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Scientists have long claimed that, in order to flourish and progress, 10 Aug 2020, 14:30
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The answers are total ****. These are not at all representative of the actual GMAT question.
Q1- The main idea of the passage MUST include all the aspects of the passage. The answer is ONLY concerned with the Russian aspect. Although Majority of the passage covers it but you will find SEVERAL ACTUAL OFFICIALS QUESTIONS stating the generic answer as the correct one.

Q2-The inference question on GMAT RC will have only one statement that could be inferred. Choice A too can be inferred and the option B goes too far in its inference.

I feel the quality oof questions is very Poor. The atempt to make questions difficult has led the author to make wrong question.
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Scientists have long claimed that, in order to flourish and progress, 24 Dec 2020, 21:40
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AnirudhaS
** 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.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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
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Scientists have long claimed that, in order to flourish and progress, 18 Jun 2025, 11:49
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Sajjad1994
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I am still not convince for Question 1 answer...kindly someone explain...

Official Explanation

1. The author’s primary purpose in the passage is to:

Difficulty Level: 700

Explanation

Notice that, with the exception of the very last sentence, the passage is entirely concerned with describing Soviet attempts to suppress scientific freedom. In the order mentioned, the attempts include thwarting science’s ideals, emphasizing a national science, controlling scientific literature, and threatening and punishing renegade scientists. Choice (C) aptly expresses this overall concern.

Choice (D) is the runner-up. Admittedly, the passage does mention, in the final sentence, two other twentieth-century attempts to suppress scientific freedom. Had the passage continued by describing these two other attempts, (D) would probably have been the best answer choice. But since it doesn’t, (D) is a bit too broad.

Choice (A) distorts the author’s primary purpose. The author does not actually discuss any specific events that might have caused the suppression of the refusenik movement; rather, this historical phenomenon is mentioned simply as another example of the Soviet regime’s long-term pattern of suppression.

Choice (B) distorts the author’s perspective on the topic. Although the author does define the concept of national science, nowhere does the author attempt to dispel or disprove the concept.

Choice (E) distorts the author’s message and is too narrow. Although the author does imply that scientific freedom and scientific internationalism are related, the author makes no attempt to examine their differences.

The correct answer is (C).

Hope it helps
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This choice (C) is partially correct but too narrow for the overall passage.
  • The passage does discuss the Soviet Union’s suppression of scientific freedom — including examples like:
    • Government restrictions on non-Russian science.
    • Ideological enforcement of Marxist-Leninist principles in scientific fields.
    • Banning of theories like relativity and genetics.
    • Persecution of scientists (e.g., Stalinist purges, refuseniks in the 1970s).
  • However, the passage does not stop with Soviet examples. It also briefly mentions:
    • Nazi Germany and Argentina as other nations that imposed similar ideological controls on science.
    • It starts with a broader discussion of how science and nationalism became entangled globally in the 20th century.

This choice (D) best captures the main argument and scope of the passage.
  • The introductory paragraph lays out the ideal that science should be free of ideology and borders — that it's inherently international.
  • Then the passage contrasts this ideal with real-world challenges in the 20th century, like:
    • The influence of nationalism and ideology on scientific practice.
    • Specific examples (Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Argentina) where state control disrupted free scientific inquiry.
  • The focus is broad: it's about a global pattern of conflict between political ideology and scientific freedom, not just one country or one movement.

Kindly Clarify
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Scientists have long claimed that, in order to flourish and progress, 31 Jul 2025, 03:20
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AnirudhaS
** 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.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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
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I disagree with the lines of reasoning in a few questions here.

1. (IN Q1) I think D is immediately knocked out for saying "major twentieth century challenges" whereas the passage is about ONE of the challenges and I really don't see how C is the right answer other than the fact that the remaining options are either false statements or out of scope of what the author is talking about. Why do I think C is also not correct? Because say I'm talking about fruits. Fruits are colorful. Fruits taste different. Then like the author, I will say "for example" at the start of my second para and then proceed to say that apples are fruits, apples are red, apples taste sweet. Now is my main purpose to talk about apples or is it to talk about fruits??? the apples in this case is the soviet example of scientific research being suppressed. How on earth is it the author's intent? It looks more like just an example for the intent.

TLDR: A B D E are easily discarded with some reasoning and we mark C since only C is left and not because C is 100% correct so there is some ambiguity in wording here imo

2. (IN Q2) its obviously B unless because I really do not see where D is mentioned. If it is mentioned I'm sorry I can't see it.

3. (IN Q3) Good explanation. I never saw that B could be inferred like that.

4. (IN Q4) C is talking about disparity within the soviet community and it is never mentioned in the passage that they are arguing amongst themselves so idt it can be their quote much less the author's intent to mention the quote. It was between D and E for me because both were true statements and within the scope of what was being talked about. In the end I marked D as E seems to be talking about the duration of the ML impact which the author has nowhere asserted.


In the end
1. I think q1 doesn't even have the answer in the options we just have to mark the most correct one and move on.
2. As I mentioned above, you are considering some options that are easily discarded by the basics of RC exercises.
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