Unit 1

Funding for Scientific Research

Sources of funding for scientific research

governments science foundations private-sector industries universities through professorships

Useful expressions: come from … be supported by …

我们的新产品的许多想法来自于研发部门。 Many ideas of our new products come from o

ur R&D department. 一些大学受到来自中国科学院的经济上的支持。 Some universities and academic institutions

are supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

NSF

NSF is the short form of “National Science Foundation” （美国国家科学基金会）

NSF is an independent federal agency. NSF develops a national science policy and

supports scientific research and education.

well-known foundations

the National Science Foundation the American Cancer Society the National Heart Association

1. substantial: very large a substantial breakfast 丰盛的早餐 a substantial victory 巨大的胜利

2. involve All the children were involved in the school play. 所有的孩子都参加了学校排练的剧。 This lesson involves a lot of work. 这一课需要做的工作有很多。

3. It is the federal government that sponsors most national defense and space exploration projects.

Businesses use quality assurance to make sure that their products look good and work well.

--It is quality assurance that businesses use to make sure that their products look good and work well.

Our teacher did a review of last week’s lesson before we took the test.

--It was before we took the test that our teacher did a review of last week’s lesson.

4. In 1950, the U.S. Congress passed an act that established the National Science Foundation.

In 1950, the U.S. Congress passed an act. The act established the National Science

Foundation.

5. Two other well-known foundations that are involved in disease research are the American Cancer Society and the National Heart Association.

Two other well-known foundations (that are involved in disease research) are the American Cancer Society and the National Heart Association.

The foundations are involved in disease research.

6. conduct scientific research conduct good deeds 做好事 conduct both domestic and foreign affairs 搞国内

外事务 conduct an experiment 做实验 The chairperson conducted the hearing. 主席先生

主持了这个听证会 My aunt conducts her business very successfully.

我的婶婶把企业经营得很成功。

7. the applied sciences 应用科学 apply … to…: 把 ... 用于 ... apply a theory to practice 把理论应用于实践 The principle of diligence and frugality applies to al

l undertakings. 勤俭节约的原则适用于一切事业。 We must apply our energies to finding a solution. 我们必须全力想出一个解决的办法。

8. Research is also conducted and supported by private-sector industries that employ scientists – especially from the applied sciences – who work in the development of industrial or commercial processes and products.

--Research is also conducted and supported by private-sector industries.

--The industries employ scientists. --The scientists are from the applied sciences. --They work in the development of industrial or

commercial processes and products.

industrial or commercial process 工业或商业活动 a manufacturing process 生产过程 the process of breathing 呼吸作用

the process of learning to read 学习阅读的步骤 The firm is now in the process of moving the mai

n equipment to a new place. 公司目前正在把主要设备迁到新地址去。 Building a car is a long process. 制造一辆小汽车有很长的工序。

9. Scientists whose research findings are published and talked about in scientific circles bring prestige to the institution where they work.

--Scientists bring prestige to the institution where they work.

--Their research findings are published and talked about in scientific circles.

in scientific circles 科学领域 在艺术圈里闻名 be well-known in artistic circle

s 学术界 academic circles 文化界 cultural circles 军界 military circles 政界 political circles 外交界 diplomatic circles

Unit 1 Research and Development

Lesson 2

Vocabulary for listening

R&D activity 科研活动 indicator 指标 measure 衡量，测量 budget 预算 , 专款 available 可用的 be available to … establishment 公司 take into account 考虑

Vocabulary for listening

patent 专利 file 申请

Our institute has already had 3 patents filed so far this year.

frequency 频率，次数 publication 出版物 organization 组织；机构 revenue 收入

Vocabulary for listening

R&D intensity 科研密集度 ratio 比率 regularly 经常性地 update 更新 reflect 反映 gamble (on sth.)

to take a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit 压赌注 , 投机 , 冒险

Listening for information

First listening Task 1: Listen to the following conversation

and try to figure out the main topic discussed in it. Pay special attention to words that are frequently repeated.

Listening for information Second Listening Task 2: Listen to the conversation again. Read t

he following sentences and decide whether they are True or False.

a. The larger the budget, the higher the level of R&D activity.

b. R&D intensity refers to the total amount of money spent on R&D.

c. R&D intensity information changes over time. d. A high number of publications reflects a high l

evel of R&D activity. e. R&D intensity information is confidential( 机密

的 ).

Task 3: Complete the following notes according to the conversation.

Indicators of R&D activity a. ___________________________ b. ___________________________ c. ___________________________ d. ___________________________

Task 4: Listen to the conversation again and fill in the missing information according to what you have heard.

Interviewer: How is R&D activity measured and compared?

