GWD5-Q19

酸辣年糕

GWD5-Q19:

Historian:  In the Drindian Empire, censuses were conducted annually to determine the population of each village.  Village census records for the last half of the 1600’s are remarkably complete.  This very completeness makes one point stand out; in five different years, villages overwhelmingly reported significant population declines.  Tellingly, each of those five years immediately followed an increase in a certain Drindian tax.  This tax, which was assessed on villages, was computed by the central government using the annual census figures.  Obviously, whenever the tax went up, villages had an especially powerful economic incentive to minimize the number of people they recorded; and concealing the size of a village’s population from government census takers would have been easy.  Therefore, it is reasonable to think that the reported declines did not happen.

In the historian’s argument, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

A. The first supplies a context for the historian’s argument; the second acknowledges a consideration that has been used to argue against the position the historian seeks to establish.

B. The first presents evidence to support the position that the historian seeks to establish; the second acknowledges a consideration that has been used to argue against that position.

C. The first provides a context for certain evidence that supports the position that the historian seeks to establish; the second is that position.

D. The first is a position for which the historian argues; the second is an assumption that serves as the basis of that argument.

E. The first is an assumption that the historian explicitly makes in arguing for a certain position; the second acknowledges a consideration that calls that assumption into question.

C

原文的意思难道不是说人口普查已经结束了，但作者认为人口普查的数字不是准的，人数应该并没有减少？

所以第一句难道不应该是作者的反面观点吗？

咖啡印象

文中说的都是税收增长伴随着人口普查数量的下降，人们之所以瞒报人口数就是因为想避税，所以一句话是事实，一句话是作者观点。

第一句是说：1600年后半期村庄的人口普查记录得很完整。很明显在说一个客观事实，在提供背景呢。。。

其实也可以这样简化考虑：
从第一个黑体字到第二个黑体字当中没有任何的转折，说明第一句和第二句黑体是相同方向的。

humingyi

楼主没有理解以下这句话的意思：villages had an especially powerful economic incentive to minimize the number of people they recorded; and concealing the size of a village’s population from government census takers would have been easy.  
当增税的时候，村子会minimize the number ... they recorded，且会conceal size of population很容易。
就是说，实际人口并没有减少（no decline），只是账面上的人口减少了（reported decline）。所以，最终的情况就是, yes there is a reported decline, but it did not actually happen.
黑线1：陈述一个事实，就是数据是完整的。紧接着它的This very completeness makes one point stand out说明了作者的态度，即：supports the position that the historian seeks to establish
黑线2：Therefore, it is reasonable to think that是非常明显的conclusion/position的标志

酸辣年糕

咖啡印象 发表于 2016-12-19 13:34
文中说的都是税收增长伴随着人口普查数量的下降，人们之所以瞒报人口数就是因为想避税，所以一句话是事实， ...

同意！               

酸辣年糕

humingyi 发表于 2016-12-19 19:18
楼主没有理解以下这句话的意思：villages had an especially powerful economic incentive to minimize the ...

Mark一下！