PrepTest 144, Section 1, Question 11
The following passage was adapted from a law(455 more words not shown)
The author refers to the(14 more words not shown)
- Afurnish a brief(8 more words not shown)
- Bestablish that present(9 more words not shown)
- Cexpress nostalgia for(10 more words not shown)
- Dargue that biotechnology(12 more words not shown)
- Eprovide a historical(6 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Read the early-days reference as part of the whole sentence. The author concedes a shift away from communal sharing, then points out that some researchers restricted access even in the earlier period. Guarding research materials is not a brand-new practice created by the current market model. That is the reference's job: qualify an overly simple contrast between a cooperative past and a competitive present.
Working the answers
- A
One fact about earlier access restrictions is not an account of how academic biotechnology research evolved. The author uses that fact to make a particular comparison, not to survey the field's development.
- BCorrect
Earlier researchers also kept competitors from obtaining materials, so today's competitive practices are “not entirely unprecedented.” That cautious wording fits: we do not need to prove that past and present competition are identical in every respect.
- C
The author is not looking fondly back at an untainted era. The point is precisely that even the earlier era included competitive restrictions.
- D
Nothing here compares the technical sophistication of past and present research. The comparison concerns willingness to share materials.
- E
The historical fact helps answer the opposition to patents. If access restrictions existed earlier, we should not assume that present patents alone created them. The reference does not supply a historical reason to oppose patenting.
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