Reading Comprehension

PT124 · S4 · P3 · Q15 Research Commercialization

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The passages discuss relationships between business interests and university research

Passage A

Central Topic - researchers at universities sharing research vs. hiding it (to profit from) Purpose - Old vs. New Main Point- It used to be that discoveries made at universities were eagerly shared with the rest of the scientific community, but increasingly market forces are creating situations where these discoveries are buried, patented, and profited off of.

Passage B

Central Topic- the fruits of science: public goods or private commodities? Purpose - Old vs. New Main Point - It used to be that scientific discoveries were treated as public goods that couldn't and shouldn't be patented, but scientific discoveries in the "information economy" have gotten so lucrative and exploitable that the lines are blurrier.

Other Commentary

Since the passages have very similar topics and purposes, we might ask ourselves, "How were they different?"

It seems like Passage A had a slightly narrower scope targeted at universities, and it had a more discernibly negative tone about this new trend.

15.

Which one of the following is discussed in passage B but not in passage A?

  1. Correct

    the blurring of the legal

    Why this is right

    This is in B, in the 3rd paragraph. Passage A, meanwhile, never uses the term "invention" or talks about the legal distinction between "discovery and invention".

    Skill tested: Locate Detail · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

    86% picked this

  2. the general effects of the

    Fails A

    The first passage also conveys that the general effect of the market has been to tilt researchers more and more towards hiding and capitalizing on their discoveries.

    3% picked this

  3. the role of scientific research

    Fails A

    In Passage A, in the 3rd paragraph, it mentions that this knowledge gained through scientific research could be "useful to society", and later that we get "the benefits of new drugs and therapies".

    1% picked this

  4. new pharmaceuticals that result from

    Fails A

    The end of the 3rd paragraph of passage A talks about "new drugs and therapies".

    8% picked this

  5. industry's practice of restricting access

    Fails A

    Passage A covers this in the 3rd paragraph (and obliquely elsewhere), "hiding knowledge" / "reduction in the free sharing of research methods and results"

    2% picked this

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