I. Choose any five abbreviations from the following list and for each, briefly describe (in English) what you know about the organization or agreement. (4 points each)
1. TPP
2.RCEP
3.IEA
4OECD
- OPED
- NAFTA
- IMF
II. Translate the following passage into Chinese. (30 points)
Korean researcher Hwang Woo-suk electrified the science world 10 years ago with his claim that he had created the world’s first cloned human embryos and had extracted stem cells from them. But the work was later found to be fraudulent, and Dr. Hwang was fired from his university and convicted of crimes.
Despite all that, Dr. Hwang has just been awarded an American patent covering the disputed work, leaving some scientists dumbfounded and providing fodder to critics who say the Patent Office is too lax.
“Shocked, that’s all I can say,” said Shoukhrat Mitalipov, a professor at Oregon Health and Science University who appears to have actually accomplished what Dr. Hwang claims to have done. “I thought somebody was kidding, but I guess they were not.”
Daniel B. Ravicher, executive director of the Public Patent Foundation, which challenges patents it believes are invalid and obstruct innovation, said the issuance of the patent to Dr. Hwang was more evidence that the Patent Office “is a rubber-stamp, fee-motivated government agency.”
But a spokesman for the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and some outside patent lawyers, said the system operates on an honor code and that patent examiners cannot independently verify claims.
The patent is “definitely not an assertion by the U.S. government that everything he is claiming is accurate,” the U.S.P.T.O. spokesman, Patrick Ross, said of Dr. Hwang. He said the agency was aware of Dr. Hwang’s history and took steps to make sure the claimed invention complied with patent statutes.
III.
Recently the Ministry of Education’s proposal for the high-school history curriculum sparks huge controversies in our society. According to Taipei Times’ reporting, some people support the “adjustments” which “justify” history more in line with the Republic of China Constitution, and so could teach history from the ROC’s point of view rather than a “Taiwanese independence viewpoint”; while other people oppose the curriculum “changes” which lead to radical pro-unification ideologies by officially adding the word of “mainland” in reference to China in Chinese language and history textbooks, and “de-Taiwanification” by rephrasing the 50-year period of Japanese rule in Taiwan.
Please write an argument article on this issue, with the range from 300-400 words, in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the above mentioned statements and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statements might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position. Grading will be based on your writing quality, structure, logics and reasoning. (50 points)