The West has begun to take more notice of the East. The fifth volume of an enormous work r

e- assessing the Chinese contribution to science and technology is to be published next year. The first volume, which was published twenty years ago, set the tone for the whole work. In it, evidence was given to show that many inventions which, until then, Western historians had claimed for Europe, were made first in China. The attempt to rewrite the intellectual history of the world was not received without protest by some famous historians. However, the evidence that has been presented so far in the first four volumes has persuaded many historians who were skeptical at first. China's invention of paper, printing, the magnetic compass and gunpowder has never been disputed, but this new history has added advanced bridge design, mechanical clocks, paddle boats and many other inventions to the list.

In the four volumes published so far no attempt has been made to explain why China has not kept up with the West in science and technology in modem times. It is probable that the answer is to be found in the social and economic history of China, where a static(静态的) society under a relatively kind ruling of scholars contrasts with the potentially revolutionary and dynamic society of the West at the end of the Middle Ages. In recent years, the Chinese government has been making every effort to catch up with the West again, and there is little doubt that the gap is being reduced year by year. But will China avoid the West's mistakes？

So far, how many volumes of the book have been published？

A．Five.

B．Four.

C．Three.

D．None.