The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
[S]pices were a global commodity centuries before European voyages. There was a complex chain of relations, yet consumers had little knowledge of producers and vice versa. Desire for spices helped fuel European colonial empires to create political, military and commercial networks under a single power.
Historians know a fair amount about the supply of spices in Europe during the medieval period – the origins, methods of transportation, the prices – but less about demand. Why go to such extraordinary efforts to procure expensive products from exotic lands? Still, demand was great enough to inspire the voyages of Christopher Columbus and Vasco Da Gama, launching the first fateful wave of European colonialism. . . .
So, why were spices so highly prized in Europe in the centuries from about 1000 to 1500? One widely disseminated explanation for medieval demand for spices was that they covered the taste of spoiled meat. . . . Medieval purchasers consumed meat much fresher than what the average city-dweller in the developed world of today has at hand. However, refrigeration was not available, and some hot spices have been shown to serve as an anti-bacterial agent. Salting, smoking or drying meat were other means of preservation. Most spices used in cooking began as medical ingredients, and throughout the Middle Ages spices were used as both medicines and condiments. Above all, medieval recipes involve the combination of medical and culinary lore in order to balance food's humeral properties and prevent disease. Most spices were hot and dry and so appropriate in sauces to counteract the moist and wet properties supposedly possessed by most meat and fish. . . .
Where spices came from was known in a vague sense centuries before the voyages of Columbus. Just how vague may be judged by looking at medieval world maps . . . To the medieval European imagination, the East was exotic and alluring. Medieval maps often placed India close to the so-called Earthly Paradise, the Garden of Eden described in the Bible.
Geographical knowledge has a lot to do with the perceptions of spices’ relative scarcity and the reasons for their high prices. An example of the varying notions of scarcity is the conflicting information about how pepper is harvested. As far back as the 7th century Europeans thought that pepper in India grew on trees "guarded" by serpents that would bite and poison anyone who attempted to gather the fruit. The only way to harvest pepper was to burn the trees, which would drive the snakes underground. Of course, this bit of lore would explain the shriveled black peppercorns, but not white, pink or other colors.
Spices never had the enduring allure or power of gold and silver or the commercial potential of new products such as tobacco, indigo or sugar. But the taste for spices did continue for a while beyond the Middle Ages. As late as the 17th century, the English and the Dutch were struggling for control of the Spice Islands: Dutch New Amsterdam, or New York, was exchanged by the British for one of the Moluccan Islands where nutmeg was grown.
Europeans would doubt the story of pepper harvesting.
The passage says Europeans believed pepper grew on trees guarded by serpents and could be harvested only by burning the trees.
It notes that this lore explains the shriveled black peppercorns but not white, pink or other colours.
White peppercorns would therefore not fit the story, and Europeans would have reason to doubt it. The other outcomes, such as falling prices, maps used for navigation, or pepper losing its exotic image, do not follow from one trader's cargo.
Hence, Europeans would doubt the story of pepper harvesting.
India was colonised for its spices and gold.
The passage says desire for spices helped fuel European colonial empires and that demand inspired the voyages that launched European colonialism, so colonialism and colonial expansion were driven by the spice trade.
It also says spices never had the commercial potential of new products such as tobacco, so tobacco was more marketable.
The passage does not say that India in particular was colonised, nor that it was colonised for gold; gold is mentioned only as a comparison for the allure of spices.
Hence, India was colonised for its spices and gold.
this is why pepper is so hot.
The snake story says pepper trees were guarded by serpents and the only way to harvest pepper was to burn the trees.
A listener could easily conclude that supply is limited, that the high price is justified, and that going to India to harvest pepper personally is unwise.
The story says nothing about the taste or heat of pepper; burning explains only the shriveled black look, so concluding that this is why pepper is hot is the least likely inference.
Hence, this is why pepper is so hot.
increase in the availability of spices.
The passage explains demand for spices through their uses: in cooking, to balance the humoral properties of meat and fish; as medicines, since most spices began as medical ingredients; and in a world without refrigeration, where some hot spices acted as anti-bacterial agents.
Changes in European cuisine, in the system of medical treatment and the arrival of refrigeration would each remove one of these uses, so they can be inferred to have reduced the allure of spices.
The passage discusses supply only to say that it is well known; it does not tie the appeal of spices to how plentiful they were, so a rise in availability is not supported as a cause.
Hence, increase in the availability of spices.
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According to the incentive or moral hazard argument, which one of the designs below is most consistent with the claim that some inequality can raise growth?
Which one of the options below best summarises the passage?
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Important Questions from Non Grammar
- In formulating Principle VI (a), the ILC clarified the term "waging of a war of aggression" because:
- The author attributes the growing public frustration with the UN primarily to which pair of continuous failures?
- A primary point of divergence between the US Conservative position and the Secretary-General's Conservative position on security matters, according to the summary is:
- According to the critique's conclusion, the immediate, insurmountable barrier preventing the implementation of any reform, major or minor, is:
- The Secretary-General's 'Agenda for Peace' proposed a specific military capability intended to address the gap between traditional peace-keeping and full military action. This proposed unit was explicitly characterized by the summary as being:
