A. The first is the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second reports a discovery that has been used to support a position that the argument opposes.
Incorrect : Second BF uses the words 'would surely have' which strongly suggests it is NOT A DISCOVERY. Eliminated.

B. The first is the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second presents an assumption on which the argument relies.
Incorrect : Assumption is an unstated premise. Anything that is stated in the argument CANNOT be an ASSUMPTION. Hence, in boldface question types, any answer choice that says 'assumption' can be eliminated without further thought.

C. The first presents evidence that is used in support of the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second presents an assumption on which the argument relies.
Incorrect : ===== Same as B =====

D. The first is an objection raised against a position that the argument opposes; the second is the position that the argument seeks to establish.
Incorrect : Second BF is certainly not a 'POSITION' that the argument seeks to establish. Eliminated.

E. The first is an objection raised against a position that the argument opposes; the second is evidence that has been used to support that position
Correct : We arrived at this answer choice by POE.

Hope this helps : )

komal wrote:A. The first is the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second reports a discovery that has been used to support a position that the argument opposes.
Incorrect : Second BF uses the words 'would surely have' which strongly suggests it is NOT A DISCOVERY. Eliminated.

B. The first is the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second presents an assumption on which the argument relies.
Incorrect : Assumption is an unstated premise. Anything that is stated in the argument CANNOT be an ASSUMPTION. Hence, in boldface question types, any answer choice that says 'assumption' can be eliminated without further thought.

C. The first presents evidence that is used in support of the position that the argument seeks to establish; the second presents an assumption on which the argument relies.
Incorrect : ===== Same as B =====

D. The first is an objection raised against a position that the argument opposes; the second is the position that the argument seeks to establish.
Incorrect : Second BF is certainly not a 'POSITION' that the argument seeks to establish. Eliminated.

E. The first is an objection raised against a position that the argument opposes; the second is evidence that has been used to support that position
Correct : We arrived at this answer choice by POE.

Hope this helps : )

[spoiler]I rejected B on a similar reasoning as yours but
the OA B
is it because the use of would refers to a hypothetical situation . Hence an assumption[/spoiler]

At the outset , one can easily make out that the first bold statement is not an objection to any extent .
Its the crux of whole argument and its what the whole argument is trying to convey .

Carefully mark words like " a strong case can be made that the " for this bold statement . So author is trying to prove a point with this bold statement so any choices stating first bold statement as objection is out.Also first choice is not a set of facts and hence not an evidence .So C,D and E are out of the game.

A is ruled out because second bold statement is about some hypothectical case as it uses word 'would' and hence its not a discovery , as a hypothetical aspect cant be termed as something which one 'discovered'.You discover concrete facts. Second problem with choice A is its nowhere in oppostion or in contrast to what author is trying to convey .There is no position as such taken in this argument which author is trying to oppose.The second bold statement is in favor of the first bold stmnt infact. Choice A is out because of flaws with its description for 2nd bold statement

Only choice B remains as others are clearly out by POE . Only thing which worries me about choice B is the use od word 'assumption' . Assumption is never explicitly stated in an argument . It would have been better as 'consideration' or 'idea' or 'thought' here instead of 'assumption'. But still you got to allow this benefit of doubt to this choice as other choices are clearly wrong.

My "trick" to solve this Boldface is looked for the term " would surely have adopted ". In Many cases the term " would" signifies certain degree of uncertainity and thus if used as a strengthening factor then that becomes a "assumption" on which the author relies.

So on that note, only B& C survives. Coming to the first boldface, I could clearly see, he tries to establish a stong case that Thessalonians adopted alphabets much earlier say in 10 B.C itself.

Clearly its NOT A EVIDENCE HE TRIES TO PUT ACROSS. Rather he tries to take a "stand" for a argument.

So negate C and we are down only with B.

So B wins.

I have seen in many cases POE works out very well.Adding on to that If we can make out atleast one portion of the BF then we can zero down easily & precisely.

What's the source of the question? Can you confirm the OA?

I agree with rohan_vus and gmat_machoman when they say that "would surely" is better said as a consideration rather than an assumption. But the reason I eliminated E and landed down on B was that the first point of E is correct, but second one states that "the second is evidence that has been used to support that position". However, "that position" in first part is the position that argument opposes. And the position that argument opposes is that they did not elarn two centuries ago. This is certainly not what the second point supports. I think this shall help you Komal to rethink on E. Sry didnt get time to explain in detail. However, going by definition of "Assumption" in Logic Theory, B cannot be right, but going by "Correct English" since the author is not confident by saying "would surely have", it can be called an assumption. Finally however, things can boil down to B by PoE.

OA B

I like the explanation on B