Where is the support in Passage A for industry scientists having free access to research? I only see L21-5 as a potential candidate. Otherwise, much of the language in the passage is about university, not industry, scientists.
Also, are L36-7 from passage B sufficient to support choice D?
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- christine.defenbaugh
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Atticus Finch
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Re: Q19
Some excellent questions dandrew! I love that you are diligently backing up your answer with line references, and really pushing to the text to ensure that there is support.
For this inference overlap question, your thinking is spot on that we need line reference support from both passages to accept an answer. The question gives us no clues, so we're simply looking inferable from either passage independently.
You are absolutely correct that the first passage is primarily concerned with university scientists rather than industry ones. But let's consider what each passage did say about who had access to basic research conducted in universities in the past.
Passage A
line 6: in reference to the past "the role of research as a public good"
line 20-21: in contrast to the past "hiding knowledge useful to society or to their competitors"
line 23-24: in contrast to the past "a reduction in the free sharing of research methods and results"
Passage B
line 32: in reference to the past "The fruits of science were once considered primarily a public good, available to society as a whole"
line 36-37: in reference to the past "no individual was entitled to restrict access to [fruits of pure science]"
line 40: in reference to the past "what was previously seen as a public good"
line 41-42: biotech industry was able to "exploit[] the information that basic research has accumulated"
So, Passage B specifically refers to an instance of industry scientists having free access to the results of basic research (line 41-42), but both passages make clear that those results were considered a public good, available to all. And if they were available to everyone, they would have been available to industry scientists too! The answer (D) is completely supportable by these line references.
The Unsupported
(A) Neither passage says a thing about individual researchers moving from universities to biotech. Each passage only refers to biotech once (lines 22 and 44).
(B) This might seem tempting as a result of lines 56-58. But this suggests the possibility of bad patents, not necessarily invalid ones. Line 42 suggests that the biotech industry has exploited the results of basic research (i.e., used the results), not that they have attempted to patent them directly. Additionally, Passage A only mentions patents at all in line 29, as a vague reference.
(C) This also might be tempting as a result of lines 56-58. But while the author of Passage B would agree that the legal distinction is no longer clear cut, we have no support for the claim that patent authorities agree with that. (Perhaps each patent authority thinks the line is clear, but they all disagree with each other, resulting in ambiguity?) At any rate, Passage A never makes reference to any of this.
(E) Both passages indicate that the motivations behind university research have traditionally been for the public good, rather than the goals of private industry. Neither passage supports this inference - classic contradiction!
Keep being vigilant about hunting for line references to support your answers for every reading comprehension question, but be open to the idea that support may not appear in the exact wording you may anticipate.
Please let me know if this completely answers your question!
For this inference overlap question, your thinking is spot on that we need line reference support from both passages to accept an answer. The question gives us no clues, so we're simply looking inferable from either passage independently.
You are absolutely correct that the first passage is primarily concerned with university scientists rather than industry ones. But let's consider what each passage did say about who had access to basic research conducted in universities in the past.
Passage A
line 6: in reference to the past "the role of research as a public good"
line 20-21: in contrast to the past "hiding knowledge useful to society or to their competitors"
line 23-24: in contrast to the past "a reduction in the free sharing of research methods and results"
Passage B
line 32: in reference to the past "The fruits of science were once considered primarily a public good, available to society as a whole"
line 36-37: in reference to the past "no individual was entitled to restrict access to [fruits of pure science]"
line 40: in reference to the past "what was previously seen as a public good"
line 41-42: biotech industry was able to "exploit[] the information that basic research has accumulated"
So, Passage B specifically refers to an instance of industry scientists having free access to the results of basic research (line 41-42), but both passages make clear that those results were considered a public good, available to all. And if they were available to everyone, they would have been available to industry scientists too! The answer (D) is completely supportable by these line references.
The Unsupported
(A) Neither passage says a thing about individual researchers moving from universities to biotech. Each passage only refers to biotech once (lines 22 and 44).
(B) This might seem tempting as a result of lines 56-58. But this suggests the possibility of bad patents, not necessarily invalid ones. Line 42 suggests that the biotech industry has exploited the results of basic research (i.e., used the results), not that they have attempted to patent them directly. Additionally, Passage A only mentions patents at all in line 29, as a vague reference.
(C) This also might be tempting as a result of lines 56-58. But while the author of Passage B would agree that the legal distinction is no longer clear cut, we have no support for the claim that patent authorities agree with that. (Perhaps each patent authority thinks the line is clear, but they all disagree with each other, resulting in ambiguity?) At any rate, Passage A never makes reference to any of this.
(E) Both passages indicate that the motivations behind university research have traditionally been for the public good, rather than the goals of private industry. Neither passage supports this inference - classic contradiction!
Keep being vigilant about hunting for line references to support your answers for every reading comprehension question, but be open to the idea that support may not appear in the exact wording you may anticipate.
Please let me know if this completely answers your question!
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