LR Drill Set 10, Question 10
Funding for basic research in Nation N from(31 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(15 more words not shown)
- AIt often takes(22 more words not shown)
- BFunding for basic(15 more words not shown)
- COver the past(15 more words not shown)
- DThe number of(13 more words not shown)
- EWhile funding for(18 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Less funding, more prestigious awards. What's keeping those two trends from moving together?
We might expect reduced funding to make research harder, so the growing number of awards is surprising. But accept both facts: funding from public and private sources has declined, and awards for basic research have increased. We aren't allowed to solve the puzzle by pretending one of those trends didn't happen.
My first questions would be whether funding matters in the way we're assuming or whether the awards reflect something other than the current amount of research support. We need a connection that allows more awards despite less money. A specific explanation would be more useful than a general claim that scientists can sometimes do good work on a small budget.
What we’re looking for
The question asks us to resolve the apparent conflict. Look for a missing fact that lets us accept both trends at once. We don't have a precise explanation yet, so the useful preparation is to keep the two facts straight while testing the choices.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Important research may not be recognized until many years after it is done. Imagine work completed thirty years ago earning its major recognition now. The awards arrive during the period of declining funding even though the discoveries came from an earlier period.
That delay separates the timing of support for the research from the timing of the awards. Today's growing recognition can therefore reflect past work rather than showing that declining current funding somehow produces more prizewinning discoveries.
- B
This compares Nation N with other countries. The puzzle compares Nation N now with Nation N over the previous twenty years. It could remain the best-funded country per person while its own funding fell. That ranking doesn't explain why its award count moved upward during the decline.
- C
Larger teams don't automatically mean more awards. The answer doesn't say whether awards are counted separately for every collaborator, whether the work improves, or whether more projects are completed. It gives a change in team size without connecting that change to the rise in prestigious recognition despite lower funding.
- D
More countries receiving awards doesn't tell us why this country's award count increased. The distribution could widen while Nation N's awards increased, decreased, or stayed the same. We need an explanation of Nation N's two trends, not just a fact about how many other nations participate.
- E
The extra money goes to technological applications, while the awards in the puzzle are for basic research. We aren't told how funding applications would produce more awards for basic research. The answer names a different category of funding without supplying the needed link.
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