讨论一下GWD20-18

Q18:

Although the earliest surviving Greek inscriptions written in an alphabet date from the eighth century B.C., a strong case can be made that the Greeks actually adopted alphabetic writing at least two centuries earlier.  Significantly, the text of these earliest surviving Greek inscriptions sometimes runs from right to left and sometimes from left to right.  Now, the Greeks learned alphabetic writing from the Phoenicians, and in the process they would surely have adopted whatever convention the Phoenicians were then using with respect to the direction of writing.  Originally, Phoenician writing ran in either direction, but by the eighth century B.C. it had been consistently written from right to left for about two centuries.

In the argument given, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

1. The first is the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second reports a discovery that has been used to support a position that the argument opposes.
2. The first is the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second presents an assumption on which the argument relies.
3. The first presents evidence that is used in support of the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second presents an assumption on which the argument relies.
4. The first is an objection raised against a position that the argument opposes; the second is the position that the argument seeks to establish.
5. The first is an objection raised against a position that the argument opposes; the second is evidence that has been used to support that position.

   Answer:B

怎么看出第二句是assumption的?

文章：

希腊人的手稿比eighth century B.C还要早两个世纪

文章是从腓尼基人的手稿的时间来推断的希腊人的手稿的时间

所以是将腓尼基人的手稿册子和希腊人的手稿册子之间联系起来－－－－方式：即书写方式

  Look at the bold-faced words below:

 " they would surely have adopted whatever convention ....."

It surely is just someone's opinion, and may not be a fact. Hence, it is just an assumption.