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.

答案选B，我承认看得一头雾水...既然公元前八世纪的希腊字是两个书写方向的，而希腊人会学Phoenician, 而Phoenician文字开始时两个方向，但在公元前八世纪之前的两个世纪一直从右到左，那不是前一个推翻了后一个？

[ 本帖最后由 magicbabyg 于 2008-6-10 15:15 编辑 ]

顶顶，等待各位：）

[ 本帖最后由 magicbabyg 于 2008-6-10 15:19 编辑 ]

Q28: GWD-2-10
Environmentalist:  The use of snowmobiles in the vast park north of Milville create sun acceptable levels of air pollution and should be banned.

Milville business spokesperson:  Snowmobiling brings many out-of-towners to Milville  in winter months, to the great financial benefit of many local residents.  So, economics dictate that we put up with the pollution.

Environmentalist: I disagree:  A great many cross-country skiers are now kept from visiting Milville by the noise and pollution that snowmobiles generate.

Environmentalist responds to the business spokesperson by doing which of the following?

A.        Challenging an assumption that certain desirable outcome can derive from only one set of circumstances
B.        Challenging an assumption that certain desirable outcome is outweighed by negative aspects associated with producing that outcome
C.        Maintaining that the benefit that the spokesperson desires could be achieved in greater degree by a different means
D.        Claiming that the spokesperson is deliberately misrepresenting the environmentalist’s position in order to be better able to attack it
E.        Denying that an effect that the spokesperson presents as having benefited a certain group of people actually benefited those people
答案是E
请问可以翻译一下B选项是什么意思吗

Q28: GWD-2-10
Environmentalist:  The use of snowmobiles in the vast park north of Milville create sun acceptable levels of air pollution and should be banned.

Milville business spokesperson:  Snowmobiling brings many out-of-towners to Milville  in winter months, to the great financial benefit of many local residents.  So, economics dictate that we put up with the pollution.

Environmentalist: I disagree:  A great many cross-country skiers are now kept from visiting Milville by the noise and pollution that snowmobiles generate.

Environmentalist responds to the business spokesperson by doing which of the following?

A.        Challenging an assumption that certain desirable outcome can derive from only one set of circumstances
B.        Challenging an assumption that certain desirable outcome is outweighed by negative aspects associated with producing that outcome
C.        Maintaining that the benefit that the spokesperson desires could be achieved in greater degree by a different means
D.        Claiming that the spokesperson is deliberately misrepresenting the environmentalist’s position in order to be better able to attack it
E.        Denying that an effect that the spokesperson presents as having benefited a certain group of people actually benefited those people
答案是E
请问可以翻译一下B选项是什么意思吗

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?

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

答案选B，我承认看得一头雾水...既然公元前八世纪的希腊字是两个书写方向的，而希腊人会学Phoenician, 而Phoenician文字开始时两个方向，但在公元前八世纪之前的两个世纪一直从右到左，那不是前一个推翻了后一个？

作者的意见是说希腊人最早用字母书写的时间，应该比公元前八世纪早两个世纪。理由是什么呢？因为希腊人是从腓尼基人那里学到字母的，所以应该是承受了腓尼基人的书写方式。腓尼基人原来是从左至右与从右至左两个方向都用的，但是到了公元前八世纪的时候，他们已经只从右到左来写了，而且已经这样做了二百年。既然希腊人八世纪的书写方式是左右或是右左两用的，这就表明他们不是在那时从腓尼基人学到字母书写法的，而应该至迟在二百年前就已经学到了。不然他们就只用一个方向书写——右至左。

题目有个严重错误，我现在改过了：

Environmentalist:  The use of snowmobiles in the vast park north of Milville creates unacceptable levels of air pollution and should be banned.

Milville business spokesperson:  Snowmobiling brings many out-of-towners to Milville  in winter months, to the great financial benefit of many local residents.  So, economics dictate that we put up with the pollution.

Environmentalist:  I disagree.  A great many cross-country skiers are now kept from visiting Milville by the noise and pollution that snowmobiles generate.

The environmentalist responds to the business spokesperson by doing which of the following?

A.  Challenging an assumption that certain desirable outcome can derive from only one set of circumstances.
B.  Challenging an assumption that certain desirable outcome is outweighed by negative aspects associated with producing that outcome.
C.  Maintaining that the benefit that the spokesperson desires could be achieved in greater degree by a different means.
D.  Claiming that the spokesperson is deliberately misrepresenting the environmentalist’s position in order to be better able to attack it.
E.  Denying that an effect that the spokesperson presents as having benefited a certain group of people actually benefited those people.
答案是E
请问可以翻译一下B选项是什么意思吗

B 说的是和 E 相反的事。B says that the environmentalist challenged an assumption of the business spokesperson.  What is the assumption?  The assumption is that "certain desirable outcomes is outweighed by negative aspects associated with producing that outcome."  This means that the business spokesperson thinks that although air pollution should be reduced, the method that the environmentalist proposed has undesirable aspects.  Of course this is not what the business spokesperson said, and thus it is not correct.

非常感谢！