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  3. Among many historians a belief persists that Cotton Mather’s biographies of

Among many historians a belief persists that Cotton Mather’s biographies of

游客2025-02-19  12
问题     Among many historians a belief persists that Cotton Mather’s biographies of some of the settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (published 1702) are exercises in hagiography, endowing their subjects with saintly piety at the expense of historical accuracy. Yet modern studies have profited both from the breadth of information that Mather provides—in, for example, his discussions of colonial medicine—and from his critical observations of such leading figures as Governor John Winthrop. Mather’s wry humor as demonstrated by his detailed descriptions of events such as Winthrop’s efforts to prevent wood-stealing is overlooked by those charging Mather with presenting his subjects as extremely pious. The charge also obscures Mather’s concern with the settlers’ material, not just spiritual, prosperity. Further, this pejorative view underrates the biographies value as chronicles: Mather amassed all sorts of published and unpublished documents as sources, and his selection of key events shows a marked sensitivity to the nature of the colony’s development. [br] Information in the passage best supports which of the following statements about Mather’s biographies of the settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony?
选项 A、Annals written by Mather and others were censored by later historians, thus detracting from their value as full and accurate accounts of the period.
B、Mather’s description of Governor Winthrop includes all of Winthrop’s shortcomings, such as a tendency toward levity at inappropriate times.
C、Mather’s descriptions of the Massachusetts Bay colonists were based primarily on firsthand experiences.
D、Many historians believe that Mather’s biographies are poor sources of historical information because biography is an inherently unreliable genre of historical writing.
E、Mather’s writings reflect an interest in the degree of economic success achieved by early Massachusetts Bay colonists.
答案 E
解析 对应第四句，interest in对应concern with，economic success对应material，not just spiritual，prosperity。A项文章看不出如下因果关系：因为马瑟的传记被审查，所以就不真实了。B项文中未提及。C项根据原文，马瑟的研究是基于一些原始资料，并非第一手的亲身体验。D项文章没有评价传记作为一种文体本身是否靠谱。
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