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version K until then L set M skeptical N times O by then The West has begun to take more notice of the East. The fifth volume of an enormous ___________ (1) reassessing the Chinese contribution to science and technology is to be published next year. The first volume, which was published twenty years ago, ____________ (2) the tone of the whole work. In it, evidence was given to show that many inventions which, ____________ (3), western historians had claimed for Europe were made first in China. The attempt to rewrite the intellectual history of the world was not received ____________ (4) protested by some reputable historians. However, the evidence that has been presented so far in the first four volumes has persuaded many historians who were ____________ (5) at first. China’s invention of paper, printing, the magnetic compass and gunpowder _____________ (6) disputed, but this new history has added advanced bridge design, mechanical clocks, paddle boats and many other inventions to the list. In the four volumes published so far no attempt has been made to explain why China has not kept up with the West in science and technology in modern ____________ (7). It is probable that the answer __________ (8) found in the social and economic history of China, where a static society under a relatively benevolent regime of scholar-gentry _____________ (9) the potentially revolutionary and dynamic society of the West at the end of the Middle Ages. In recent years, the Chinese government has been making every effort to catch up with the West again, and there is ___________ (10) doubt that the gap is being reduced year by year. But will China avoid the West’s mistakes? (40.0分)