Answer:
In the Middle Ages, spices that are now ordinary were rare imports from faraway places.
Explanation:
The central idea of the text can be defined by the excerpt above.
The text is explaining the process that Italian merchants had to go through in order to carry a expensive spice (pepper) from Syria to the fairs of Champagne, in France.
This is because spices were a very well-regarded and expensive product that could only be afforded by the wealthy at the time, since shipping methods at the time were primitive (slow ships, camels), raising the cost of these products to levels that would be hard to imagine today.
In India, the government favors the building of dams in order to<span> 'A: reduce dependency on irrigation.'</span>
I can’t see it. All I see is white
I would like to refer you to this website, it has everything you are asking about--
http://thediplomat.com/2015/01/china-the-influence-of-history/
Hope this helps!