying of goods which were not protected against copyright abuse of this kind.

参考译文：

许多西方公司付出了惨痛的代价才发现，知识产权保障机制还未健全时，在东南亚投资无异于将钱付诸东流。要进入这些市场，西方公司不仅必须向相关当局说明他们的产品，而且还要说明他们产品的制作过程。而结果经常是本该受到知识产权保护的产品很快被无耻地抄袭。

Reading C

There are numerous examples of such copyright piracy from the past. The American chemical giant Du Pont, for example, introduced into one Asian country its famous Londax herbicide, which kills weeds in rice fields. The company had invested millions of dollars in the research and

development of this product, and plough ed another US$25 million into opening a local production plant. Less than one year afterwards, however, very cheap bottles of a fake Londax were openly on sale. The only difference between the fake and real items — other than the price — was that the fake was called Rondex and came in a blue rather than green bottle. However, as it was so much cheaper than the original, it effectively destroyed Du Pont’s investment. It also made the company much less willing to invest in R&D (research and development) of new chemicals. The “recipe” for Londax should have been treated as the intellectual property of Du Pont. For another company to make unauthorized use of it was stealing, just as surely as if they had stolen Du Pont’s machines or any other physical property.

Key Word:

plough…into: to invest a lot (of money) in (something) in order to improve it or make it successful

参考译文：

盗用知识产权的例子不胜枚举。例如，美国化学制品巨头杜邦向一亚洲国家引进了一种名叫Londax的著名除草剂，用来除掉稻田里的杂草。该公司在该产品的研发上投资了数百万美元，而且又投入了2500万美元在当地开设了一家生产厂家。然而，不到一年以后，一

瓶瓶非常廉价的冒牌Londax公然上市了。冒牌产品和正宗产品除了价格外的唯一区别是冒牌产品的名称是Rondex，用的是蓝色瓶而不

是正宗产品用的绿色瓶。但是，由于冒牌产品的价格比正宗产品的价格低廉许多，它成功毁掉了杜邦公司的投资。同时它也使得该公司不再愿意投资于新化学制品的研发。生产Londax的配方本应该被当作是杜邦公司的知识产权。其他非法使用该配方的公司是犯了偷盗行为，就像盗取了杜邦公司的机器或者该公司的其他财产一样。

Reading D

It was not only products that were vulnerable — protecting a brand name in the Asian market was once nearly impossible. Even Kellogg’s, the manufacturers of the original Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, found themselves competing with a product superficially similar to their own: Kongal Cornstrips, which even came in a near-identical box. Unfortunately, as in the Du Pont case, Kellogg’s chances of successfully prosecuting the copyists were virtually zero, because local law did not adequately recognize the concept of copyright protection.

参考译文：

不光是产品，在亚洲市场上保护一个品牌也曾经是几乎不可能的事。就连Kellogg’s玉米片的生产商Kellogg’s公司也发现自己的产品被山寨：Kongal 牌玉米条，连包装也几乎一模一样。不幸的是，

和杜邦公司的事件一样，Kellogg’s 公司成功惩罚侵权者的几率几乎为零，因为当地的法律不承认知识产权保护的概念。

Reading E

Fortunately, the situation is now much improved following various rounds of negotiations within the World Trade Organization. Nonetheless, international companies must remain vigilant against violation of their intellectual property rights. There are always those who will seek to profit from someone else’s research efforts, financial investment and market goodwill. Innovation will be killed if its rewards cannot be protected by the law.

参考译文：

幸好，在经过许多轮世贸组织的谈判后，情况大为改观。然而，跨国公司必须保持警惕，以防被侵权。总有人试图从别人的研发、投资、商誉中牟利。如果成果得不到法律保护，创新就是空话。

Reading F

Text 2_______________________________________________ You hear a lot about copyright and intellectual property (IP) nowadays, usually from one point of view: that of the copyright holder. That’s not an accident —there’s a lot of money to be made from

so-called “intellectual property” rights, and many people will want to convince you that intellectual property rights are necessary and good, rather than being a giant rip-off for consumers across the planet. What you’ll most likely be told is that intellectual property rights need to be protected, otherwise no o ne will “innovate.” Why invent something if someone else makes all the money from it and you get nothing?

