The Testament of William Thorpe was published around 1530 as an appendix to Thorpe's longer Examination. Many scholars, however, doubt the attribution of the Testament to Thorpe because, whereas the Examination is dated 1406, the Testament is dated 1460. One scholar has recently argued that the 1460 date be amended to 1409, based on the observation that when these numbers are expressed as Roman numerals, MCCCCLX and MCCCCIX, it becomes easy to see how the dates might have become confused through scribal error.

Which of the following, if true, would most support the scholar's hypothesis concerning the date of the Testament?


The sole evidence that historians have had that William Thorpe died no earlier than 1460 was the presumed date of publication of the Testament.

In the preface to the 1530 publication, the editor attributes both works to William Thorpe.

Few writers in fifteenth-century England marked dates in their works using only Roman numerals.

The Testament alludes to a date, "Friday,September 20," as apparently contemporaneous with the writing of the Testament, and September 20 fell on a Friday in 1409 but not in 1460.

The Testament contains few references to historical events that occurred later than 1406.

考题讲解

情景:The testament是作为Examination的附录在1530年附近被出版的。很多人在质疑这个问题,因为Examination是1406年的,而The testament是1460年出版的。有一个学者说,The testament其实是1409年出版的,因为数字是用罗马数字表示的,很容易产生抄写错误。

推理:本题很长,但是真正对找答案有用的部分不多。真正的推理为:
前提:数字是用罗马数字表示的,很容易产生抄写错误
结论:The testament其实是1409年出版的
由于前提和结论讨论的事件不同,并且结论为因,所以本题为果因推理
顺序的因果逻辑:因为The testament其实是1409年出版的,所以这个年份很容易被抄写成1460年
(果)前提:这个年份很容易被抄写成1460年
(因)结论:The testament其实是1409年出版的

选题方式:果因推理有两个评估方向,简而言之,即(由于本题问的是加强,所以答案选项需在“取非”后满足),要么给“这个年份很容易被抄写成1460年”另一个原因,要么给出因果联系问题。

选项分析:

A选项:历史学家对William Thorpe死于1460年后的唯一证据是The testament的出版时间。本选项讨论的是The testament的作者的死亡时间,没有提及推理文段中的因果。

B选项:在1530年的出版物中,编辑把两本书都归功于William Thorpe这两本书一直都是William Thorpe写的,谁写的和什么时候写的无关。

C选项:很少有15世纪的英格兰作家只用罗马数字标写时间。不管是否有人用罗马数字标注时间,只要William Thorpe这么做了,本选项就和推理文段的因果无关。

D选项:
 Correct. The testament提及了一个时间—星期五, 9月20日,9月20日在1409年是星期五,而在1460年不是。如果1409年的9月20日不是星期五,那么显然因果之间将不再有任何联系。

E选项:
The testament很少用发生于1406年以后的历史事件作为参考。本选项讨论的是The testament的性质,和其出版时间无关。

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