In many scientific disciplines, scientists generally do not do highly creative work beyond the age of forty, a tendency that has normally been taken to show that aging carries with it a loss of creative capacity. However, by the age of forty most scientists have been working in their chosen field for at least fifteen years, so an alternative explanation is that spending too long in a single field reduces the opportunity for creative thought.

Investigating which of the following would be most useful in choosing between the competing explanations described above?


Whether among those scientists who do highly creative work beyond age forty a large proportion entered their field at a considerably later age than is common

Whether scientists' choice of research projects tends to be influenced by their own belief that their most creative work will be done relatively early in their career

Whether scientists who are older than forty tend to find more satisfaction in other activities, such as teaching and mentoring, than they do in pursuing their own research

Whether funding agencies are more inclined to award research grants to scientists who are veterans in their field than to scientists who are relative newcomers

Whether there is significant variation among scientific fields in the average age at which scientists working in those fields are at their most productive

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情景：科学家一般不在40岁以后做高创造力的工作，这个事件显示年龄是导致创造力下降的因素。但是，40岁以后的科学家一般都在一个领域中很长时间了，因此，另外一种可能是科学家们在某一个领域中较长的时间导致创造力匮乏。

推理：本题实际上是两个相关因果推理。第一个相关因果推理是基于时间关联的，即，scientists generally do not do highly creative work beyond the age of forty。第二个相关因果推理是基于统计关联的，即，by the age of forty most scientists have been working in their chosen field for at least fifteen years（凡是没创造力的科学家都是工作了15年以上的）。
第一个相关因果推理：
前提：do not do highly creative work和beyond the age of forty之间存在正相关关系
结论：Aging carries with it a loss of creative capacity
第二个相关因果推理：
前提：do not do highly creative work和working in their chosen field for at least fifteen years之间存在正相关关系
结论：Spending too long in a single field reduces the opportunity for creative thought

选题方式：问题要求我们加强其中一个推理或削弱其中一个推理。

选项分析：

A选项：Correct. 那些过了40岁还在做高创新性动作的科学家是否比一般的科学家加入该领域都要晚。本选项提到了“因（在某特定领域做的时间）”和“果（做高创新性工作）”。如果过了40岁还在做高创新性动作的科学家并没有加入某领域比一般人都晚，则可以削弱原文中第二个因和果的联系。属于CQ1：相关性存在问题。

B选项：科学家们选择项目是被他们自己认为的他们需要在职业生涯早期做最有创造性的工作而影响的。本选项给出了第三个对于“果”的解释，即，由“选择”导致“果（科学家一般在40岁以后就不做高创造性的工作了）”，同时削弱了两个推理，所以不能成为答案。

C选项： 科学家在40岁以后会发现一些比在科研项目中具有更大满足感的活动，比如导师或者教师。本选项错误同(B)，其给出了第三个对于“果”的解释（更小的满足感），同时削弱了两个推理，所以不能成为答案。

D选项：基金机构会不会倾向于奖励援助金给那些领域内的老手而不是那些新手。本选项错误同(B)，该选项给出了第三个对于“果”的解释（金钱的诱惑），同时削弱了两个推理，所以不能成为答案。

E选项：不同的科学领域中科学家做高创造性工作的年龄是不是有很大区别。无论是不是有区别，原文中说40岁以后就都很少做创造性工作了，所以本选项和推理文段中的因果没有联系。

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