After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century A.D. the availability of written texts plummeted in Europe as papyrus (paper-like material made from plants) from the Middle East was no longer available, so books, which were handwritten, were inscribed on dried animal skins, or parchment, and were produced in dedicated copying rooms in monasteries, called scriptoria. Monks would read out the text as they copied it, a form of prayer or meditation whereby the scribe absorbed the wisdom of the book. Other monks would then add elaborate illustrations in colored inks and gold leaf. The skin of a cow or sheep would provide enough parchment for only two or four pages of a large book, however, which meant that some texts required the skins of an entire herd of animals. All this made books so expensive to produce that, aside from monasteries, only noblemen or royalty could afford to own them.
Things began to change in the late eleventh century, with the rise of universities, the European rediscovery of the knowledge of classical civilizations (in part through exchanges with the Islamic world, which had preserved and extended it), greater trade, and rising literacy. Demand for books began to pick up. The introduction to Europe of paper, a Chinese invention, by the Arabs in the twelfth century provided a cheaper and more readily available alternative to parchment. The slow, painstaking approach of the scriptoria could turn out the small number of books needed by the church but could not meet the rising demand for nonreligious texts. As a result, universities succeeded monasteries as the main centers of book production and copying. But the expense and difficulty of copying meant that a typical university library in Europe had a very limited selection of books. In 1424,for example, the library at the University of Cambridge in England had just 122 volumes. Students would listen to a lecturer as he read from a single copy of a book, adding his own explanations as he went. Without their own copies to consult, they would rely on their own notes, or on notes taken by previous generations of students and passed from hand to hand.
The pecia system developed in the thirteenth century was an attempt to scale up the hand copying of books. It involved dividing a copy of a book into sections just a few pages long, called peciae, and then assigning them out for recopying by students or scribes, who would gradually build up a complete set of copied peciae. Allowing several copyists to copy different parts of a book at the same time in this way was much more efficient than lending out an entire book to one person for copying. It was even more efficient when students lent each other their copied peciae for recopying. In addition to paper, another innovation, also introduced into Europe from China via the Arab world in the twelfth century, was the printing of images and small amounts of text using carefully carved wooden blocks. But carving reversed text into wooden blocks was difficult and time consuming, so it was not suitable for copying entire books.
Johannes Gutenberg was one of many people who began to look for a more efficient approach. Around 1440， after years of secretive experimentation, he managed to put together all the elements necessary for the systematic reproduction of long texts. The first element was the type itself: the individual letters, made of metal, from which wors, lines, and then pages could be composed. Gutenberg, who came from a family of goldsmiths, worked out how to produce large quantities of each letter reliably and accurately using a special mixture of lead and tin and an adjustable mold that enabled him to make metal letters of different widths. The second element was a carefully formulated oil-based ink that, unlike water-based ink, was thick enough to stick to the metal type. The third element gave Gutenberg’s invention its name -the printing press. To apply the inked type to the paper with an even pressure, Gutenberg used a modified version of the screw press, an invention that dated back to Roman times and was used in his native Germany to make wine. Gutenberg’s system could produce hundreds of copies in a single day.
1
Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
AWith papyrus no longer available in Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire, books decreased in number and were hand copied on parchment in monasteries.
BDuring the Roman Empire, most written texts were hand copied in the Middle East on paper-like material from plants or produced in dedicated copying rooms called scriptoria.
CAfter the collapse of the Roman Empire, book production in Europe increased, with dried animal skins replacing papyrus as the preferred material for copying books in monasteries.
DAfter the collapse of the Roman Empire, monasteries in Europe began to produce their own papyrus, which they used for copying books in scriptoria.
2
After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century A.D. the availability of written texts plummeted in Europe as papyrus (paper-like material made from plants) from the Middle East was no longer available, so books, which were handwritten, were inscribed on dried animal skins, or parchment, and were produced in dedicated copying rooms in monasteries, called scriptoria. Monks would read out the text as they copied it, a form of prayer or meditation whereby the scribe absorbed the wisdom of the book. Other monks would then add elaborate illustrations in colored inks and gold leaf. The skin of a cow or sheep would provide enough parchment for only two or four pages of a large book, however, which meant that some texts required the skins of an entire herd of animals. All this made books so expensive to produce that, aside from monasteries, only noblemen or royalty could afford to own them.