Key Word:

rip-off: Something that is more expensive than it should be

参考译文：

课文二

如今你经常会听到“知识产权”这个词——通常是从产权者嘴里。这不是意外，所谓“知识产权”可是能够让人挣大钱的，所以无数人想使你确信：知识产权是必需的，而不是忽悠全球消费者的大噱头。他们最有可能告诉你，知识产权应该受到保护，否则“创新”无从谈起。可为什么搞出这样一种东西，也就是其他人都从里面挣钱，而你却什么也得不到？

Reading G

While this is a real problem that needs to be addressed, it’s also a limited way of looking at innovation. Innovation is a cooperative process,

a social process that builds upon the work of countless other people. It’s natural for people to innovate, and to work creatively together to find solutions to problems and challenges. Seen from this perspective, protecting IP slows down innovation, because people cannot use each other’s ideas, or even similar ideas, without paying a lot of money or risking a lawsuit.

参考译文：

虽然这是个亟待处理的问题，但它还是种对于创新的狭隘观点。创新是一个合作的过程，是一种建立在无数人努力之上的社会进程。人们很自然地会去创新，会去合作，会去创造性地解决问题。从这个角度看，保护知识产权会阻碍创新，因为人们无法利用各自的创意，甚至是相似的创意，否则就得支付一大笔钱或者面临起诉。

Reading H

If you want an example, look at the IT creativity that exists in the Asian region. It is probably safe to say that a lot of coder s and IT creators cut their teeth on at least some pirated software. Those people now have skills that are invaluable in the modern economy. What if they had been forced to pay the “market price” for legitimate products? They would have been priced out of learning and practising their skil ls. There’d be fewer people who could innovate in technology. We’d all be worse off —

except for the copyright holders!

Key Words:

coder: Someone who writes codes for computer programs

c ut one’s teeth (on something): To get your first experience in a particular job by doing something

参考译文：

如果要找个例子，那就看看亚洲在信息技术方面的创造力。可以说，许多程序员和工程师或多或少都使用过一些盗版软件，以此磨炼技术。这些人如今拥有的技术对现代经济社会是不可或缺的。假设他们不得不支付“市场价”来使用正版软件呢？他们肯定无力承受，从而失去学习的机会。那样的话，在技术领域能够创新的人就会更少。所有人的生活都将变得更糟糕——除了知识产权的拥有者！

Reading I

There’s a reason I’ve put “market price” in scare quotes. Here’s IP’s dirty little secret — IP is anti-free market. If you’ve ever read the finance pages of a newspaper, you’ll know that pro tectionist measures like import tariff s are considered bad for economies because they distort free market prices. But intellectual property rights distort free market prices as well, and by a lot more than things like tariffs do. Think about it:

if it is wrong to double market prices by imposing a tariff on a particular good, why is it acceptable to increase prices tenfold on the basis of an intellectual property right? It is well known that things like software and pharmaceuticals are many, many times more expensive when protected by IP rights than when subjected to competition in the free market. If it is good for the free market to determine prices — and economists say it is — then surely intellectual property rights in their current form must go.

Key Word:

tariff: a tax the government charges on goods that enter or leave their country

参考译文：

“市场价”被我打了引号是有原因的。知识产权有个肮脏的小秘密：知识产权不参与自由市场竞争。如果你读过报纸的财经版，你会知道像进口关税这样的保护主义政策对经济不利，因为他们破坏了自由市场价格。但是知识产权同样破坏自由市场价格，而且程度上要严重得多。想想看，如果对某样商品征收关税并使其市场价格提高一倍是不对的，那么为什么以知识产权的名义让价格变成十倍就被认可了呢？众所周知，当受到知识产权保护而不是任其在自由市场中竞争时，软件和药品这类产品的价格要高上许多倍。经济学家说让自由市场决

定价格大有益处，如果是这样，现行的知识产权保护制度必须改变。

Reading J

So next time you hear intellectual property rights justified in terms of innovation, try this little translation to get the real meaning: “In fact, I don’t mind less innovation, just so long as I can buy a new Porsche. Would you and your friends be kind enough to pay for it?”

参考译文：

所以下次你听到有人以创新的名义大谈知识产权时，转转脑子，你就会明白他的真实意图：“实际上，我才不管有没有创新，只要我能买新款保时捷就行了。你们能不能为我付钱？”

Reading-Understanding the Text

Part A: Comprehending the Text

Answer the following questions.

