PrepTest 139, Section 3, Question 16
Passage A is from a 2007 article on(491 more words not shown)
Passage A(300 more words not shown)
Passage B(199 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- Athe amassing of(4 more words not shown)
- Bthe cost of(8 more words not shown)
- Cthe negative effect(5 more words not shown)
- Dthe high cost(5 more words not shown)
- Ethe dubious nature(4 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Both discuss patent stockpiles and the problems they create. A adds a distinct obstacle near its end: a developer may be unable even to find every relevant patent because the search is prohibitively expensive. B discusses the cost of litigation instead.
What we’re looking for
The answer must be in A and absent from B. Merely finding a topic in A will not finish the comparison.
Working the answers
- A
Both discuss amassing patents. B describes large companies' portfolios and then announces that the company will build one of its own.
- BCorrect
A expressly describes the expense of finding all the patents a product might infringe. B's expense concern is the expense of patent lawsuits (Passage B, paragraph 2), not the research needed to identify relevant patents.
- C
Both connect patents to difficulties in software development. A explains barriers to developing and licensing a product; B directly says patents impede innovation. This is a shared concern.
- D
B explicitly mentions high litigation costs, which alone rules this out. We don't need to claim that A uses the same cost language to see why D fails the absent-from-B requirement.
- E
A calls many patents bad and criticizes their breadth; B refers to their questionable nature. Dubious means questionable, so the idea is present in both.
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