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  3. THE RISE OF MOSCOW (1) The rise of Moscow during medieval times was a fundamental development in Russian history. Moscow beg

THE RISE OF MOSCOW (1) The rise of Moscow during medieval times was a fundamental development in Russian history. Moscow beg

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问题                                             THE RISE OF MOSCOW
    (1) The rise of Moscow during medieval times was a fundamental development in Russian history. Moscow began with very little and for a long time could not be compared to such flourishing principalities as Novgorod or Galicia. Even in its own area, the northeast, it was junior to old centers like Rostov and Suzdal. In accounting for Moscow’s rise, historians have emphasized several factors or rather groups of factors.
    (2) First, attention may be given to the doctrine of geographic causation. It stresses the decisive importance of the location on Moscow for the later expansion of the Muscovite state (the medieval state centered in Moscow) and includes several lines of argument. Moscow lay as a crossing of three roads. The most important was the way from the historically crucial city of Kiev and the declining south to the growing northeast. In fact Moscow has been described as the first stopping and setting point in the northeast. But it also profited from moments in other directions, including the reverse. Thus it seems immigrants came to Moscow after the Mongol devastation of the lands further to the northeast. Moscow was also situated on a bend of the Moscow River that flows from the northwest to the southeast into the Oka, the largest western tributary of the Volga River. To speak more broadly of water communications which span and unite European Russia, Moscow has the rare fortune of being located near the headwaters of four major rivers: the Oka, the Volga, the Don, and the Dnieper. This offered marvelous opportunities for expansion across the flowing plain, especially as there were no mountains or other natural obstacles to hem in the young principality.
    (3) In another sense too, Moscow benefited from a central position. It stood in the midst of lands inhabited by the Russian people which, so the argument runs, provided a proper setting for a natural growth in all directions. In fact some specialists have tried to estimate precisely how close to the geographic center of the Russian people Moscow was situated, noting also such circumstances as proximity to the land dividing the two main dialects of the Great Russian language. Central location within Russia, to make an additional point, cushioned Moscow from outside invaders. Thus, for example, it was the city of Novgorod, not Moscow, that continuously had to meet enemies from the northwest, while in the southeast Riazan absorbed the first blow from the direction. All in all, the considerable significance of the location on Moscow cannot be denied although this geographic factor has generally been assigned less relative weight by recent, scholars.
    (4) The economic argument is linked in part to the geographic. [A] The Moscow River served as an important trade artery, and as the Muscovite principality expanded around its waterways, it profited by and in turn helped to promote increasing economic intercourse. [B] One school of thought has treated the expansion of Moscow largely in terms of the growth of a common market. [C] Another economic approach emphasizes the success of the Muscovite princes in developing agriculture in their domains and supporting colonization. These princes clearly outdistance their rivals in obtaining peasants to settle in their lands. [D] As a further advantage, they managed to maintain in their realm a relative peace and security highly beneficial to economic life.
    (5) The last view introduces another key factor in explaining the Muscovite rise: the role of the rulers of Moscow. Moscow has generally been considered fortunate in its princes. Sheer luck constituted an important part of the picture. For several generations, the princes of Moscow had the advantage of male succession without interruption or conflict. In particular, for a long time the sons of the princes of Moscow were lucky not to have uncles competing for the Muscovite seat. When the classic power struggle between royal uncles and nephews finally erupted under Basil II (reigned 1425—1462), direct succession from father to son possessed sufficient standing and support in the principality of Moscow to overcome the challenge. The principality has also been considered fortunate because its early rulers, descending from the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky (1220—1263) and thus representing a junior princely branch, found it expedient to devote themselves to their small holdings instead of neglecting them for more ambitious undertakings elsewhere.
Look at the four squares [ ■ ] that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage. Scholars have debated the relative importance of various economic factors in the principality’ s overall success.
Where would the sentence best fit?
选项
答案B
解析 本题属于插入句子题。需要插入的句子意为“学者们讨论各种经济因素对莫斯科公园成功的重要性”，提示承接的下文应该会指出学者们讨论了何种经济因素。原文第4段第3、4句包含One…Another…这对结构配对词，这两句话的意思是“有一种学派认为，莫斯科的扩张在很大程度上取决于共同市场的发展。另一种经济方法则强调莫斯科王子们在发展他们自己领土内的农业和支持殖民扩张方面所取得的成功”。因此，很明显，句子应该插入在这两句话之前，形成一个逻辑完整的总分结构：学者们讨论各种经济因素——观点1——观点2，故句子应插入B处。A处后面这句话是对第4段首句展开的解释和描述，内容和逻辑都很连贯，故无须插入任何信息。C处可以直接排除，因为One…Another…结构清晰完整，中间不需要插入其他信息。D处后的内容是对第4句内容的补充，所以这里也不需要插入多余的信息。   
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