Expert: Well, there are various measures. Some analysts (1) compare the budgets – both from government and from the private sector – that are available to (2) R&D establishments

Interviewer: So, the larger the budget, the higher the level of R&D activity.

Expert: Right. Others take into account the number of new patents that are filed and (3) obtained by a company over a given time period. A third indicator that is sometimes used is the number and the frequency of (4) publications– especially peer-reviewed publications – that are produced by a (5) research organization.

Interviewer: What, in your opinion, is the best (6) measure of R&D activity? Expert: Well, to my mind, perhaps the best indicator is the (7) percentage of revenues that a company spends on R&D 8 each year. This is sometimes referred to as R&D intensity.

Interviewer: Why is this a good indicator of (9) R&D activity?

Expert: Well, there are three reasons. Firstly this ratio – the percentage of revenue that is spent on R&D – is information that is regularly updated, secondly, this information is available to the public and thirdly it reflects (10) business risk.

Interviewer: Risk? Expert: Yes. The extent to which a compan

y is prepared to “gamble” on the future success of the products it is developing.

Keys to Task 1-3

Task 1 Indicators / measures of R&D activity

Task 2 T F T T F Task 3

The budgets (the number of) patents that are filed (the number and frequency of) publications percentage of revenues

keys to Task 4 1 compare 2 R&D establishments 3 obtained 4 publications 5 research organization 6 measure 7 percentage 8 each year 9 R&D activity 10 business risk

Useful expressions

Expressing one’s opinion In my opinion, … To my mind, …

Expressions indicating listing Some … / Others … A third …/ The best …

Expressions indicating definition be referred to as …

Review of Part I

Translate the following into English 方法 , 措施 / 分析师 / 私营企业 / 研发活动

/ 申报专利 / 出版物 / 研发机构 / 收入 measure / analyst / private sector / research

and development activities /file a patent / publications / R&D establishments / revenue

Text B R&D Expenditure

Task 1: You are going to hear a conversation about R&D expenditure. Fill in the following chart with information you hear from the conversation.

Text B R&D Expenditure

Annual R&D expenditure as a percentage of revenue 1. a typical U.S. industrial company3.5 %

(approx) of revenue 2. a high-tech company, e.g. a computer

manufacturer____% of revenue

Text B R&D Expenditure

3. U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck & Co____% of revenue

4. Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis____% of revenue

5. Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson____% of revenue

6. U.S. pharmaceutical company Allergan (highest spender)____% of revenue

Keys to Text B

1 3.5% 2 7% 3 14% 4 15% 5 25% 6 43%

Review of Lesson 2

What is R&D intensity ? The percentage of revenues that a company

spends on R&D each year. the ratio of expenditures by a firm on research

and development to the firm's sales. Equation:

R&D intensity = expenditures on R&D / sales

Reading

The big spenders in R&D tend to produce certain types of product – things like R&D-intensive scientific instruments, medicines, high-tech weapons systems, navigation and safety devices for aircraft, etc. whereas, typically, a manufacturing company might make a profit of 40% on its sales, the profits of these profitable companies can range from 60% to as high as 90%. In other words, manufacturing

Reading

costs represent only 10% of the price that the customer pays for the product – the remaining 90% being profit. One might ask how these companies can justify figures like these. The explanation lies in the fact that, for them, R&D carries a high risk of failure. A large part of the time and money that they invest in R&D does not create any profit at all. So the high profits of a handful successful products serve to offset the cost of numerous unprofitable projects.

After-class activities

Task: In pairs or small groups, look for information on one or more of the topics in the box below and prepare an oral report.

1. Find the ten universities who have the biggest R&D expenditure in China.

2. Find the spending on R&D as a percentage of revenue in a well-known company in China.

3. Find the largest recipients of funding for research in China.

4. Find the process by which inventions and innovations are patented in China.

Unit 1 Research and Development

Lesson 4 Working out a logical sequence

I. Knowledge about CPM

Task 1 Read over the text quickly and find the information related to scientific research.

