Scientists have long claimed that, in order to flourish and progress,

** Note - Before I start to answer these questions, in my opinion the questions were quite hard. I say that because the RC to read was quite easy, the author had a clear idea of what he wanted to say and did so in an articulate manner. However, the answer choices are so close that even while posting the answer I am not sure if they are correct. However, i have assumed that I am making the correct judgement, so here is my assessment of the questions. Hope you like the explanations.

1. The author’s primary purpose in the passage is to:
(A) examine the events leading up to the suppression of the Soviet refusenik movement of the 1970s.
(B) define and dispel the notion of a national science as promulgated by the post-revolution Soviet regime.
(C) describe specific attempts by the modern Soviet regime to suppress scientific freedom.
(D) examine the major twentieth-century challenges to the normative assumption that science requires freedom and that it is inherently international.
(E) point out the similarities and distinctions between scientific freedom and scientific internationalism in the context of the Soviet Union.

Explanation of question 1:
Before we start lets make a quick summary of what we read. Basically the author is implying for science to grow, scientists need to transcend boundaries. Although some expensive projects linked to national interests might benefit, overall it helps for the scientific community to be global. He criticises Soviet Russia in the 30s and again in the 70s for this. Ok armed with this knowledge, lets start answering the questions -
A - Dont think it actually examining 'some' event which led to suppression. Out.
B - That is not what the author is intending in the passage. Out.
C - Pretty much all of IS about how the Soviets were BAD. This is one of the two very close choices, but if you look into D, you will understand why this scores higher than D.
D - Very close choice. Science DOES require freedom as explicitly stated in the first paragraph. However, I felt that since majority of the second paragraph has how Soviet Russia was bad, and it is not mentioned here at all, I feel this choice is too broad for my liking.
E - No this is definitely not the main idea.
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2. Which of the following best characterizes the “ambiguous position” (Highlighted) in which Soviet scientists were placed during the decades that followed the Bolshevik Revolution?
(A) The Soviet government demanded that their research result in scientific progress, although funding was insufficient to accomplish this goal.
(B) They were exhorted to strive toward scientific advancements, while at the same time the freedoms necessary to make such advancements were restricted.
(C) While they were required to direct research entirely toward military defense, most advancements in this field were being made by non-Soviet scientists with whom the Soviet scientists were prohibited contact.
(D) They were encouraged to collaborate with Soviet colleagues but were prohibited from any discourse with scientists from other countries.
(E) The Soviet government failed to identify those areas of research that it deemed most worthwhile, but punished those scientists with whose work it was not satisfied.

Explanation of question 2:
Again in this question, lets zoom into choices B and D. But only one is correct.
B - Yes this looks good.
D - Ok I wont lie, this looks good too. However, there is a subtle problem with this. It will have an ambiguity, but not the ambiguity which is referred by the author. Clever choice but out.
B is our answer.
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3. Which of the following is most reasonably inferable from the passage’s first paragraph?
(A) Expensive research projects such as the particle-accelerator program apply technology that can also be applied toward projects relating to national security.
(B) Scientific knowledge had become so closely linked with national security that it could no longer be communicated to scientific colleagues without restriction.
(C) Without free access to new scientific knowledge, scientists in different countries are less able to communicate with one another.
(D) Governments should de-emphasize scientific projects related to military defense and emphasize instead research that can be shared freely within the international scientific community.
(E) Government funding of scientific research undermines the ideal of scientific freedom to a greater extent than private funding.

Explanation of question 3:
Again we see there we can very easily get down to two options, but choosing between them is tricky.
B - I think this can be inferred. How? i will try to show it. Passage says two things - 1)science prospers when scientists have freedom of communication with the world, 2) author says national interests takes precedence over total scientific achievements. So it can be inferred there will be significant RESTRICTIONS for scientists to communicate to the outside world. That is what this choice is essentially. I will keep this in.
E - I will be honest this is also inferable from the passage. But only one is the correct choice. But which one? Well lets assume both are inferable, and then choose the one which is stronger. My gut says go with B, simply because the point of the author is not the comparison (govt funding of science vs private funding). This is an inference question, so we are allowed to go out of the passage to infer.
My choice is B.
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4. The author quotes an article from Literatunaya Gazeta (Lines in Bold) most probably to
(A) illustrate the general sentiment among members of the international scientific community during the time period.
(B) support the point that only those notions about science that conformed to the Marxist-Leninist ideal were sanctioned by the Soviet government.
(C) show the disparity of views within the Soviet intellectual community regarding the proper role of science.
(D) underscore the Soviet emphasis on the notion of a national science.
(E) support the author’s assertion that the Marxist-Leninist impact on Soviet scientific freedom continued through the decade of the 1970s.

Explanation of question 4:
Again we are fighting with choosing between 2 options. These questions are tricky as I previously mentioned. Plus by this time I am mentally exhausted! Gmat verbal is about how we manage our mental fatigue, so lets keep going. One last question....
We can easily come down to choices C and D.
C - This choice looks close. However, I am not very happy with the usage of the word "disparity". Out.
D - The author is quoting from the Soviet publication to give an example and make his point stronger that there was massive influence of Soviet govt on scientific development in their land.
Answer: D