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.答案是B,不是很理解。。。。。。作者: dontwannalos 时间: 2010-9-17 22:03
我第一感觉是需要 only venereal disease will be treated by mercury in Beethoven’s time 这个假设
觉得B很莫名其妙，不过其他选项也是不对的。。。看了狒狒详解的解释，觉得还蛮有道理的。。
就是说在这个时代不能所有人都ingest mercury，如果所有人都ingest，即没有病的也
ingest的话，贝多芬ingest了就不能证明他有病。。。其实想想这个假设是从属于only
venereal disease will be treated by mercury in Beethoven’s time 这个假设的，都是