1. What does “CPM” stand for? It stands for “Critical Path Method” 2. What is the “Critical” Path? The “Critical” Path is the one that ___. It is the ____

path. (requires the most time ) (longest)

I. Knowledge about CPM

3. How can CPM help in R&D projects? CPM can help us determine ________ and

establish a ____ for a project. (the minimum time) / (timescale) It makes it possible to ____ more efficiently. (allocate resources) It is great aid to ____ and ____. (planning and control)

Vocabulary

sequence 顺序 simultaneously 同时 minimum 最少，最小 diagram 图表 timescale 时间量程 slack time 闲置时间 allocate 分配，分派 keep … on schedule 使……按时间表完成

Vocabulary postpone 延误、推迟 delay 推迟 equipment 设备 complex 复杂的 time-consuming 耗时的 decide on 决定 planning and control 计划与控制 computer program 电脑程序 calculation 计算

Do Task 2 and Task 3

Collocation 1. work out _______a. resources (e) 2. construct ____ b. a timescale for a project (f) 3. add up _______ c. a delay (d) 4. establish _______ d. the total number of weeks

(b) 5. allocate_______ e. a logical sequence (a) 6. cause_______ f. a diagram (c) 7. complete_______ g. calculations (h) 8. do_______ h. a project (g)

Text

Interviewer: How do you plan a research and development project?

R&D expert: We often use a system called the Critical Path Method or CPM.

Interviewer: How does that work? R&D expert: Well,

all projects are broken down into steps and sequences. Certain steps have to be completed before we can

move on to the next one, while other steps can be done simultaneously. So we work out a logical sequence. Using the Critical Path Method, we can determine the minimum time we are going to need to complete the whole project.

Interviewer: So how does it work? R&D expert: Well, we construct a diagram

like this one here to show each step in the process and how long it will take to complete. For example, Step A will take two weeks, Step B one week, etc. Then we add up the total number of weeks of work to be completed. Once Step A is finished, we can start on Steps B, C, and D all at the same time, though, as you can see, Step C will take longer to finish. We can determine

the earliest completion date for Project X by looking at all the possible paths through the diagram and finding the one that requires the most time. In this case, the longest path, that is, the “critical” path will take a total of ten weeks minimum from start to finish.

Interviewer: I see. So the Critical Path Method helps you to establish a timescale for a project.

R&D expert: That’s right. But a CPM diagram like this also gives us other useful information. For example, in Project X the earliest time we can begin Step H is eight weeks after the start, that is, once Steps A, C, and F have been finished. As we can see, Step B only needs one week and so it does not need to be started immediately in order to be finished on time. In other words, Step B has a couple of weeks of “slack time”.

Interviewer: And how is this information useful?

R&D expert: It’s useful because it allows us to allocate our resources more efficiently. We can keep the critical steps on schedule and, if necessary, postpone some of the slack steps without causing a delay to the whole project.

Interviewer: That way, the same people can work on different steps in the process.

R&D expert: Exactly, or the same equipment can be used for two different steps, for example. Of course, this diagram here is a very simple example just to give you an idea. In actual projects the relationships between the different parts are often very complex and a CPM diagram might cover a whole wall of my office!

Interviewer: But isn’t it very time-consuming deciding on the sequence of the different tasks, estimating the time needed for each one, and drawing the diagrams?

R&D expert: Yes, it is time-consuming but we find that it is great aid to planning and control. Of course, the job has been made a lot easier in recent years by special computer programs that can do critical path and slack calculations for us.

并列结构 1 … to show each step in the process and how long

it will take to complete. 2 We can determine the earliest completion date for

Project X by looking at all the possible paths through the diagram and finding the one that requires the most time.

3 But isn’t it very time-consuming deciding on the sequence of the different tasks, estimating the time needed for each one, and drawing the diagrams?

4 … that can do critical path and slack calculations for us.

Review

1 筹划研发项目 plan a research and development project 2 一个叫做 CPM 的系统 a system called CPM 3 最少的时间 the minimum time 4 绘制图表 construct a diagram

Review

5 总的周数 the total number of weeks 6 最早完成日期 the earliest completion date 7 从开始到结束 from start to finish 8 创建时间量程 /创建时间表 establish a timescale

Review 9 分配资源 allocate our resources 10 使…按计划进行 keep … on schedule 11 估计所需时间 Estimate the time needed 12 计划与控制 planning and control 13 进行计算 do calculations

… called / named…

1 a system called CPM 一个叫做吉姆的男孩 a boy named / called Jim 一个被称为…的旅游城市 a tourism city named … 一个叫做…的电脑游戏 a computer game called …

break down into

all projects are broken down into steps and sequences 所有的项目被拆成各步骤和序列 .

