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

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

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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 civilizations. Rome under Augustus and fifth century Athens provide the most obviously examples in antiquity. Moreover, an examination of the apparent sequential connections among military, economic, and cultural forms of programs 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 recovery. Yet it is not clear that military advances invariably came first, economic second, and intellectual 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 empire’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 influenced the subsequent economic and military expansion.
The primary purpose of the second paragraph is which of the following?
选项 A、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.
B、To suggest that cultural, economic, and military advances have tended to be Closely interrelated in different societies.
C、To argue that, while the revivals of Augustan Rome and fifth-century Athens were similar, they are unrelated to other historical examples.
D、To indicate that, wherever possible, historians should seek to make comparisons with the earliest chronological examples of revival,
答案B
解析 段落主旨题。问第二段的写作目的。英文段落多有主题句，不是头就是尾，本段头尾都有，首句提出把3者的复兴视为同一现象的不同表现，末句指出考察3者间次第出现的联系(sequential connections)有助于理解历史。由此可见，作者在强调这3者间的联系，所以选项B 3者在不同社会有紧密联系(closely interrelated)与其相符。其他几个选项不仅不是本段的主题，也不符合作者的观点。
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