1.Texts 1 and 2 have no titles. To give Text 1 a title, tick the answer and then write your chosen title on the line provided at the beginning of Text1:

□Stealing in Southeast Asia

□Marketing Western Products in Southeast Asia

□√Copyright Abuse in Southeast Asia

□The Heavy Cost of Investing in Southeast Asia

Now do the same for Text 2.

□Making Ideas Available to All

□Innovation and Protection

□The Truth About Market Share

□√The Problems with Intellectual Property Rights

2. What kinds of arguments are presented in the two texts?

□balanced arguments

□objective arguments

□defensive arguments

□√one-sided arguments

3. Read the first text again quickly to decide what kind of organization it has.

□√problem > example of problem > example of problem > solution to problem

□cause > effect > cause > effect

□problem > comparison > contrast > solution to problem

□situation > explanation of situation > argument > argument

4. Now read the second text again quickly to decide what kind of organization it has.

□problem > example of problem > example of problem > solution

to problem

□cause > effect > cause > effect

□problem > comparison > contrast > solution to problem

□√situation > explanation of situation > argument > argument

5. Why is the author of the first text’s attitude to Southeast Asia so negative? Complete the sentence.

The author’s attitude is ver y negative, because some Asian countries insisted on receiving full details of imported production processes, which they could then use to copy and sell the products of these processes. 6. Why is the author of the second t ext’s attitude to intellectual property rights so negative? Complete the sentence.

The author’s attitude is negative b ecause protecting intellectual property slows down innovation.

Part B: Identifying Main Points

Each of the ten statements below contains information given in one of the sections in the text. Each section is marked with a letter. Identify the section from which the information is derived. More than one statement may refer to the same section.

□E1. International companies need to maintain copyright checks to safeguard their products.

□H2. Protecting IP could ensure that computer skills will become restricted to the privileged classes.

□B3. Forcing Western companies to share the details of their technology or product facilitated copyright piracy.

□H4. It is likely that many people working in IT have used pirated software.

□B5. Copyright laws help to protect a company’s investment in research and development.

□G6. Sharing ideas is important for innovation.

□B7. Copying blueprints and recipes illegally is the same as stealing tangible property.

□G8. Copyright laws may hinder innovation.

□I9. Copyright laws can have a negative effect on the economy.

□E10. There are always people who will try to exploit someone else’s research.

Part C: Selecting Best Choices

The paragraph on Page 19 has been taken from the text but includes ten blanks. You are required to select one word or expression for each blank from a list of words in the word bank provided. You may not use any of the words in the word bank more than once.

Word Bank

A) corporation

B) correct

C) counterfeit

D) facility

E) genuine F) important

G) incorrect

H) injected

I) innumerable

J) laboratory

K) product

L) proclaimed

M) respected

N) sole

O) theft

There are _____I____ examples of such copyright ____O_____ from the past. The American chemical _____A_____, Du Pont, for example, introduced into one Asian country its famous Londax _____K_____, which kills weeds in rice fields. The company had invested millions of dollars in the research and development of this product, and _____H_____ another US$25 million into opening a local production ______D______.

Word Bank

B) correct

C) counterfeit E) genuine F) important

G) incorrect

J) laboratory

L) proclaimed

M) respected

N) sole

Less than one year afterwards, however, very cheap bottles of a fake Londax were openly on sale. The ______N______ difference between

the _____C____ and ____F____ items —other than the price —was that the fake was called Rondex and came in a blue rather than green bottle. However, as it was so much cheaper than the original, it effectively destroyed Du Pont’s investment. It also made the company much less willing to invest in R&D (research and development) of new chemicals. The “recipe” for Londax should have been _____M_____ as the intellectual property of Du Pont. For another company to make unauthorized use of it was stealing, just as surely as if they had stolen Du Pont’s machines or any other physical property.

Developing Your Skills

Part A: Text Structures

We will now examine the organization of the two texts in a little more detail. The basic organization of the texts is given in the left-hand columns of the tables below and on Page 20. Your task is to complete the brief notes in the right-hand columns to illustrate the organizational points.

Text 1:

Text 2:

Part B: Identifying Contrasting Information

The two texts present arguments which contain a number of contrasting points. Read the table below and then find and read again particular parts of the texts in order to complete the empty cells of the table.