Answer for 'In the Far East ancient Chinese potters had developed their character

[Giang93]

Hi !!!
Help me with choosing the best answer for the following sentence , please
" In the Far East ancient Chinese potters had developed their characteristic ...............by pottery traditions "
A. means B. ways C. techniques D.routes

And , also , help me to distinguish from four answer above .
Thanks a lot in advance !!!

[Mister Micawber]

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I think 'by ' is wrong.
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_________________
Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Giang93]

Hmmm...........it is precise to the question in some of books of mine .
I have some explanations but i dont know whether it is right or not . I hope to receive some suggestions if they are ircorrect
According to some dictionary , i refer that : "means" indicates a way of doing or achieving something . it is used for : transport , communication , "way " indicates a method that we use to do or achieve something . It is usaully used for : formulas , communications . In general , "means " and "way" have not many differences .
But "technique" is used to say about "a special way of doing something" .
And " route " . It is used to indicate "a way from one place to another" , "a way between two places that buses, planes, ships etc regularly travel" and "a way of doing something or achieving a particular result" , also
uhmmm.........in this exercise , the author uses " characteristic" so i think the result is C . techniques

It seems that my explanation is not clearly . And , with me , i dont really distinguish from them but for " technique'

Help me , please !!!

[Mister Micawber]

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We could discuss the 4 words-- and no doubt 'techniques' is intended to be the answer-- but none of them fits grammatically or semantically with 'by...traditions'. There is a misprint in your book.
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_________________
Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's