首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Almost a century after his death, the well-known French author Jules Verne has once again managed to fire the imagination of peo
Almost a century after his death, the well-known French author Jules Verne has once again managed to fire the imagination of peo
admin
2010-01-18
40
问题
Almost a century after his death, the well-known French author Jules Verne has once again managed to fire the imagination of people around the world, this time with an unpublished novel, Paris in the 20th Century. The manuscript, completed in 1863 but long locked away in a safe, was uncovered only in 1989 by Verne’ s great-grandson, and it ap- peared in English translation just a few months ago. This 19th-century vision of the future describes llfe among skyscrap- ers of glass and steel, high-speed trains, gas-powered automobiles, calculators, fax machines and a global communica- tions network. The prescience of these forecasts matches what one would have expected from the author who introduced countless readers of his age to a host of technological marvels, from submarines to helicopters and spacecraft.
But in fact, Paris in the 20th Century is a tragedy. It describes the life of an idealistic young man who struggles to find happiness in the fiercely materialistic dystopia that Paris has become by 1920. Like George Orwell’s 1984, Verne’s novel is a grim and troubling Comment on the human costs of technological progress.
That such a message should come from Jules Verne proves surprising to many. Most people—particularly in America—assume that Verne wrote about the wonders of technology because he was himself an optimistic scientist. Many also believe Verne wrote primarily for children, crafting novels that were invariably exciting but intellectually shallow. These misconceptions show how Verne’s current status has completely shadowed the reality of his life and writings. They are part of the continuing misunderstanding of this author, a result of some severely abridged translations and simplified adaptations for Hollywood cinema.
In truth, Verne was neither a scientist nor an engineer: he was simply a writer—and a very prolific one. Over his lifetime, Verne produced more than 2 novels. Yet his works were carefully grounded in fact, and his books inspired many leading scientists, engineers, inventors and explorers, including William Beebe (the creator and pilot of the first bathy- sphere), Admiral Richard Byrd (a pioneer explorer of Antarctica), Yuri Gagarin (the first human to fly in space) and Neil Armstrong (the first astronaut to walk on the moon). Verne’s novels were thus profoundly influential, and perhaps uniquely SO.
Although novels with scientific foundation had been written before, Verne raised the technique of scientific descrip- tion to a fine art. And this type of science fiction, based on accurate descriptions of science and technology, has tended to dominate the trend ever since. But Verne’s devotion to technical detail does not reflect an confidence in the virtues of
science. Indeed, his earliest writings—a mixture of plays, essays and short stories—were distinctly critical of science
and technology.
It was only the strict monitor of his publisher, Pierre-Jules Hetzel, that steered Verne toward what eventually made him famous: fast-paced adventure tales heavily flavored with scientific lessons and an optimistic ideology. And although his own attitude was quite different, Verne offered little resistance to Hetzel. After the release of his initial book in 1863, the first in a series of novels published under the banner "Extraordinary Voyages: Voyages in Known and Unknown Worlds, " Verne explained to his friends at the Paris stock market (where he had been working part-time to make ends meet) about his accomplishment. "My friends, . . . . I’ve just written a novel in a new style. . . If it succeeds, it will be a gold mine. " He was right.
Under Hetzel’s continual guidance, Verne created one novel after another, each fundamentally of this same type. But most of the works published after Hetzel’s death in 1886 show Verne returning to his original themes—championing environmentalism, anticapitalism and social responsibility while questioning the benefits that science and technology could bring to an imperfect world. To understand how Verne’s later writings could differ so completely from popular image of him requires a closer understanding of the man and his times.
Through what kind of novels, did Verne make himself success?
选项
A、Fast-paced adyenture tales heavily flavored with scientific lessons and an optimistic ideology.
B、To mix futuristic narratives with detailed, plausible descriptions of new technology.
C、Through novels such as Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864; translated 1874) and around the World in 80 Days (1873; translated 1874)
D、Bright, entertaining adventure stories that celebrated the possibilities of technology.
答案
A
解析
见第三段。凡尔纳闻名于世的是他的科幻小说和其中透露出来的对未来的乐观主义色彩。故选A。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/hJvO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Whichofthefollowingstatementsiscorrect?
WhydoconservationistsinAustraliasupportthepolicyofkillingcats?
TheSARgovernmentmaytrytocreatemorejobsforyoungpeopleinHongKong.
ChinesepeoplehaveshownevidentinterestinAfricanproducts.
A、Shedislikestheman’swife.B、Sheenjoysspendingmoneyoncosmetics.C、Sheismarriedtoapoorman.D、Sheiseconomicalwit
Mostsorethroatsarecausedbyaninfectionwhichtreatmentwithantibioticscannotcure.Butwithsimpleremediesthepatient
Democracyissomuchapartofournationalidentitythatitalmostseemsabirthright.Buttheironyisthat,evenaswehopet
A、Theyfeltmoreenergetic.B、Theyfeltalittletired.C、Theyfelthungry.D、Theyfeltworriedandtense.A
ForquiteafewyearswehavebeentalkingaboutaddictiontotheInternet.Nowweareputtingtogether【C1】______thosestudents
随机试题
行产钳术时产妇的最佳体位是
45岁,农民,深部脓肿,确诊为金黄色葡萄球菌感染对脓肿的正确处理是
乳癌最常见的转移部位是
x线透视检查主要应用的x线特性是( )
胸痹重证,阴寒极盛者,其治法是
普萘洛尔治疗心绞痛时可产生哪一种不利的作用
我国规定,设立农村商业银行的注册资本最低限额为()元人民币。
某纺织品进出口公司在国内收购一批坯布,经海关批准并办理手册后运出境印染,复运进境后委托服装厂加工成服装,然后回收出口。前后两次出口适用的报关程序分别是:
根据税收征收管理法律制度的规定,已开具的发票存根联和发票登记簿,应当保存()。
(二)某日晚,白某看见胡某在取款机上提取现金10万元,便尾随其后意图实施抢夺。至一偏僻处后,白某趁其不备从背后夺过背包。胡某发现后奋力反抗,意图追回背包,白某为抗拒抓捕用刀将胡某刺成重伤。公安机关发现这一犯罪事实后.便立案侦查。在侦查过程中,发现
最新回复
(
0
)