The Silk Road was not a single road but a network of trade routes connecting East Asia to the Mediterranean for over a thousand years. Goods moved across the network in stages, passing through many intermediaries, so that a Chinese silk reaching Rome typically arrived through dozens of separate transactions. Few traders traveled the entire length, and most merchants knew only the immediate communities at either end of their own segment.
Based on the passage, which inference is most strongly supported?
- A
Most Silk Road merchants spoke multiple languages fluently
- B
Direct cultural contact between Rome and China was extensive throughout this period
- C
Roman traders frequently visited Chinese cities
- Dcheck_circle
The transmission of goods along the Silk Road did not necessarily involve direct contact between origin and destination cultures
Explanation
Multi-stage transactions with limited overlap between segments supports B. A and D contradict "few traveled the entire length"; C is unsupported.