单选题 The first people to inhabit North America came from Asia. Scientists had hypothesized that these people traveled across a now-submerged landmass that connected the two continents until 14,000 years ago, depending for food only on the land animals they hunted as they traveled. Recent discoveries have led to the new hypothesis that the first people came by boat along the southern shore of the landmass, eating fish and sea mammals.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the new hypothesis by casting doubt on the earlier hypothesis?

A、 The landmass connecting North America and Asia extended very far to the north.
B、 In Europe, maritime cultures primarily dependent on the sea for food developed no earlier than 10,000 years ago.
C、 People living in Asia at the time the two continents were connected hunted land animals for food.
D、 The landmass was so bitterly cold that its vegetation would have been too sparse to support land animals.
E、 (E) Sophisticated and mature North American and Asian cultures that display great similarities to each other existed as far back as 8,000 years ago.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 两种假说只能有一种正确。因此能对第一种假说质疑的选项就能给第二种假说提供支持，质疑第一种假说就是怀疑人们当时不可能从那块陆地上到达北美。(D)指出那块土地如此寒冷，以至于那里的植物很稀少，不足以喂养陆地动物就质疑了第一种假说中的“人们在那块陆地上旅行时，靠捕猎到的陆地动物为食”。没有动物，横穿大陆的人就无以生存，横穿那块现已沉到海下的大陆就成为一种美丽的童话，因此(D)为本题的正确答案；(A)为无关选项；(B)易被误选，选(B)的人会认为(B)对第二种假说构成了支持，但应注意两种观点所争执的是发生在1.4万年前的事，因此1万年前海洋文化的开始削弱了人们乘船到达北美的假说；(C)对第一种假说构成了支持；(E)与两种假说的结论无关。