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下面为大家推荐的是一篇SAT文章阅读模拟题的相关内容，后面附有题目和答案。SAT文章阅读和大家以往接触过的阅读题目都有些不同，特点非常明显，需要大家经过一段时间的练习才能正确的掌握。下面我们来看看这篇SAT文章阅读的详细内容吧。 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 scho- larship 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 conn- ections 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 lit- erature. Therefore, Byzantine military achievements led to economic advances, which in turn led to cultural revival. | 
