17. Psychologist: Some astrologers claim that our horoscopes completely determine our personalities, but this claim is false, I concede that identical twins---who are, of course, born at practically the same time---often do have similar personalities. However, birth records were examined to find two individuals who were born 40 years ago on the same day and at exactly the same time---one in a hospital in Toronto and one in a hospital in New York. Personalities of these two individuals are in fact different. Which one of the following is an assumption on which the psychologist’s argument depends? (A) Astrologers have not subjected their claims to rigorous experimentation. (B) The personality differences between the two individuals cannot be explained by the cultural difference between Toronto and New York. (C) The geographical difference between Toronto and New York did not result in the two individuals having different horoscopes. (D) Complete birth records for the past 40 years were kept at both hospitals. (E) Identical twins have identical genetic structures and usually have similar home environments. 我觉得这题的答案C有问题,文章的结论是相同的horoscope可以形成不同的personality,所以答案就是排它因,即排除cultural difference。
[face=Verdana]This is a little bit tricy. If we have an argument as follows:
"John and Smith have a different horoscopes which result in their different personalities,", then we can feel safe to say the exclusion of culture differences is the assumption of the above argument.
In terms of this question, we have a different argument stem described as:
"Though geographical difference, John and Smith were given brith at the exact same time, and they have different personalities => Horoscopes are not the determinant of personalities"
Here we can sense the gap between two person born at the same time and two person have identical horoscope, and this leads to the assumptions as: "Horoscope depends solely on the time when person was born", or put from a different angle: "Nothing else except the birth date result in person's horoscope", which is exactly what the answer C is trying to tell.
The thing need looking at carefully is no matter how culture differences matters in establishing personalities has no bearing on the validity of the original arugment.[/face]