2. 外语
  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.
In the third paragraph, the author most probably provides an explanation of the apparent connections among economic, military, and cultural development in order to
选项 A、suggest that the process of revival in Byzantium accords with this model.
B、set up an order of events that is then shown to be not generally applicable to the case of Byzantium.
C、cast aspersions on traditional historical scholarship about Byzantium.
D、suggest that Byzantium represents a case for which no historical precedent exists.
E、argue that military conquest is the paramount element in the growth of empires.
答案B
解析 第三段，作者提供军事、经济、文化发展之间的联系最可能是为了：A．指出拜占庭符合这个模式。错误。作者在后面已指出，此种说法和拜占庭实际情况不符。B．给出一个顺序，随后又说明它并不适用于拜占庭。正确。C．cast aspersions太过分。D．暗示拜占庭是一个没有历史先例的例证。无。E．军事占领是帝国成长最重要的因素。无。
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