首页
登录
职称英语
The orderly came back in a few minutes with a rifle and five cartridges, and
The orderly came back in a few minutes with a rifle and five cartridges, and
游客
2024-12-15
9
管理
问题
The orderly came back in a few minutes with a rifle and five cartridges, and meanwhile some Burmans had arrived and told us that the elephant was in the paddy fields below, only a few hundred yards away. As I started forward practically the whole population of the quarter flocked out of the houses and followed me. They had seen the rifle and were all shouting excitedly that I was going to shoot the elephant. It made me vaguely uneasy. I had no intention of shooting the elephant — I had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if necessary — and it is always unnerving to have a crowd following you. I marched down the hill, looking and feeling a fool, with the rifle over my shoulder and an ever-growing army of people jostling at my heels. The elephant was standing eight yards from the road, his left side towards us. He took not the slightest notice of the crowd’s approach. He was tearing up bunches of grass, beating them against his knees to clean them and stuffing them into his mouth.
I had halted on the road. As soon as I saw the elephant I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him. It is a serious matter to shoot a working elephant — it is comparable to destroying a huge and costly piece of machinery — and obviously one ought not to do it if it can possibly be avoided. And at that distance peacefully eating, the elephant looked no more dangerous than a cow. I thought then and I think now that his attack of "must" was already passing off; in which case he would merely wander harmlessly about until his owner came back and caught him. Moreover, I did not in the least want to shoot him. I decided that I would watch him for a little while to make sure that he did not turn savage again, and then go home.
But at that moment, I glanced round at the crowd that had followed me. It was an immense crowd, two thousand at the least and growing every minute. It blocked the road for a long distance on either side. I looked at the sea of yellow faces above the garish clothes — faces all happy and excited over this bit of fun, all certain that the elephant was going to be shot. They were watching me as they would watch a conjuror about to perform a trick. And suddenly I realized that I should have to shoot the elephant after all: The people expected it of me and I had got to do it; I would feel their two thousand wills pressing me forward, irresistibly. And it was at this moment, as I stood there with the rifle in my hands that I first grasped the hollowness, the futility of the White man’s dominion in the East. Here was I, the white man with his gun, standing in front of the unarmed native crowd — seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind. I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib. For it is the condition of his rule that he shall spend his life in trying to impress the "natives", and so in every crisis he has got to do what the "natives" expect of him. He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it. I had got to shoot the elephant. I had committed myself to doing it when I sent for the rifle. A sahib has got to act like a sahib; he has got to appear resolute, to know his own mind and do definite things. [br] The essential point of the story is that
选项
A、the author regretted the streak of cruelty that had led him to shoot the elephant.
B、the author had to defend the Burmese crow by shooting the elephant.
C、circumstances can lead men to do more extreme actions than were necessary.
D、the ruling class has to behave in the way the conquered expect them to behave.
答案
D
解析
主旨判断题。在末段的后半部分,作者形容自己“只不过是一个可笑的木偶”(absurd puppet),而作为当地人的统治者,他不得不做那些当地民众希望他去做的事情,故D为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3876331.html
相关试题推荐
Theorderlycamebackinafewminuteswitharifleandfivecartridges,and
Theorderlycamebackinafewminuteswitharifleandfivecartridges,and
Theorderlycamebackinafewminuteswitharifleandfivecartridges,and
Theorderlycamebackinafewminuteswitharifleandfivecartridges,and
Theorderlycamebackinafewminuteswitharifleandfivecartridges,and
Theorderlycamebackinafewminuteswitharifleandfivecartridges,andmea
Theorderlycamebackinafewminuteswitharifleandfivecartridges,andmea
Theorderlycamebackinafewminuteswitharifleandfivecartridges,andmea
Theorderlycamebackinafewminuteswitharifleandfivecartridges,andmea
Theorderlycamebackinafewminuteswitharifleandfivecartridges,andmea
随机试题
[originaltext]Now,listentoPartTwooftheinterview.W:Wespendsomuchti
[originaltext]Agoodmarriagemeansgrowingasacouplebutalsogrowinga
编辑应用文不包括()。A.内容提要 B.出版前言 C.编者按 D.参考文
A.Ⅰ和Ⅱ互为同系物 B.Ⅰ和Ⅱ互为同分异构体 C.Ⅰ和Ⅱ均能在加热条件下与
加法模式是假定四种变动因素存在着某种相互影响关系,互不独立;乘法模式是假定影响时
异烟肼体内过程的特点是A:口服易被破坏 B:乙酰化代谢速度个体差异大 C:与
A
在以前学习中得到提高的某种官能,对后来涉及该官能的学习产生促进作用,从而表现出迁
2017年7月31日,甲公司录用周某担任出纳,双方口头约定了2年期
下列选项中属于建设单位审查工程竣工结算的主要内容有()。A.工程竣工结算资
最新回复
(
0
)