Critical Reasoning

Most scientists agree that new lines of interdisciplinary research are the need of the hour. Even government committees on science have stressed the need for more interdisciplinary projects. Yet, of ten proposals for new interdisciplinary projects last year, only one was successfully funded. Some have suggested that this means that as yet researchers are not coming up with sufficiently persuasive projects, or that their proposals are not of high enough quality, or even that the reputations of these researchers is not high enough. However, the real reason probably lies in the way funding is organized. Funding is still allocated according to the old categories and there are no funds specifically for research that overlaps different subject areas.

The two parts in bold-face are related to each other in which of the following ways?

A. The first is a finding that the author finds unacceptable; the second is the author’s own position
B. The first is a finding that the author attempts to account for; the second is a finding that contradicts the author’s main conclusion.
C. The first is a fact that the author attempts to account for. The second is data that explicitly supports the author’s main conclusion.
D. The first is a position that the author opposes; the second is the author’s main position.
E. The first is a situation that the author finds paradoxical; the second is an assumption that the author uses to reinforce the paradox.