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.

Explanation:

The text first mentions that porcelain production was a mystery to the Western world for centuries and that Europeans were obsessed with discovering the secret. The underlined sentence then states that it wasn't until the early 18th century that the secret was unlocked, which shows that despite the long - standing mystery and desire (from the previous part of the text), the Europeans finally achieved porcelain production. This emphasizes the long - standing European desire (as they kept trying until they succeeded).

Answer:

B. It emphasizes the longstanding European desire to create porcelain themselves.