Logical Reasoning

PT124 · S1 · Q11 Pure science-research

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Pure science—research with no immediate commercial or technological application—is a public good.

Conclusion

Society’s that want to reap benefits of pure science should use public funds to support pure science research.

Evidence (since)

Pure science is a public good and requires lots of money, but doesn’t provide profits in the short term. Private corporations aren’t going to back science that doesn’t provide profits in the short term.

Evaluation

Because the claim they’re asking about is prefaced by Since, we know that it functions as support for the other half of that sentence. The other half of the sentence is the author’s main conclusion. So we’d call this a premise in support of the main conclusion.

Goal

Look for evidence / support / premise for the conclusion that is the final claim of the paragraph.

11.

The claim about private corporations serves which one of the following functions in the argument?

  1. It expresses the conclusion of

    Not Conclusion

    Any time you see a claim prefaced by F.A.B.S, “for, after all, because, since”, that claim is a premise that is supporting an adjacent idea. The conclusion is right after the claim we’re being asked about.

    6% picked this

  2. It explains what is meant

    Not Background

    This answer describes what lies between the two dashes.

    3% picked this

  3. It distracts attention from the

    Opposite

    It doesn’t distract from the point at issue. It is a premise directly supporting the point at issue.

    2% picked this

  4. Correct

    It supports the conclusion by

    Why this is right

    We know we like the first four words. Does it rule out an alternate way to achieve the same benefits? Sure – the benefits we’re talking about are what we derive from pure science. One way to fund pure science would be for private corporations to fund it, but since pure science isn’t immediately profitable, private corporations won’t fund it.

    Skill tested: Role · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    85% picked this

  5. It illustrates a case where

    Unmentioned

    The author doesn’t present any sad example where a society failed to take his recommendation that public funds support pure science.

    4% picked this

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