Nineteenth-century architect Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc contended that Paris’s Notre-Dame cathedral, built primarily in the

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问题 Nineteenth-century architect Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc contended that Paris’s Notre-Dame cathedral, built primarily in the late twelfth century, was supported from the very beginning by a system of flying buttresses—a series of exterior arches(flyers)
line and their supports(buttresses)—which permitted the construction of taller vaulted
5 buildings with slimmer walls and interior supports than had been possible previously. Other commentators insist, however, that Notre-Dame did not have flying buttresses until the thirteenth or fourteenth century, when they were added to update the building aesthetically and correct its structural flaws. Although post-twelfth-century modifications and renovations complicate efforts to resolve this controversy—all
10 pre-fifteenth-century flyers have been replaced, and the buttresses have been rebuilt and/or resurfaced—it is nevertheless possible to tell that both the nave and the choir, the church’s two major parts, have always had flying buttresses. It is clear, now that nineteenth-century paint and plaster have been removed, that the nave’s lower buttresses date from the twelfth century. Moreover, the choir’s lower flyers have chevron
15(zigzag)decoration. Chevron decoration, which was characteristic of the second half of the twelfth century and was out of favor by the fourteenth century, is entirely absent from modifications to the building that can be dated with confidence to the thirteenth century.
Description
The passage describes a disagreement about when Notre-Dame cathedral was supported by flying buttresses, with Viollet-le-Duc arguing that buttresses were present from the cathedral’s construction in the late twelfth century and others claiming the buttresses were built later. The author of the passage goes on to present evidence that suggests that Viollet-le-Duc’s argument is correct.
The claim of the "other commentators"(line 6)suggests that they believe which of the following about Notre-Dame?

选项 A、It was the inspiration for many vaulted cathedrals built in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
B、Its design flaws were not apparent until flying buttresses were added in the thirteenth or fourteenth century.
C、Its flying buttresses are embellished with decoration characteristic of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
D、It had been modified in some respects before flying buttresses were added in the thirteenth or fourteenth century.
E、It was originally constructed in an architectural style that was considered outmoded by the thirteenth or fourteenth century.

答案E

解析 The passage states that the "other commentators" claim that Notre-Dame first received flying buttresses when it was updated for aesthetic and structural reasons in the thirteenth or fourteenth century. This claim thus suggests that the aesthetics of Notre-Dame were then seen as out of date, making Choice E correct. Choice A is incorrect because the passage does not include any information about other cathedrals, let alone attribute a view of them to the other commentators. While the other commentators do suggest that the design of Notre-Dame was seen as flawed in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, they say that flying buttresses were added to correct these flaws, not that the flaws became apparent after the addition of the flying buttresses, which makes Choice B incorrect. Choice C is incorrect because the passage does not attribute any views of the embellishments on the flying buttresses to the other commentators; similarly, Choice D is incorrect because the passage does not describe the other commentators as discussing any modifications prior to the thirteenth or fourteenth century.
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