For a time in the early Middle Ages, Latin culture came close to (i)____________: the witness to that is the (ii)____________ of manuscript copies of texts datable to the period. The process of copying manuscripts, the only way in which the fragile products of centuries of accumulating knowledge could be preserved, (iii)____________, a situation that did not change for two and a half centuries, until the time of Charlemagne. In the intervening period, much of Classical literature was lost to use forever. A. reversing B. paucity C. was pursued methodically D. exploding E. provenance F. expressed the spirit of the time G. vanishing H. proliferation I. virtually came to a standstill