Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium transmitted to humans by deer ticks. Generally, deer ticks pick up the bacterium while in the larval stage by feeding on infected white-footed mice. However, certain other species on which the larvae feed do not harbor the bacterium. If the population of these other species were increased, more of the larvae would be feeding on uninfected hosts, so the number of ticks acquiring the bacterium would likely decline.
Which of the following would it be most important to ascertain in evaluating the argument?
Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium transmitted to humans by deer ticks. Generally, deer ticks pick up the bacterium while in the larval stage by feeding on infected white-footed mice. However, certain other species on which the larvae feed do not harbor the bacterium. If the population of these other species were increased, more of the larvae would be feeding on uninfected hosts, so the number of ticks acquiring the bacterium would likely decline. Which of the following would it be most important to ascertain in evaluating the argument?
A. Whether populations of the other species on which deer tick larvae feed are found only in areas also inhabited by white-footed mice B. Whether the size of the deer tick population is currently limited by the availability of animals for the tick's larval stage to feed on C. Whether the infected deer tick population could be controlled by increasing the number of animals that prey on white-footed mice D. Whether deer ticks that were not infected as larvae can become infected as adults by feeding on deer on which infected deer ticks have fed E. Whether the other species on which deer tick larvae feed harbor any other bacteria that ticks transmit to humans
谢谢lacedaemonian! 看你的解释我B 是想通了,但现在我又不知道C错在哪了。 我对C的理解是:如果是 can be controled, 那么 the infected deer tick population 就会减少,加强结论。如果can not be controled, 那么就不会影响到受感染的tick 数量,不能确定tick的数量是增多还是变少,不就是削弱结论了吗?这个选项不是单纯地在讲绝对数量吗?之所以选B 是不是因为它的加强和削弱结论的力度最大?
我有个问题,原文结论是 so the number of ticks acquiring the bacterium would likely decline,因此我理解是larva 改变吃的东西后,感染细菌的ticks(没有特指larva)数量会下降,因此D选项说,尽管ticks在larva时期没被感染,但是在成年后也能被感染,这样就否定了原文说受感染的ticks数量会下降的结论,为什么不行?