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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.
It can be inferred from the passage that by the eleventh century the Byzantine military forces
选项 A、had reached their peak and begun to decline.
B、had eliminated the Bulgarian army.
C、were comparable in size to the army of Rome under Augustus.
D、were strong enough to withstand the Abbasid Caliphate’s military forces.
E、had achieved control of Byzantine governmental structures.
答案D
解析 从文中推出，到11世纪时，拜占庭军事力量：A．达到了顶峰，开始衰落。见原文L17—21，11世纪初期应是军事强盛。B．消灭了保加利亚军队。无。C．和奥古斯都统治下罗马军队规模相仿。文中未提军队的规模问题。D．已经能强大到抵御阿拉伯哈里发军队的程度了。正确。见原文L57—60。原文L17—21又指出，到11世纪时军事力量仍强盛，因此此选项正确。E．控制拜占庭政府机构。无。
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