Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 66 | 100 RCs for GMAT PDF Download

To establish the uniqueness of the Byzantine revival

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

To suggest that cultural, economic, and military advances have tended to be closely interrelated in different societies

To argue that, while the revivals of Augustan Rome and fifth-century Athens were similar, they are unrelated to other historical examples

To indicate that, wherever possible, historians should seek to make comparisons with the earliest chronological examples of revival

in 600

during the seventh century

a century after the cultural achievements of the Byzantine Empire had been lost

soon after the revival of Byzantine learning

in the century after 873

The Byzantine military revival of the 860’s led to economic and cultural advances.

The Byzantine cultural revival lasted until 1453.

The Byzantine economic recovery began in the 900’s.

The revival of Byzantine learning began toward the end of the eighth century.

By the early eleventh century the Byzantine Empire had regained much of its lost territory.

The Byzantine Empire was a unique case in which the usual order of military and economic revival preceding cultural revival was reversed.

The economic, cultural, and military revival in the Byzantine Empire between the eighth and eleventh centuries was similar in its order to the sequence of revivals in Augustan Rome and fifth century Athens.

After 810 Byzantine economic recovery spurred a military and, later, cultural expansion that lasted until 1453.

The eighth-century revival of Byzantine learning is an inexplicable phenomenon, and its economic and military precursors have yet to be discovered.

The revival of the Byzantine Empire between the eighth and eleventh centuries shows cultural rebirth preceding economic and military revival, the reverse of the commonly accepted order of progress.

had reached their peak and begun to decline

had eliminated the Bulgarian army

were comparable in size to the army of Rome under Augustus

were strong enough to withstand the Abbasid Caliphate’s military forces

had achieved control of Byzantine governmental structures

suggest that the process of revival in Byzantium accords with this model

set up an order of events that is then shown to be not generally applicable to the case of Byzantium

cast aspersions on traditional historical scholarship about Byzantium

suggest that Byzantium represents a case for which no historical precedent exists

argue that military conquest is the paramount element in the growth of empires

revolutionary and too new to have been applied to the history of the Byzantine Empire

reasonable, but an antiquated theory of the nature of progress

not applicable to the Byzantine revival as a whole, but does perhaps accurately describe limited periods during the revival

equally applicable to the Byzantine case as a whole and to the history of military, economic, and cultural advances in ancient Greece and Rome

essentially not helpful, because military, economic, and cultural advances are part of a single phenomenon