The pharmaceutical industry argues that because new drugs will not be developed unless heavy development costs can be recouped in later sales,the  current 20 years of protection provided by patents should be extended in the case of newly developed drugs. However, in other industries new-product development continues despite high development costs, a fact that indicates that the extension is unnecessary.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the pharmaceutical industry's argument against the challenge made above?

(A)     No industries other than the pharmaceutical industry have asked for an extension of the 20-year limit on patent protection.

(B)     Clinical trials of new drugs, which occur after the patent is granted and before the new drug can be marketed, often now take as long as 10 years to complete.

(C)     There are several industries in which the ratio of research and development costs to revenues is higher than it is in the pharmaceutical industry.

(D)     An existing patent for a drug does not legally prevent pharmaceutical companies from bringing to market alternative drugs, provided they are sufficiently dissimilar to the patented drug.

(E)     Much recent industrial innovation has occurred in products-for example, in the computer and electronics industries-for which patent protection is often very ineffective.

这个题看不大明白,有人可以帮忙翻译以下吗？谢谢！

The pharmaceutical industry argues that because new drugs will not be developed unless heavy development costs can be recouped in later sales,the  current 20 years of protection provided by patents should be extended in the case of newly developed drugs. However, in other industries new-product development continues despite high development costs, a fact that indicates that the extension is unnecessary.

制药业呼吁：由于新药将不会被研发出来，除非研发经费可以用接下来的药的销售来弥补；所以对于新近研发的药，现在专利权的20年保护期应该适当地延长。但是，在其它行业新产品的研发都在继续，尽管它们也需要高昂的研发费用，所以事实证明，这个（保护期的）延长是不必要的。

从逻辑关系方面说两句

制药行业要求延长新药专利保护期，因为20年不足以弥补新药开发的费用。

但是，其他行业新产品20年专利保护期足够弥补开发费用，所以制药行业的要求没有必要。

题干中认为：

如果新药的高额研发成本不能在将来的新药销售收入被补偿，新药就不会被研制出来，所以制药行业要求对新药延长目前20年的专利保护期。但是，其它行业中，尽管也有高额研发成本，新产品会持续不断地开发出来，这个事实说明，延长（保护期）是不必要的。

（题干中用制药行业和其它行业做对比，指出其它行业新产品的高额研发成本会在20年的专利保护期内得到补偿，那么制药行业也不例外。这就含有：专利保护期与新产品研发成本存在关系。）

答案B：

在新药获得专利之后，能够上市销售之前，存在一个长达10年的临床试验期。

（答案B指出了制药行业的特殊事实，这个事实，使得制药行业获得新产品收入的时间比其它行业推迟了10年。这就支持了题干中延长专利保护期的观点，反驳了延长是不必要的这个观点。）

谢谢,我觉得你说的很清楚,但我还不是特别明白,可能缺乏点基本常识,我想问一下,专利保护期和旧药的销售有什么关系?

这道题你不必具有基本常识，完全可以从题目中获得足够的信息来解题。

可能是题目中的信息与你的常识不符，导致你理解困难。

我理解的专利保护期和旧药销售的关系是：研制药品的高额费用，是生产药品的成本，药品销售获得收入来收回成本并获的利润。但是药品（或者其它新产品）需要专利来保护，否则将会有仿制品投入市场销售，而影响发明新药（新产品）的厂家获得收入。专利保护期中，厂家获得对药品生产、销售的独有权，也就是消除了竞争者，从而保证获得收入。