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  3. The final quarter of the nineteenth century marked a turning point in the history of biology—biologists became less interested i

The final quarter of the nineteenth century marked a turning point in the history of biology—biologists became less interested i

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问题 The final quarter of the nineteenth century marked a turning point in the history of biology—biologists became less interested in applying an ideal of historical explanation deductively to organic function and more interested in discerning the causes of vital processes through experimental manipulation. But it is impossible to discuss the history of biology in the nineteenth century without emphasizing that those areas of biology most in the public eye had dependend on historical explanation. Wherever it was applied, historical explanation was deemed causal explanation The biologist-as-historian and the general historian of human events dealt with comparable phenomena and assumed necessarily a common mode of explanation
    Nineteenth-century biologists found a historical explanation of organic function attractive partly because their observation of the formation of a new cell from a preexisting cell seemed to confirm a historical explanation of cell generation. The same direct observation of continuous stages of development was also possible when they examined the complex sequence of events of embryogenesis. In both cases, the observer received a concrete impression that the daughter cell was brought into being, or caused, by the prior cell. The argument that these scientists employed confuses temporal succession and causal explanation, of course, but such confusion is the heart of most historical explanation.
    Not surprisingly, the evolutionary biologists of the nineteenth century encountered a particularly troublesome problem in their attempts to document historical explanation convincingly: the factual record of the history of life on earth (e. g. , that provided by fossils) was incomplete. The temporal continuity of living forms was convincing, but was an assumption that was difficult to uphold when one compared species or organisms forming any two stages of the evolutionary record. Nineteenth-century biologists recognized this problem and attempted to resolve it. Their solution today appears to be only verbal, but was then regarded as eminently causal. The fact of evolution demanded some connection between all reproducing individuals and the species that they compose, as well as between living species and their extinct ancestors. Their solution, the concept of heredity, seemed to fill in an admittedly deficient historical record and seemed to complete the argument for a historical explanation of evolutionary events.  
The passage would be most likely to appear in which of the following?
选项 A、An essay investigating the methodology used by historians of human events
B、A book outlining the history of biology in the nineteenth century
C、A seminar paper on the development of embryogenesis as a field of study in nineteenth-century biology
D、A review of a book whose topic is the discovery of fossils in the nineteenth century
E、A lecture whose subject is the limitations of experimental investigation in modern biology
答案B
解析 The passage discusses a turning point in the late nineteenth century in the history of biology. It then focuses primarily on the use of historical explanation in the field of biology during the nineteenth century. Therefore, it seems that, among the five options here, the one this passage would be most likely to appear in would be a book discussing the history of biology in the nineteenth century.
A    The passage focuses on nineteenth-century biologists’ use of historical explanation. It presents no specific investigation of how historians used that methodology. Therefore, it would not be of particular value in an essay investigating the methodology used by historians of human events.
B    Correct. The passage focuses mainly on nineteenth-century biologists’ use of historical explanation. It also mentions a turning point in the history of biology. It references the history of human events primarily as an analogy to help clarify the biologists’ use of this historical method. These facts about the passage suggest that, among the five options here, the one the passage would be most likely to appear in would be a book outlining the history of biology in the nineteenth century.
C    The passage spends only a portion of one paragraph saying anything about embryogenesis. Even that portion is primarily offered only to give some explanation of why nineteenth-century biologists were attracted to the use of historical explanation. It does not seem that it would appropriate to use the entire passage in a seminar paper on the topic of embryogenesis as a field of study in nineteenth-century biology.
D    There is no reference to a book whose topic is the discovery of fossils in the nineteenth century. The passage only briefly mentions fossils. It seems unlikely that the passage would be of any use to a review of such a book.
E    The passage says almost nothing about experimental investigation in modern biology, and says absolutely nothing about its limitations.
The correct answer is B.
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