16 Although we have lost beauty and elegance in the modern world, we have gained much, through science and technology and democratic pressures, in the material well-being of the masses.
(A)If we have lost beauty and elegance, the modern world will turn out nothing but a mess.
(B)Science and technology help gain much material welfare for the public, but not beauty and elegance.
(C)People haven’t gained the material well-being as much as beauty and elegance they have lost today.
(D)Modern people have gained no less beauty and elegance than the material well-being through science and technology.
In early times fortresses of earth and wood were raised throughout a large part of Europe. No specialized knowledge was needed to erect these structures: the earth excavated from a circular moat was piled up in the center of the circle to form a mound, varying in height and diameter. Then tower of wood was erected on the top. The sloping sides of the mound were protected by thornbushes, the barbed wires of the time. It was not a very effective means of protection, for it could easily be set alight by the use of burning missiles.
The development of residential architecture is striking proof of the growth of building in stone. This technical advance was closely linked to the desire for increased defenses. From the middle of the 11th century, chroniclers drew attention to the use of masonry, and this became the norm in the next century.
Nevertheless, the first stone castles kept the rectangular shape of the wooden fortresses. This was not only due to conservatism: they had specific functions—to serve as dwelling places, to contain the great state room or hall as well as the living rooms—so both their shape and their size were determined, at ground level and above.
In the mid-12th century, when the lord gave up the tower for a more comfortable dwelling, it took on a purely defensive character. Its rectangular plan was abandoned in favor of a circular one.
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