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  3. Between the eighth and eleventh centuries A. D. , the Byzantine Empire staged an almost unparalleled economic and cultural reviv

Between the eighth and eleventh centuries A. D. , the Byzantine Empire staged an almost unparalleled economic and cultural reviv

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问题     Between the eighth and eleventh centuries A. D. , the Byzantine Empire staged an almost unparalleled economic and cultural revival, a recovery that is all the more striking because it followed a long period of severe internal decline. By the early eighth century, the empire had lost roughly two-thirds of the territory it had possessed in the year 600, and its remaining area was being raided by Arabs and Bulgarians, who at times threatened to take Constantinople and extinguished the empire altogether. The wealth of the state and its subjects was greatly diminished, and artistic and literary production had virtually ceased. By the early eleventh century, however, the empire had regained almost half of its lost possessions, its new frontiers were secure, and its influence extended far beyond its borders. The economy had recovered, the treasury was full, and art and scholarship had advanced.
    To consider the Byzantine military, cultural, and economic advances as differentiated aspects of a single phenomenon is reasonable. After all, these three forms of progress have gone together in a number of states and civiliza- tions. Rome under Augustus and fifth-century Athens provide the most obvious examples in antiquity. Moreover, an examination of the apparent sequential connections among military, eco- nomic, and cultural forms of progress might help explain the dynamics of historical change.
    The common explanation of these apparent connections in the case of Byzantium would run like this: when the empire had turned back enemy raids on its own territory and had begun to raid and conquer enemy territory, Byzantine resources naturally expanded and more money became available to patronize art and literature. Therefore, Byzantine military achievements led to economic advances, which in turn led to cultural revival.  No doubt this hypothetical pattern did apply at times during the course of the recovery. Yet it is not clear that military advances invariably came first, economic advances second, and intellec- tual advances third. In the 860’ s the Byzantine Empire began to recover from Arab incursions so that by 872 the military balance with the Abbasid Caliphate had been permanently altered in the em- pire’s favor. The beginning of the empire’ s economic revival, however, can be placed between 810 and 830. Finally, the Byzantine revival of learning appears to have begun even earlier. A number of notable scholars and writers appeared by 788 and, by the last decade of the eighth century, a cultural revival was in full bloom, a revival that lasted until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Thus the commonly expected order of military revival followed by economic and then by cultural recovery was reversed in Byzantium. In fact,the revival of Byzantine learning may itself have in- fluenced the subsequent economic and military expansion.
The primary purpose of the second paragraph is which of the following?
选项 A、To establish the uniqueness of the Byzantine revival.
B、To show that Augustan Rome and fifth-century Athens are examples of cultural, economic, and military expansion against which all subsequent cases must be measured.
C、To suggest that cultural, economic and military advances have tended to be closely interrelated in different societies.
D、To argue that, while the revivals of Augustan Rome and fifth-century Athens were similar, they are unrelated to other historical examples.
E、To indicate that, wherever possible, historians should seek to make comparisons with the earliest chronological examples of revival.
答案C
解析 第二段的主要目的是：A．证明拜占庭复兴的独特性。无。B．指出所有关于军事、经济、文化复兴的事实都要以古罗马、希腊为标准。无。C．正确。指出文化经济、军事进步在不同社会里都有紧密的联系。此段第一句、最后一句都说明了此点。D．虽然古罗马、希腊复兴类似，但是和其他历史例证无关。无。E．指出，只要可能，历史学家应该用复兴的最早证据比较。无。
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