首页
登录
职称英语
This is the life of someone who wrote little, spoke little, and about whom
This is the life of someone who wrote little, spoke little, and about whom
游客
2023-11-18
18
管理
问题
This is the life of someone who wrote little, spoke little, and about whom there are few memories. Yet if anyone’s life is worthy of a biography it is surely Abram Petrovich Gannibal, an African slave adopted by Peter the Great, who studied mathematics and cryptography before training as a military engineer, spied for the tsar in Paris, became an expert in fortification, was sent to siberia, became the governor-general of Tallinn, and finally retired to an estate in northern Russia as the owner of slaves himself.
These days he is best known as the great grandfather of Alexander Pushkin, whose family liked to think their illustrious forebear was an Abyssinian prince, and a direct descendant of the legendary Carthaginian general whose name he boldly adopted (spelling it in the Russian way with a "g"). It was not until the 1990s that an enterprising scholar from Benin was able to challenge centuries of Russian racism and suggest that Gannibal in fact came from black Africa.
Having traveled to Cameroon and paddled up-river in a 30-foot wooden boot to interview the Sultan of Logone, the intrepid Hugh Barnes lends credence to this theory with a tantalizingly plausible interpretation for the mysterious word "Fummo" (Kotoko for "homeland") to be found underneath the elephant portrayed on the family crest. Mr. Barnes does far more than just "join up the dots" between Pushkin’s unfinished novel about his ancestor and its subject. The result is not merely the first detailed account in English of this remarkable life, but the fullest in any language. It is a fascinating read.
With this book, the fruit of research in an impressive list of obscure archives, Mr. Barnes not only joins the ranks of those journalists able to give academics a good run for their money, but also shows him-self to be a travel writer of distinction. The story of his quest to discover Gannihal’s identity in places as far-flung as Novoselengisk on the Chinese border, and Pskov at the other end of the Russian empire, is engagingly told. With so little biographical material to go on (even the fabled portrait of Gannibal turns out to be that of a white man when it is restored), the dots have inevitably to be joined up with a degree of speculation. Just occasionally it leads the author astray--the Winter Palace, for example, was painted first yellow and then crimson before finally acquiring the "icy turquoise facade", which Mr. Barnes claims greeted Gannibal when he received his dismissal from Catherine the Great in 1762.
While plenty of evidence is marshaled to show that Gannibal was the first black intellectual in Europe, his personality remains frustratingly elusive. Nevertheless, this biography of the Russian Othello does much to recast our understanding of 18th century Russian life. [br] What is the purpose of the passage?
选项
A、To give us a portrait of a legendary person--Abram Petrovich Gannibal.
B、To reveal the origin of Gannibal.
C、To indicate the connection of Pushkin and Gannibal.
D、To introduce Hugh Barnes’s research work and his book on Gannibal.
答案
D
解析
主旨大意题。文章以介绍俄国的Abram Petrovich Cannibal为引子,介绍了Hugh Barnes为验证Cannibal的身世做的调查研究,评价了他写的传记。选项B 和C 属于细节问题,也不是作者的意图:选项A 有很强的干扰性,但不是作者的主要目的,只是引子,实际上是Cannibal的目的。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3199210.html
相关试题推荐
______thereislittlewecandotomodifytheweather,wecanatleastknowwha
Theguestssaidthattheywouldn’tmind______.A、tohavealittlelightmusicB、
Itisonlywhenyounearlylosesomeone______fullyconsciousofhowmuchyouv
ForseveraldaysIsawlittleofMr.Rochester.Inthemorningheseemedmuch
Hislittlefingerhasbecomeswollenduetothesnakebite.Hecanfeelit______
Thelittleboydemonstratedaremarkable______ability;hiscalculationwithfi
Shedidn’tquiteunderstandyou,becausesheknew______English.A、suchlittleB
FromachildIwasfondofreading,andallthelittlemoneythatcameinto
Shewouldhavebeenmoreagreeableifshehadchangedalittlebit,______?A、had
Greece,economically,isintheblack.Withverylittletoexportotherth
随机试题
Accordingtothewriter,insuranceispossiblebecause______.[br]Insurancepre
Manycountriesfaceasomewhatmoreseriouseconomicproblemsintheformof
TheWestinghouseScienceTalentSearch,themostprestigioushighschoolsci
运输结构优化的原则有()。A.运输结构的优化要适应产业结构的需求 B.运输
为提高医院内获得性肺炎实验室诊断时痰培养的阳性率,痰标本采集后,应在培养前先进行
下列各装置中,能构成原电池的是:
从物质与精神的关系来看,“画饼也不能真正充饥”,原因在于()。A.精神的东西不重
孟子曰:“民为贵,社稷次之,君为轻。是故得乎丘民而为天子,得乎天子为诸侯,得乎诸
一住店客人未付房钱即想离开旅馆去车站。旅馆服务员揪住他不让走,并打报警电话。客人
MMPI的适用范围是()的人群。(2009-11)A:年龄16岁以上B:年龄1
最新回复
(
0
)