［A］ They are pre-university students.

［B］ They must win science competitions in their home countries.

［C］ They must patent or be about to patent an invention.

［D］ They are chosen from young people who take part in science competitions.

22. Which of these is NOT mentioned as an advantage of Abdulrasool’s device?

［A］ It enables blind people to get from A to B faster.

［B］ It helps them avoid obstacles.

［C］ It gives information to blind people in more than one way.

［D］ It is extremely light.

23. How are Abdulrasool’s invention and those of Michael Nyberg and Tiffany Clark similar?

［A］ Their inventions all have organic components.

［B］ They all won the Intel ISEF competition, though in different years.

［C］ They all have, or could have, profitable applications.

［D］ None of them have patents yet.

24. How does Tiffany Clark’s idea work?

［A］ She feeds underground bacteria and they produce natural gas.

［B］ Bacteria eat coal and produce natural gas.

［C］ Bacteria are injected with coal molecules and produce natural gas.

［D］ Bacteria extract natural gas from coal and are then harvested.

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

［A］ It began in the 1960’s.

［B］ The biggest prize this year was $3 million.

［C］ There are 15 prizes in a variety of categories.

［D］ Many participants have patented ideas and inventions.

Text 2

Ten years ago, Pierre Omidyar, a software engineer working in California’s 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’s 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’t 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.