let's discuss another CR

primefang

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.

primefang

顿捂, 多谢  LF and TX

little_fox

d是无关的，不可能是假设，D指水银中毒引起耳聋，是属于文章外的东西，文章推理：如果身体内发现水银——有性病——性病导致耳聋，这个推理与水银导致耳聋根本无关，你犯了递进推理的错误。

tongxun

两位：史学家的假设是这个吧：We can learn about the medical history of individuals through chemical analysis of their hair.

primefang

Thanks Little fox, let's do it better

我没有选B是因为,原文说
Since mercury was commonly ingested in Beethoven’s time to treat venereal disease. 是否这里的ingest 是被动的,而B的INGEST 是主动的呢?  我还是觉得不踏实.

再者,D 为何不对呢,特别是将其取非,是非常好的weaken

xie le

little_fox

PRIMEFANG：
   你曾回答过我的很多问题，谢谢！此题答案是B，典型的not+weaken类型的假设,如果 Some people in Beethoven’s time did  ingest mercury，那么Beethoven身体中即使发现了水银，也不见得是为了治性病，从而削弱了结论：性病导致耳聋。

little_fox

PRIMEFANG：
   你曾回答过我的很多问题，谢谢！此题答案是B，典型的not+weaken类型的假设,如果 Some people in Beethoven’s time did  ingest mercury，那么Beethoven身体中即使发现了水银，也不见得是为了治性病，从而削弱了结论：性病导致耳聋。

little_fox

PRIMEFANG：
   你曾回答过我的很多问题，谢谢！此题答案是B，典型的not+weaken类型的假设,如果 Some people in Beethoven’s time did  ingest mercury，那么Beethoven身体中即使发现了水银，也不见得是为了治性病，从而削弱了结论：性病导致耳聋。

primefang

给出的是 B,为使么呢？

tongxun

应该说本题的前提是贝多芬（怎的这种病？）有没有服水银？服后，现在咱们还能查出来吗？这就是我选A的思路。D，不象。
正确答案是什么？