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?

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. The first is the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second presents an assumption on which the argument relies. 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. The first is an objection raised against a position that the argument opposes; the second is the position that the argument seeks to establish. 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.

还是这题，合集里有人讨论过，大意是说，“1. 尽管希腊碑铭被定为BC800年，其实它应该早200年（第一个boldface）（文章所要论述的结论）。

2. G从P那里学到这种文字，they would surely 学习他们的任何写字习惯（这点并没有依据，仅仅为作者的假设）（第二个boldface），因为G所模范的P这种习惯比BC800年还要早200年，所以进而支持结论。”

可是我想问问，“Significantly, the text of these earliest surviving Greek inscriptions sometimes runs from right to left and sometimes from left to right.”这句话在这里是什么意思呢？是不是说，前面说的那些最早的碑铭有的向左写，有的向右写。 那这不就和最后的结论矛盾了吗？“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.”这句是不是告诉我们，G早在比bc800年前还早200年就一贯的向左写了。

诚心求教，请高手不吝指教！

谢谢先。