The interstitial nucleus, a subregion of the brain’s hypothalamus, is typically smaller for male cats than for female cats. A neurobiologist performed autopsies on male cats who died from disease X, a disease affecting no more than .05 percent of male cats, and found that these male cats had interstitial nuclei that were as large as those generally found in female cats. Thus, the size of the interstitial nucleus determines whether or not male cats can contract disease X.
Which one of the following statements, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
(A) No female cats have been known to contract disease X, which is a subtype of disease Y.
(B) Many male cats who contract disease X also contract disease Z, the cause of which is unknown.
(C) the interstitial nuclei of female cats who contact disease X are larger than those of female cats who do not contract disease X.
(D) Of 1,000 autopsies on male cats who did not contract disease X, 5 revealed interstitial nuclei larger than those of the average male cat.
(E) The hypothalamus is known not to be causally linked to disease Y, and disease X is a subtype of disease Y.
答案选E，我觉得选D
高人给指点下吧！
-- by 会员 800120summer (2009/12/4 23:10:51)
谢谢楼上牛牛的快速解答！
麻烦问一下是不是D选项中的interstitial nuclei larger than those of the average male cat.，改成as large as the size of the female cat ，就有削弱结论the size 决定得不得病了啊？！
-- by 会员 800120summer (2009/12/4 23:50:40)
我觉得结论the size of the interstitial nucleus determines whether or not male cats can contract disease X.
的得出是由于证据当得病male的size和female的size，但是如果没得病的male cats中有些size如果和female一样的话，就削弱结论，因为size和female的一致的除了得病的，还有没得病的
-- by 会员 800120summer (2009/12/4 23:59:16)