请教feifei logic

gmatziyu

21. Historian: We can learn about the medical history of individuals through chemical analysis of their hair. It is likely, for example, that Isaac Newton’s psychological problems were due to mercury poisoning; traces of mercury were found in his hair. Analysis is now being done on a lock of Beethoven’s hair. Although no convincing argument has shown that Beethoven ever had a venereal disease, some people hypothesize that venereal disease caused his deafness. Since mercury was commonly ingested in Beethoven’s time to treat venereal disease, if researchers find a trace of mercury in his hair, we can conclude that this hypothesis is correct.


Which one of the following is an assumption on which the historian’s argument depends?


A.None of the mercury introduced into the body can be eliminated.
B.Some people in Beethoven’s time did not ingest mercury.
C.Mercury is an effective treatment for venereal disease.
D.Mercury poisoning can cause deafness in people with venereal disease.
E.Beethoven suffered from psychological problems of the same severity as Newton
’s.
请问这道题为什么选B呢？谢谢

果汁软糖

There should be 2 assumptions to support the hypothesis. The 1st assumption of the author is that only venereal disease will be treated by mercury in Beethoven’s time. The 2nd assumption is only some people in Beethoven's time will ingest mercury, if all people ingest mercury, the evidence is not useful. So, some people in Beethoven's time did not ingest mercury. The answer should be B.

A, E have nothing to do with the argument.
C is not necessary, 'Since mercury was commonly ingested in Beethoven’s time to treat venereal disease' is enough.
D is wrong:  according to the author, it is the venereal disease that will cause the deafness, not the mercury poison.

mycontrol01

其实是要证明没有其他途径可以让mercury进入人的身体

只要同时代的部分人体内不含有mercury   那么可以部分消除"在那个时代的特有习惯导致的mercury积累"的可能性  使mercury在贝多芬的体内积累的原因只能归纳到治疗聋病的原因上


当然,更好的假设则是: 那个时代的听力正常的人都没有mercury积累.  

B选项是语气较弱的这个意思

mycontrol01

A选项完全削弱哦

gmatziyu

解释得很清楚啊！！

gmatziyu

first1121

如果对B加入if not  也就是如果贝多芬时代所有人都ingest mercury，那么就不能证明贝多芬是用mercury治疗venereal disease   ，也就不能证明贝多芬患有venereal disease ，也就不能证明假说是正确的

所以B 是一个支持结论的假设

gmatziyu

加上ｉｆ　ｎｏｔ的话很清晰了，一直纳闷为什么贝多芬和ｓｏｍｅ　ｐｅｏｐｌｅ有关联呢。。。