C2 Reading Test – Biosecurity & Dual-Use Research Governance

Read the passage and choose one sentence (A–D) for each blank (1)–(5).

Discussions of dual-use research often focus on the moment of publication, as if risk begins when a paper goes online. In practice, exposure accumulates earlier—during problem framing, data labeling, staffing, and procurement—and persists after dissemination across mirrors and summaries. (1)____ A governance system that treats risk as a lifecycle phenomenon is therefore more realistic than one that checks a single box at the end.

Open-science tools have undeniable public value: rapid error-finding, faster replication, and broader participation. But velocity can carry unintended passengers. (2)____ Transparency, in other words, is not a binary; it is a dial that must be set with regard to context, capability, and consequences.

Static “watch lists” offer clarity but age quickly as techniques recombine across fields. Many oversight bodies now prefer functional triggers—review any work that plausibly alters transmissibility, stability, or detection—regardless of organism or platform. (3)____ This approach reduces loopholes created by novelty in names rather than novelty in risk.

Capacity matters, too. A university core facility with professional biosafety staff and audit trails does not present the same risk surface as a small lab with high turnover and limited oversight. (4)____ Flat rules invite gaming by sophisticated actors while unnecessarily burdening teams that already invest in safety culture.

Finally, accountability must remain live after results circulate. Models drift, citations propagate, and secondary summaries can outlive corrections. (5)____ Without this feedback loop, pre-approval diligence is too easily undone by slow remediation in a fast information ecosystem.