题目
Agricultural societies cannot exist without staple crops. Several food plants, such as kola and okra, are known to have been domesticated in western Africa, but they are all supplemental, not staple, foods. All the recorded staple crops grown in western Africa were introduced from elsewhere, beginning, at some unknown date, with rice and yams. Therefore, discovering when rice and yams were introduced into western Africa would establish the earliest date at which agricultural societies could have arisen there.
Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
选项
A.People in western Africa did not develop staple crops that they stopped cultivating once rice and yams were introduced.
B.There are no plants native to western Africa that, if domesticated, could serve as staple food crops.
C.Rice and yams were grown as staple crops by the earliest agricultural societies outside of western Africa.
D.Kola and okra are better suited to growing conditions in western Africa than domesticated rice and yams are.
E. Kola and okra were domesticated in western Africa before rice and yams were introduced there.
解析
农业社会离不开主要农作物。已知几种食用植物,如可乐果和秋葵,是在西非被驯化的,但它们都是辅助性食物,而非主要食物。在西非种植的所有有记载的主要农作物都是从其他地方引进的,最早引进的是水稻和山药,具体时间不详。因此,发现水稻和山药何时被引入西非将确定西非农业社会可能兴起的最早日期。
- **论据**:西非已知被驯化的如可乐果和秋葵等是辅助食物而非主要农作物,所有记载的主要农作物如水稻和山药等是从别处引进,且引进时间未知。
- **论点**:确定水稻和山药被引入西非的时间就能确定西非农业社会可能兴起的最早时间。
- **正确答案方向**:正确答案应该是能够填补论据和论点之间逻辑漏洞的选项,即排除可能影响根据水稻和山药引入时间来确定农业社会最早兴起时间的其他干扰因素。例如,排除在水稻和山药引入之前西非还有其他被开发又停止种植的主要农作物等情况。
- **A选项**:该选项指出西非的人们在水稻和山药被引入之前没有开发出那种曾经种植但后来停止种植的主要农作物。如果存在这样的农作物,那么仅根据水稻和山药的引入时间就不能确定农业社会兴起的最早时间了,因为可能在那之前就已经因为这些曾经的主要农作物而兴起了农业社会。所以该项是必要假设,加强了论点。
- **B选项**:选项说没有本土植物如果被驯化可以成为主要农作物。即使有这样的本土植物,也不确定它们是否在水稻和山药引入之前被驯化并影响农业社会兴起时间,所以该选项对论点的影响不明确,不是必要假设。
- **C选项**:水稻和山药在西非之外的最早农业社会中作为主要农作物种植,这与西非农业社会兴起的最早时间没有直接关联,无法填补论据和论点之间的逻辑漏洞。
- **D选项**:可乐果和秋葵与水稻、山药谁更适合西非的生长条件,与根据水稻和山药引入时间确定西非农业社会最早兴起时间这一论点无关。
- **E选项**:可乐果和秋葵在水稻和山药之前被驯化,但它们不是主要农作物,所以不能影响根据水稻和山药这两种主要农作物引入时间来确定农业社会兴起时间的判断,与论点无关。