According to paragraph 1， all of the following were true about books produced in Europe after the fifth century A.D. EXCEPT:
AThe process used to copy books had a religious element.
BSome books contained colorful illustrations.
CThe skins of many animals had to be used to produce books.
DColored inks and gold leaf were reserved only for the books sold to noblemen or royalty.
3
Things began to change in the late eleventh century, with the rise of universities, the European rediscovery of the knowledge of classical civilizations (in part through exchanges with the Islamic world, which had preserved and extended it), greater trade, and rising literacy. Demand for books began to pick up. The introduction to Europe of paper, a Chinese invention, by the Arabs in the twelfth century provided a cheaper and more readily available alternative to parchment. The slow, painstaking approach of the scriptoria could turn out the small number of books needed by the church but could not meet the rising demand for nonreligious texts. As a result, universities succeeded monasteries as the main centers of book production and copying. But the expense and difficulty of copying meant that a typical university library in Europe had a very limited selection of books. In 1424,for example, the library at the University of Cambridge in England had just 122 volumes. Students would listen to a lecturer as he read from a single copy of a book, adding his own explanations as he went. Without their own copies to consult, they would rely on their own notes, or on notes taken by previous generations of students and passed from hand to hand.
The word “consult”in the passage is closest in meaning to
Abring along
Bmake
Crefer to
Dkeep
4
Things began to change in the late eleventh century, with the rise of universities, the European rediscovery of the knowledge of classical civilizations (in part through exchanges with the Islamic world, which had preserved and extended it), greater trade, and rising literacy. Demand for books began to pick up. The introduction to Europe of paper, a Chinese invention, by the Arabs in the twelfth century provided a cheaper and more readily available alternative to parchment. The slow, painstaking approach of the scriptoria could turn out the small number of books needed by the church but could not meet the rising demand for nonreligious texts. As a result, universities succeeded monasteries as the main centers of book production and copying. But the expense and difficulty of copying meant that a typical university library in Europe had a very limited selection of books. In 1424,for example, the library at the University of Cambridge in England had just 122 volumes. Students would listen to a lecturer as he read from a single copy of a book, adding his own explanations as he went. Without their own copies to consult, they would rely on their own notes, or on notes taken by previous generations of students and passed from hand to hand.
Paragraph 2 supports the idea that universities became the main centers of book production and copying because
Amore books were needed than monasteries were able to produce
Bfaster methods of copying by hand were learned by scholars studying the methods used in other parts of the world
Cthe universities began using paper, while the monasteries continued to use parchment
Dnew developments greatly reduced the ability of monasteries to copy written texts
5
Things began to change in the late eleventh century, with the rise of universities, the European rediscovery of the knowledge of classical civilizations (in part through exchanges with the Islamic world, which had preserved and extended it), greater trade, and rising literacy. Demand for books began to pick up. The introduction to Europe of paper, a Chinese invention, by the Arabs in the twelfth century provided a cheaper and more readily available alternative to parchment. The slow, painstaking approach of the scriptoria could turn out the small number of books needed by the church but could not meet the rising demand for nonreligious texts. As a result, universities succeeded monasteries as the main centers of book production and copying. But the expense and difficulty of copying meant that a typical university library in Europe had a very limited selection of books. In 1424,for example, the library at the University of Cambridge in England had just 122 volumes. Students would listen to a lecturer as he read from a single copy of a book, adding his own explanations as he went. Without their own copies to consult, they would rely on their own notes, or on notes taken by previous generations of students and passed from hand to hand.
In paragraph 2,why does the author discuss practices of students and lecturers at the newly created European universities?
ATo describe a teaching method introduced by the University of Cambridge
BTo identify one source of written texts in university libraries
CTo support the idea that universities became less religious over time
DTo illustrate consequences of the highly limited availability of books
6
The pecia system developed in the thirteenth century was an attempt to scale up the hand copying of books. It involved dividing a copy of a book into sections just a few pages long, called peciae, and then assigning them out for recopying by students or scribes, who would gradually build up a complete set of copied peciae. Allowing several copyists to copy different parts of a book at the same time in this way was much more efficient than lending out an entire book to one person for copying. It was even more efficient when students lent each other their copied peciae for recopying. In addition to paper, another innovation, also introduced into Europe from China via the Arab world in the twelfth century, was the printing of images and small amounts of text using carefully carved wooden blocks. But carving reversed text into wooden blocks was difficult and time consuming, so it was not suitable for copying entire books.
