大全 7/63

[吳]

Passage 7 (7/63)
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 extinguish 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 obvious examples in antiquity. Moreover, an examination of the apparent sequential connections among military, economic, 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 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.

5.In the third paragraph, the author most probably provides an explanation of the apparent connections among economic, military, and cultural development in order to
(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

請問一下為什麼答案是B,我覺得是A
因為作者第四段才反駁這個拜占庭不是這個order,題目不是問第三段而已嗎?第三段只有講拜占庭可能符合某個order,並沒有反駁阿,還是做這題的時候,要同時考慮第3.4段?tks..

[td91]

The common explanation of these apparent connections in the case of Byzantium would run like this

這句可知這段不是作者的本意，是作者引述一般的說法


第四段的第一句No doubt.........Yet it is not clear that military advances invariably came first....才表達出作者想要說明那些events並不一定都適用

給你參考一下，有錯麻蠻指正一下，謝謝...

[oguz]

The common explanation of these apparent connections in the case of Byzantium would run like this

這句可知這段不是作者的本意，是作者引述一般的說法


第四段的第一句No doubt.........Yet it is not clear that military advances invariably came first....才表達出作者想要說明那些events並不一定都適用

給你參考一下，有錯麻蠻指正一下，謝謝...

因為第三段一開始提到了the common explanation of~ 表這只是一般大眾的解釋
而第四段作者將這說法推翻，讓第三段成了他推翻的理由
因此也就暗示了如同B選項說的:這個發生順序是不適用於拜占庭的

[raymangg]

同意前兩位的看法

除此之外 , 我覺得這題比較像在考段落跟段落間的關係
就第三段本身而言 , (A)算ok
但是考慮到作者寫這篇文章的段落關係時 , (B)又比(A)更符合作者所要
表達的內容