单选题 4. In the 1600s there was intense competition in Europe to discover how to make porcelain. The two groups of Europeans working in China—Dutch merchants and French missionaries—each tried to discover the Chinese manufacturers' secrets. The first French missionary journal, was not published until 1717, several years after European porcelain manufacture began. Therefore, rather than copying the Chinese techniques, the European manufacturers must have learned by experiment.
Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest support for the argument? ______

A、 The techniques used by the first European makers of porcelain were essentially identical to techniques that Chinese porcelain maker used.
B、 The first European-manufactured porcelain items were comparable in quality to some of the lower-quality porcelain that was then being imported into Europe from China.
C、 The manuscript from which the 1717 journal article was published had been written down by French missionaries in China and sent to France some years before 1717.
D、 The particular raw materials that are needed to make porcelain were not used in European ceramic making until the manufacture of porcelain began.
E、 The first porcelain factory in Europe was founded in Germany by a manufacturer who had no channels of communication with China or Europeans working in China.

【正确答案】 E

【答案解析】 E：排除了欧洲制造商和中国人产生交流的可能性，因而加强了欧洲人自己原创了瓷器生产方法的可能性。
A：既然技术一样，这有可能说明欧洲人就是复制了中国的技术，削弱。
B：和瓷器品质无关。
C：这进一步说明了欧洲人复制中国技术的可能，削弱。
D：和原材料无关。