The modern city is less a static monument than a living palimpsest, where successive generations write their histories directly over the remains of the old. Beneath the gleaming glass of contemporary skyscrapers lie the brick foundations of industrial warehouses, which themselves rest upon the cobblestones of colonial markets. The urban landscape does not delete its past; it merely layers the present atop it, allowing careful observers to trace the faint outlines of long-vanished eras through the cracks of the modern metropolis.
As it is used in the passage, the underlined word palimpsest most nearly refers to a:
- Aancient parchment manuscript that has been written on multiple times
- Bdynamic environment undergoing constant and chaotic expansion
- structure that retains visible traces of its earlier iterationsAnswer
- Dstatic monument erected to commemorate historical figures
Answer
The correct answer is the option describing a structure that retains visible traces of its earlier iterations.
The correct option is correct because the passage describes the city as a place where generations write history directly over old remains and where observers can trace outlines of vanished eras. This describes an object or structure that retains visible traces of its past iterations.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Decoding Low-Frequency Academic and Technical Words
Estimated Time:1m 30s