Question

porcelain originated in china around 2,000 years ago, but its production remained a mystery to the western world for centuries. during the ming dynasty (1368 - 1644 ad), the chinese began exporting porcelain objects to europe. captivated by the delicate beauty, translucence, and strength of the \white gold,\ the europeans became obsessed with discovering the secret to its creation. it wasnt until the early 18th century that the alchemist johann friedrich böttger unlocked the secret, producing the first hard - paste porcelain manufactured outside of china in his factory in meissen, germany.
which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
choose 1 answer:
a it describes the person responsible for introducing porcelain to europe.
b it emphasizes the longstanding european desire to create porcelain themselves.
c it identifies when and where porcelain eventually began to be produced in europe.
d it suggests that europeans eventually innovated on the older chinese techniques of porcelain production.
1 / 3 some text structure and purpose questions will ask you about the function of a particular sentence. to better understand how that sentence fits into the larger passage, it can often be helpful to simplify and summarize the whole text in your own words. how would you do that here?

Explanation:

The underlined sentence states that in the early 18th century, Johann Friedrich Böttger unlocked the secret of porcelain production and produced the first hard - paste porcelain outside of China in his factory in Meissen, Germany. This clearly identifies the time (early 18th century) and place (Meissen, Germany) where porcelain production began in Europe.

• Option A is incorrect because the Chinese began exporting porcelain to Europe during the Ming Dynasty, not Johann Friedrich Böttger.
• Option B is incorrect as the sentence is more about the achievement of producing porcelain in Europe rather than emphasizing the long - standing desire (the desire was already mentioned before, and this sentence is about the fulfillment).
• Option D is incorrect as there is no mention of innovation on Chinese techniques in the underlined sentence.

Answer:

C. It identifies when and where porcelain eventually began to be produced in Europe.