Patents and lnventions
When an invention is made, the inventor has three possible courses of action open to him: first, he can give the invention to the world by publishing it; keep the idea secret or patent it. Secrecy obviously evaporates once the invention is sold or used, and there is always the risk that in the meantime another inventor, working quite independently will make and patent the same discovery.A、granted patent is the result of a bargain struck between an inventor and the state, whereby, in return for a limited period of monopoly (16 years in the UK), the inventor publishes full details of his invention to the publiC、
Once the monopoly period expires, all those details of the invention pass into the public domain.A、[■] Only in the most exceptional circumstances is the life-span of a patent extended to alter this normal process of events.B、[■] The longest extension ever granted was to Georges Valensi: his 1939 patent for color TV receiver circuitry was extended until 1971,C、[■]Because for most of the patent’s normal life there was no color TV to receive and thus no hope of reward for the invention.D、[■] George Valensi was more fortunate than most of other inventors.
Because a patent remains perpetually published after it has expired, the shelves of the library attached to theBritish Patent Office contain details of literally millions of ideas that are free for anyone to use and, if older than half a century, sometimes even re-patent. Indeed, patent experts often advise anyone wishing to avoid the high cost of conducting a search through live patents, that the one sure way of avoiding infringement of any other inventor’s rights is to plagiarize a dead patent. Likewise; because publication of an idea in any other form permanently invalidates future patents on that idea, it is traditionally safe to cull ideas from other areas Of print. Much modern technological advance is based on these presumptions of legal security.
Anyone closely involved in patents and inventions soon learns that most "new" ideas are, in fact, as old as the hills. It is their reduction to commercial practice, either through necessity, dedication or the availability of new technology, that makes news and money. The basic patents for the manufacture of margarine and the theory of magnetic recording date back to 1869 and 1886 respectively. Many of the original ideas behind television stem from the late 19th and early 20th century, well beforeBaird aroused public interest.Every stereo gramophone sold today owes its existence to the theory patented byBlumlein in 1931, and even the Volkswagen rear engine car was anticipated by a 1904 patent for a cart with the horse at the rear.
Such anticipations can have surprising significance. The German chemical giant,BASF, was recently refused a patent for the clever idea of pumping expanded plastics into a submerged ship and thereby floating it to the surface. The grounds of the refusal were that the GermanExaminer had once seen a WaltDisney cartoon in whichDonaldDuck had performed a similar trick on a sunken boat with table-tennis balls. If theBASF scheme proves successful in practice and enables valuable wrecks to be salvaged it is likely that WaltDisney will be credited as the inventor.
Even the apparently safe history of the telephone and gramophone contains some surprises. US legal case law details how anAmerican calledDrawbaugh had ideas for a telephone which anticipatedBell’s patents of 1875—1876 by five years, but it wasAlexander GrahamBell who made the system practical on a commercial level and was acknowledged and rewarded as inventor.
The future will produce many similar situations. Patents are daily being granted for ideas from inventors for schemes that cannot yet work—but that one day, following massive investment by industry, will become a reality. It is

LIFE、SUCCESSAN
D、SATISFACTION
1Life satisfaction, which can be defined as general happiness or well being, is related to several demographic and personal qualities. The factor of age is important because the elements that make up life satisfaction may differ from one age to the next. Income is more likely to predict life satisfaction among middle aged and older adults than among young adults. Health is a more significant predictor of happiness among older adults than among the young or the middle age
D、However, average levels of life satisfaction do not change significantly with age. Generally speaking, older adults are as satisfied with their lives as are younger or middle-aged adults.
2There is no single element that guarantees high life satisfaction for everyone who possesses it. Happiness seems to consist of many things that each person weighs differently, such as income, education, work, and relationships. However, certain factors are reliable predictors of life satisfaction. One such predictor is health, especially one’s perception of one’s own health rather than a doctor’s objective health assessment.Another predictor of life satisfaction is a feeling of being in charge of one’s own life and a sense of authority over one’s own decisions.Adults who feel that they have some choices and options are generally happier than those who feel that their lives are controlled by others or by fate or chance. For example, older adults who experience financial strain feel less life satisfaction mainly because the problem signals a loss of control over their lives.
3The largest predictor of life satisfaction appears to be the adequacy of social relationships, especially marriage and family relationships. The perceived quality rather than the quantity of social interactions is most strongly related to happiness. Satisfaction with one’s close personal relationships is more closely linked to overall life satisfaction than either demographic factors or satisfaction with other key aspects of adult life such as occupation. This is true even among highly educated men, who typically have a very high commitment to their work. The quality of social support available in one’s key relationships affects the ability to handle stress and life changes as well as one’s ongoing level of life satisfaction.
4Studies suggest that family background and early-adulthood resources are predictors of psychological health or success at midlife. People who age well are those who start out well. One study showed that the happiest and most successful middle-aged adults had grown up in warm, supportive, intellectually stimulating families. Well-adjusted or successful middle-aged adults began adulthood with more personal resources, including better psychological and physical health at college age. They also had been practical and well organized in college and had shown greater intellectual competence.
5However, no measure of early family environment or early-adult competence remained a significant predictor of psychological well being at the end of middle age. One study of men revealed that at the age of 65, there were no childhood or early-adulthood characteristics that distinguished between men who had turned out well and those who had not. However, what did predict success and well being at age 65 was the men’s health and adjustment at midlife. These results suggest that a successful adult life is not something preordained from childhood or early adulthood but rather something created out of the opportunities available over the course of one’s life. Late-life success is related more directly to midlife qualities or experiences. People who start out with certain advantages have a greater chance of experiencing further advantages; however, it is what one does with the experiences-both positive and negative-that determines long-term life satisfaction. The

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