PrepTest 151

Incorrect. Both C and D agree that innovation should be rewarded, they just disagree over how many drugs show true innovation.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Point at Issue

Stimulus Summary:
D: Patents reward companies for expensive R&D and innovation, so Big Pharma should keep getting patents.

C: Tweaking existing drugs is cheap, so Big Pharma focuses on those drugs. They're not truly innovative, so they shouldn't receive patent protection.

Answer Anticipation:
Both speak about whether drugs should be patentable. It's important to note here that they agree some drugs should be patentable—the truly innovative. However, they disagree on other drugs—D thinks all new drugs should get patents, whereas C believes just truly innovative ones deserve that protection.

Answer Explanation:
D believes they should; C believes only some should. This is the point at issue, so it's the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
In Point at Issue questions, note when the second speaker implicitly agrees with a part of the initial speaker's argument. Here, C agrees with D's argument as it applies to certain drugs, but not others.

Incorrect. D agrees with this. C probably does, although she only says that the "minor tweak" drugs are less expensive.

Incorrect. If anything, they both agree this is true, since both agree that selling pharmaceutical drugs can be lucrative.

Incorrect. D explicitly agrees with this. C implies she does by using patents as a way to spur true innovation.