所有的学生被拆成多个讨论小组 . All the students are broken down into discussion gr

oups. 这项任务被分成若干个小任务安排给各工作小组完成 . This task is broken down into several small tasks an

d assigned to different working groups.

move on to

move on to: to begin action on sth. new Let’s move on to the next part.

add

The bad weather only added to our difficulties. We add a few more students to the class. Add up all the money I owe you. These numbers add up to 100. These clues don’t really add up to very much. 这些线索没有什么实际意义．

add

Translate the following sentences into English. 他的病增加了家庭的困境． 请把这些数字加起来． 他的想法没有什么重要意义． His illness added to the family’s troubles. Please add up these numbers. His ideas didn’t add up to anything important.

cover

cover the table with a cloth 在桌上铺上桌布 He laughed to cover his nervousness. （掩盖） Is that word covered in the dictionary? （包括 inclu

de ） Her lectures covered the subject thoroughly. 她的演讲对这个问题阐述得很透彻．（包括） 这项研究涉及好几个技术领域． The research covers a couple of technical fields.

aid

They aided in solving the problem. (vi.) A Dictionary is an important aid in learning　 English. (n.)　在…中起到帮助作用

His father’s friend provided financial aid to his company and helped him out. (n.)　对…的帮助

Arranging for a meeting A. Decide on persons to be invited. B. Collect contact information and send invitation

letters / cards. C. Collect the replies from people being invited and

make sure about the number of people who will attend the meeting

D. Make reservations of meeting room. E. Make reservations of hotel rooms, restaurants. F. Buy some gifts for those who attend the meeting. G. Arrange for the return plane / train.

Unit 1

Lesson 5

Vocabulary

generate 产生 competitor竞争者 focus group核心群体 trade show 商业展 brainstorm头脑风暴 (to engage in or organize

shared problem solving) attribute listing属性列表 virtual prototyping虚拟原型

Vocabulary

unsound不合理的 concept观念，概念 target market 目标市场 benefit from 从……中受益 feasible 可行的 manufacture 生产、制造 profitable 产生利润的

Vocabulary

test检测 sample样本 prospective 预期的 make commitments 投入 regarding 有关 phase阶段 essential关键的

Listening 1 Task 1 Listen to someone from an R&D department

and fill in the missing information according to what you hear.

Interviewer: How do you develop a new product? Expert: Well, first of all, of course, we need an idea. Interviewer: Where do ideas comes from? Expert: Well, from many sources. Obviously, many

ideas come from our own ____. But we also get ideas from other ____ in the company, from our ____, from our _____, from ____,

Listening 1 from visiting ____ … it varies. And we also use more

formal idea-generating techniques, things like ____, attribute listing, virtual prototyping, etc.

Interviewer: Okay, so you’ve got an idea. Now what? Expert: Well, then we ____ the ideas and get rid of any

____ concepts. We ask ourselves key questions about the ideas. We ask if the target market will ____ from a product, if it is technically feasible to manufacture it, and if it will be ____. Sometimes, we test our ideas by asking sample of prospective customers what they think of it.

Keys to Task 1 (1) R&D department (2) employees (3) customers (4) competitors (5) focus groups (6) trade shows (7) like brainstorming (8) screen (9) unsound (10) benefit (11) profitable

Listening 1

1. discard ideas that are no good

2. improper or faulty concepts

3. fundamental questions 4. something that can be

done 5. likely to become

____ ideas

____ concepts

____ questions

something that is ____

____

Task 2: Find the corresponding words or phrases from the text with the meaning given below.

Task 2

1. discard ideas that are no good

2. improper or faulty concepts

3. fundamental questions 4. something that can be

done 5. likely to become

____ ideas (screen)

____ concepts (unsound)

____ questions (key)

something that is ____(technically feasible)

____ (prospective)

Find the corresponding words or phrases from the text with the meaning given below.

Listening 2

Task 3: Listen to another dialogue between an interviewer and an expert and fill in the missing information.

We call this whole “getting started” period the “ ____ front end.” It’s usually not a very ____ part of the process but it can take up to 50% of total development ____. This is where we decide on a clear, ____ concept and make ____ commitments regarding time, _____, and how the ____ will be.

Listening 2

Some people consider this phase as something that happens __ development. But I prefer to think of it as an ____ part of development and I include the time that we need for this as part of the ____ development cycle time.

Keys to Task 3 (1) fuzzy (2) expensive (3) time (4) sound (5) serious (6) money (7) product (8) before (9) essential (10) total

Supplementary Reading

R&D planning consists of choosing projects that will use available human and financial resources in the most efficient and profitable way. Managers have to make sure that the total effort needed to carry out an R&D project is neither greater nor significantly less than the resources that they have available. If it is greater they will not be able to reach established targets. If it is significantly less they will not be working to their fullest capacity.

Supplementary Reading

So, managers have to be sure that the demands on their capacity and their resources are enough to keep them fully loaded but not overloaded. To maintain a balanced situation there needs to be a steady flow of new R&D proposals. Each proposal must be studied by experts in technical, commercial, financial, and manufacturing areas. And R&D managers have an important role to play in proposing new projects as well as in carrying them out.