According to paragraph 3,which of the following was an advantage of the pecia system?
AIt made it possible for a scribe to copy each individual page more quickly.
BIt made it unnecessary for scribes to lend books to one another for copying.
CIt allowed complete copies of books to be recopied by one person.
DIt allowed several people to work on copying one book at the same time.
7
The pecia system developed in the thirteenth century was an attempt to scale up the hand copying of books. It involved dividing a copy of a book into sections just a few pages long, called peciae, and then assigning them out for recopying by students or scribes, who would gradually build up a complete set of copied peciae. Allowing several copyists to copy different parts of a book at the same time in this way was much more efficient than lending out an entire book to one person for copying. It was even more efficient when students lent each other their copied peciae for recopying. In addition to paper, another innovation, also introduced into Europe from China via the Arab world in the twelfth century, was the printing of images and small amounts of text using carefully carved wooden blocks. But carving reversed text into wooden blocks was difficult and time consuming, so it was not suitable for copying entire books.
According to paragraph 3， which of the following was a problem with using carved wooden blocks for copying books?
AThis method did not work well when a book included both images and text.
BThis method was difficult to use for recopying separate peciae.
CThis method could not be efficiently used for making complete copies of books.
DThis method could not be used for copying texts on paper.
8
Johannes Gutenberg was one of many people who began to look for a more efficient approach. Around 1440， after years of secretive experimentation, he managed to put together all the elements necessary for the systematic reproduction of long texts. The first element was the type itself: the individual letters, made of metal, from which wors, lines, and then pages could be composed. Gutenberg, who came from a family of goldsmiths, worked out how to produce large quantities of each letter reliably and accurately using a special mixture of lead and tin and an adjustable mold that enabled him to make metal letters of different widths. The second element was a carefully formulated oil-based ink that, unlike water-based ink, was thick enough to stick to the metal type. The third element gave Gutenberg’s invention its name -the printing press. To apply the inked type to the paper with an even pressure, Gutenberg used a modified version of the screw press, an invention that dated back to Roman times and was used in his native Germany to make wine. Gutenberg’s system could produce hundreds of copies in a single day.
According to paragraph 4,Gutenberg did all of the following in creating his invention EXCEPT:
AHe experimented in secret for a long time.
BHe used a combination of lead and tin to produce large numbers of letters.
CHe mixed oil-based ink with water-based ink.
DHe adapted technology from wine making for pressing inked type onto paper.
9
Things began to change in the late eleventh century, with the rise of universities, the European rediscovery of the knowledge of classical civilizations (in part through exchanges with the Islamic world, which had preserved and extended it), greater trade, and rising literacy. ■ Demand for books began to pick up. ■The introduction to Europe of paper, a Chinese invention, by the Arabs in the twelfth century provided a cheaper and more readily available alternative to parchment. ■The slow, painstaking approach of the scriptoria could turn out the small number of books needed by the church but could not meet the rising demand for nonreligious texts. ■As a result, universities succeeded monasteries as the main centers of book production and copying. But the expense and difficulty of copying meant that a typical university library in Europe had a very limited selection of books. In 1424,for example, the library at the University of Cambridge in England had just 122 volumes. Students would listen to a lecturer as he read from a single copy of a book, adding his own explanations as he went. Without their own copies to consult, they would rely on their own notes, or on notes taken by previous generations of students and passed from hand to hand.
Look at the four squaresthat indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage
This increasing interest in books occurred at about the same time as foreign trade brought a new material for their production.
Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square sentence to the passage.
10
The methods and tools used to write down and spread knowledge have advanced over the centuries.
AWritten texts were widespread during the Roman Empire, when literacy rates were high and the exchange of knowledge between the Middle East and European monasteries flourished.
BUniversities often obtained written materials through trade with China and the Arab world, whose methods of woodblock printing allowed large-scale copying of texts.
CMost elements of the printing press were already in use, but Gutenberg used his family’s wealth to finance the construction of multiple presses and the printing of hundreds of books.
DFor centuries, monks copied books on animal skins, and this time- consuming and expensive process became a major problem when the demand for books increased.
ECopying books by hand remained slow, though its inefficiencies were reduced by a system in which books were separated into sections for copying, often by students.
FThe speed of copying written texts greatly increased when, in 1440, a German developed a way to use a press and metal type to transfer words to paper.
