PrepTest 136, Section 4, Question 14
University president: Research institutions have an obligation to(29 more words not shown)
The principle stated by the(14 more words not shown)
- AA university denies(24 more words not shown)
- BA government agency(23 more words not shown)
- CA university funds(27 more words not shown)
- DA foundation decides(20 more words not shown)
- EA research institute(24 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Theoretical research can matter to everyday life even when the connection is not immediately obvious. The president's rule tells us to support it when it shows some promise of explaining the causes of practical problems that affect people's lives.
Notice how modest that requirement is: promise of useful insight, not a guaranteed cure or a finished solution. Also notice what the rule does not say. It does not forbid funding research without that practical connection. A university could support qualifying research and also support other work for other reasons.
What we’re looking for
So we want an example of promoting research because it has the specified promise. An answer about refusing to fund something will need a restriction this principle never gives us.
Working the answers
- A
The puzzle has no practical connection, so this rule does not establish an obligation to fund it. But absence of an obligation is not a reason to deny the application. The university might still support the work for its theoretical interest. A goes beyond the principle.
- B
The proposed research concerns limits on the size of distant planets. The answer supplies no connection to the causes of a practical problem affecting people's quality of life. That does not establish that astrophysics is useless; it means this particular description does not meet the stated condition.
- C
Managing grant applications could help a department function. But the described position is administrative, and we are not told that it promotes a particular investigation with the promised insight into a practical problem. The absence of teaching duties does not supply that missing connection.
- D
Again, the principle provides a reason to promote certain research, not a rule for refusing funding. Whether this economic model meets the practical-benefit condition or not, the stated principle does not justify rejecting it.
- ECorrect
The investigation is theoretical mathematics, but understanding folded structures is likely to help explain the structure of proteins that cause disease. That connects abstract research to a practical problem affecting quality of life. The project need not guarantee a cure: its promise of insight into disease-related proteins is enough to fit the rule.
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