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PrepTest 123, Section 3, Question 14

By Brandon Beaver | Published October 29, 2024

Type: Parallel Principle

Difficulty:

Explanations

Sure, scholarship is central to the mission. But is software? The author seems to be assuming that any domain within a university should align with the university’s central mission (scholarship). These “principle” questions aren’t much different than “assumption” questions—what rule statement does the author use without saying?
A
Nope, the author doesn’t necessarily the most advanced—just one that’s open-source.
B
Nope, cost isn’t the issue either.
C
Yes, exactly. The commentator wants open-source software because it aligns with the central mission of the university. If C is true, then the commentator’s argument makes total sense.
D
Nope, efficiency isn’t the issue either.
E
Using proprietary software doesn’t necessarily “block the achievement of the goals of academic scholarship.” It might not align with the university’s mission, but the author doesn’t claim it goes so far as to block achievement of the goals.

Passage

Commentator: In academic scholarship, sources are always cited, and methodology and theoretical assumptions are set out, so as to allow critical study, replication, and expansion of scholarship. In open-source software, the code in which the program is written can be viewed and modified by individual users for their purposes without getting permission from the producer or paying a fee. In contrast, the code of proprietary software is kept secret, and modifications can be made only by the producer, for a fee. This shows that open-source software better matches the values embodied in academic scholarship, and since scholarship is central to the mission of universities, universities should use only open-source software.

Question 14

The commentator's reasoning most closely conforms to which one of the following principles?
Whatever software tools are most advanced and can achieve the goals of academic scholarship are the ones that should alone be used in universities.
Universities should use the type of software technology that is least expensive, as long as that type of software technology is adequate for the purposes of academic scholarship.
Universities should choose the type of software technology that best matches the values embodied in the activities that are central to the mission of universities.
The form of software technology that best matches the values embodied in the activities that are central to the mission of universities is the form of software technology that is most efficient for universities to use.
A university should not pursue any activity that would block the achievement of the goals of academic scholarship at that university.