[問題]GWD7-28

[ergh]

Historian: In the Drindian Empire, censuses were conducted annually to determine the population of each village. Village census records for the last half of the 1600’s are remarkably complete. This very completeness makes one point stand out; in five different years, villages overwhelmingly reported significant population declines. Tellingly, each of those five years immediately followed an increase in a certain Drindian tax. This tax, which was assessed on villages, was computed by the central government using the annual census figures. Obviously, whenever the tax went up, villages had an especially powerful economic incentive to minimize the number of people they recorded; and concealing the size of a village’s population from government census takers would have been easy. Therefore, it is reasonable to think that the reported declines did not happen.
In the historian’s argument, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

A.The first supplies a context for the historian’s argument; the second acknowledges a consideration that has been used to argue against the position the historian seeks to establish.
B.The first presents evidence to support the position that the historian seeks to establish; the second acknowledges a consideration that has been used to argue against that position.
C.The first provides a context for certain evidence that supports the position that the historian seeks to establish; the second is that position.
D.The first is a position for which the historian argues; the second is an assumption that serves as the basis of that argument.
E.The first is an assumption that the historian explicitly makes in arguing for a certain position; the second acknowledges a consideration that calls that assumption into question.

因為看討論區並無此題，所以想請教一下這題為何為C?謝謝

[appleeyes]

Hello, 我嘗試用刪除法來解釋喔. 大家可以討論一下.
A. The first supplies a context for the historian’s argument; 它說第一句提供一個背景敘述來作為歷史學家的辯論點. 問題是, 下文並沒看到到對census records的完整性(completeness) 做辯論, 因此不選.
B. The first presents evidence to support the position that the historian seeks to establish; 它說第一句提供一個證明(證據或事實)來支持歷史學家要成立的論點. 好, 我們來看看下面敘述, 哪一個可能是論點, 1) in five different years, villages overwhelmingly reported significant population declines, 5年來人口減少(這是事實陳述,不是論點). 2) an increase in a certain Drindian tax, 5年來稅賦增加.( 也是事實陳述,不是論點) 3) “稅賦增加”為villages謊報人口數(少報人口數)的經濟誘因 (這看起來可能是一個論點, 但跟census records的完整性似乎沒關係). 看起來, census records的完整性並不是用來證明以上敘述. 因此不選.
C. The first provides a context for certain evidence that supports the position that the historian seeks to establish; the second is that position. 它說第一句提供一個背景敘述, 這個背景敘述是針對certain evidence (選項B所提的3個敘述)所支持的論點, 這個論點, 就是 the reported declines did not happen. 答案出來了. 選 C