Space Enthusiast: The fact that the government has ignored space

Question

Space Enthusiast: The fact that the government has ignored space science is reprehensible. In the past five years the current administration has spent less than 2.5 billion dollars on promising missions to explore the outer planets and understand the fundamental properties of our universe and the origins of life.

Politician: Your claims are erroneous and absurd. The current administration has allocated over 4 billion dollars for exactly the sort of scientific space missions you claim we do not support!

The apparent contradiction in the claims of the space enthusiast and the politician could best be resolved if which of the following was true?

A. Many space missions require billions of dollars and, often, decades of development and flight before returning any useful scientific data.

B. Politicians often select space missions for funding based not on the mission's potential scientific return but rather on an assessment of the mission's appeal to the public sense of imagination and adventure.

C. Without government funding, projects as complex as space missions to explore the outer planets are unlikely to ever come to fruition.

D. Often the budgetary allocations assigned to one agency or project are instead called upon to fund emergency needs of a different agency or project.

E. Many politicians support space exploration very strongly, albeit sometimes for selfish reasons ranging from creating jobs in their voting districts to seeking exciting ways of inspiring the public

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jack5397 · Answer

IMO - D

As this is a resolve the paradox question we need to find the answer which respects both the positions (Space Enthusiast & Politician)

A. Many space missions require billions of dollars and, often, decades of development and flight before returning any useful scientific data-.  Irrelevant   As it does not support any position clearly. - Eliminate

B. Politicians often select space missions for funding based not on the mission's potential scientific return but rather on an assessment of the mission's appeal to the public sense of imagination and adventure. - Only supports one position which is of Space Enthusiast - Eliminate

C. Without government funding, projects as complex as space missions to explore the outer planets are unlikely to ever come to fruition.- Only supports one position which is of Politician  - Eliminate

D. Often the budgetary allocations assigned to one agency or project are instead called upon to fund emergency needs of a different agency or project. - Correct - Both the positions are supported as $4 billion is allocated and only $2.5 Billion used and remaining funds diverted to some other project or agency

E. Many politicians support space exploration very strongly, albeit sometimes for selfish reasons ranging from creating jobs in their voting districts to seeking exciting ways of inspiring the public - - Only supports one position which is of Space Enthusiast - Eliminate

sayan640 · Answer

D should be the answer. Even though politicians have allocated over 4 billion dollars , actually only less than 2.5 billion dollars were spent.

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ShubhamA · Answer

Hi,
Can anyone through light on why  option B  is wrong, as it states, that many a times, allocated fund (by politicians) gets diverted to the appeal of the mission rather to scientific returns. And funds are not reaching to its main objective, getting diverted.
Now both statements remains true- (i) Funds not reaching to main space scientific research, (ii) even though proper allocation by politicians.

jack5397 · Answer

It only supports one position of Space Enthusiast as it is directly saying that funds are used as per the politicians choice rather than the requirement by Science team

"Politicians often select space missions for funding based not on the mission's potential scientific return but rather on an assessment of the mission's appeal to the public sense of imagination and adventure."

As in aware resolve the paradox question you have to justify both positions/cases

In this case

SE: In the past five years the current administration has spent less than 2.5 billion dollars on promising missions to explore the outer planets and understand the fundamental properties of our universe and the origins of life.

Attack on the shortage of funds provided by current administration.

Pol: The current administration has allocated over 4 billion dollars for exactly the sort of scientific space missions you claim we do not support!

Defending by saying we have allocated $4 billion for the sort of missions required by you.

Answer D solves the paradox by bringing in the 3rd variable saying: "Often the budgetary allocations assigned to one agency or project are instead called upon to fund emergency needs of a different agency or project" . This actually justifies both the postions
1) funds received by space team is $2.5 billions and 2) Funds provided by pol is $4 billion

Hope it is clear.

Bunuel · Answer

Veritas Prep Official Explanation

Correct Answer: D

This prompt involves the sort of shift in language that is common among Explain questions. The space enthusiast speaks of how much has been spent on space and the politician of how much has been allocated. This small change in words is key to understanding this question, and the correct answer, choice D provides a link between these two terms and a reason why all of the 4 billion dollars in allocated funding may not make it to the launch pad. The remaining answer choices are out of scope.

Space Enthusiast: The fact that the government has ignored space

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Space Enthusiast: The fact that the government has ignored space

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