Read the following two passages and answer the items (71-73) that follow as passages. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.
Passage - 1
To encourage research is one of the functions of a university. Contemporary universities have encouraged research, not only in those cases where research is necessary, but on all sorts of entirely unprofitable subjects as well Scientific research is probably never completely valueless. However silly and insignificant it may seem, however mechanical and unintelligent the labours of the researchers, there is always a chance that the results may be of value of the investigator of talent, who can use the facts collected for him by uninspired but industrious researchers as the basis of some fruitful generalization. But where research is not original, but consists in the mere rearrangement of existing but literary or historical, then there is a risk of the whole business becoming merely futile.
Question: The author’s assumption about scientific research is that
Correct Answer :
it is never without some value.
Solution :
The correct option/answer is "it is never without some value."
Here is a step-by-step breakdown of the passage to understand why this option is correct:
1. The passage explicitly discusses scientific research in the third sentence: "Scientific research is probably never completely valueless."
2. The phrase "never completely valueless" means that all scientific research carries at least some degree of value, regardless of how minor it might appear.
3. The author elaborates on this by stating that even if the research seems "silly and insignificant," or if the work of the researchers is "mechanical and unintelligent," there is always a chance that the facts collected can be used by a talented investigator to form a "fruitful generalization."
4. Therefore, the statement "it is never without some value" is a direct paraphrase of the author's assertion that scientific research is "never completely valueless."
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