PrepTest 144, Section 1, Question 12
The following passage was adapted from a law(455 more words not shown)
The passage provides the strongest(8 more words not shown)
- APolicy makers are(13 more words not shown)
- BMost biotechnology patent(15 more words not shown)
- CBiotechnology researchers who(17 more words not shown)
- DSuing for patent(21 more words not shown)
- ERapid commercialization in(19 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We know the concerns involve two routes to restricting access: patent-infringement litigation and contractual terms for obtaining materials. The author doubts that lawsuits will pose the feared threat, but litigation is not the only tool discussed.
What we’re looking for
For each proposed inference, connect it to what we actually know. A statement about some researchers' funding or about scrutiny by policy makers does not give us every group's preferences or circumstances.
Working the answers
- A
Policy makers are mentioned as scrutinizing biotechnology inventions, but scrutiny does not tell us how likely they are to favor restrictions. There is no comparison between their views and academic researchers' views.
- B
Litigation usually protects a market position, but that does not show that most patent holders regard basic academic research as a threat to that position. The author uses the expense and purpose of lawsuits to question whether they would be brought against such researchers.
- C
Opposing patents does not establish an inability to obtain funding. A researcher might dislike aspects of a system while still working within it, and we are not given a general funding outcome for these opponents.
- DCorrect
The second paragraph mentions materials-transfer and licensing agreements. Those contracts can set conditions on using materials without the patent holder suing anyone. Their existence establishes another means of control besides an infringement lawsuit.
- E
No shortage of university teachers is described. Commercial opportunities alone do not establish that highly educated biologists have become unwilling to teach.
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