Reading comp PrepTest 124 · Section 4 · Question 18

Passage

The passages discuss relationships between business interests and university research . Questions 15-19 Passage A  .        As university researchers Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Social Science


Passage A

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Author identifies herself; discusses tradition; contrasts with recent trend
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Author - First-person - Researcher at university
    • Tradition - University researchers share ideas, which are public good
    • New trend - Commodify research ($$$)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Comparing Universities and Market - New ideas
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • University - Uniquely suited to new ideas
    • Market - Quick returns and risk aversion = not equipped for new ideas or replacing disproven theories

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Downside to market - Burying discoveries
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Entrepreneurs - Not interested in intellectual adventures - Bury discoveries if it makes them money
    • Consequence/Example - New drugs, but less sharing of methods/results (Biotech)

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Wrap-up
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Author worries about future of science

Passage B

Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Prior view (“were once”)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Scientific discoveries a public good because funded by government grants to universities

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • New view; example; consequence
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • New view - Scientific discoveries are marketable good
    • Example - Cells/genes used to make money (Biotech)
    • Consequence - Legal claims to intellectual property are important

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Blurring of lines between previously distinguished things
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Distinction - Discovery (no patent) vs. Invention (patent)
    • Now, legal and moral lines blurred

Paragraph 4

  • Paragraph note
    • Industry’s argument
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, points of intersection, and the author's attitude
    • Industry - If we fund it, we should be able to make money on it

Main Points:

Passage A - University research has shifted from a collegial environment to a market-driven one, which is ill-suited to new ideas and academic adventure, threatening the future of scientific research.

Passage B - The shift of scientific discoveries from public good to market commodity has blurred the line between what is/should be and isn’t/shouldn’t be patented, with Industry arguing that their investments should pay off.

Key Lines?

Passage A:

  • Lines 1-6 - The traditional situation, and a recent trend that is threatening
  • Lines 7-12 - A difference between universities and markets
  • Lines 21-23 - A downside of the recent trend
  • Lines 29-31 - The Author outlines her fears

Passage B:

  • Lines 32-33 - The old view
  • Lines 38-41 - The new view
  • Line 41 - An example is introduced
  • Lines 45-48 - Consequence of new view
  • Lines 55-58 - A previous distinction now has its lines blurred
  • Lines 59-62 - Industry makes an argument

Meta-Structure? Relationship Between Passages?

Both passages discuss scientific research in universities, and how discoveries are treated - either as a public good or a private commodity. However, there’s a big difference in the opinions stated in the two passages. Passage A is written by a researcher who feels the trend towards treating these discoveries as market-based commodities is worrisome, while the Author of Passage B doesn’t really stake out an argument or position - the only viewpoint presented there is that of Industry.

Last Thoughts?

There’s such an extreme difference between the two passages in opinion, with the Author from Passage A staking out such a strong view on the situation while the Author of Passage B remains largely neutral. It’s striking, and it should influence how we approach questions about the two. Let’s be sure that the very different opinions (and the strengths of those opinions) is a top consideration when we’re looking at answer choices.

Question prompt

It can be inferred Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: C

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Social Science

Strategy Overview

Review the main points of each passage to see what they say is the cause of the constraint on access to scientific information

Answer Anticipation

Both passages’s main points - and Question #16, as well - focused on the answer to this question. They both established that the switch from treating research products as a public good to a market commodity has resulted in scientific information being more limited.In Passage A, the market is cited as not dealing well with new ideas (Paragraph 2), causing inventions to be buried and results to be kept secret (Paragraph 3), and causing scientists to go to patent lawyers instead of other scientists after making a discovery (Paragraph 4).In Passage B, the market is cited as driving a shift towards legal claims of intellectual property and blurring the legal and moral distinctions between discoveries and patentable inventions.So both passages cite the market as the cause of increased constraints on scientific information - let’s find an answer saying as much.

Answer choices

  1. A
    the enormous increase in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) (Lines 53-54) Passage B discusses the speed with which scientific discoveries can be turned into products/profit, but it doesn’t cite an enormous increase in volume as a causal force in the increasingly limited access to it. And Passage A doesn’t bring up anything similar to this.

  2. B
    the desire of individual Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Neither passage talks about credit for discoveries. The closest either passage gets is Passage A’s discussion of rushing down the hall to share the excitement of a discovery with colleagues (Lines 26-28).

  3. C
    the striving of commercial Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem

    (C) (Line 20-21; Lines 45-48; Lines 59-64) Passage A discusses that entrepreneurs bury research/products from their competition. Passage B discusses asserting legal claims to underlying scientific knowledge and keeping inventions/discoveries for their own use. In both cases, the market forces and the desire to make profits is driving businesses to restrict access to scientific information, making this the correct answer.

  4. D
    moral reservations about the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) (Lines 58-59) The Author of Passage A doesn’t discuss morality (other than maybe the implied immorality of restricting access to scientific discoveries, not the impact of the research), and the Author of Passage B discusses only the moral distinction between what should and shouldn’t be patented, by which it means what is a discovery and what an invention.

  5. E
    a drastic reduction in Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) (Lines 34-36) Passage B brings up the government’s role in funding research at universities, but it doesn’t say that this funding has been reduced. And Passage A doesn’t bring the topic up at all.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 5%
  2. B 6%
  3. C Credited 85%
  4. D 2%
  5. E 2%

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