PP2-ESSAY10

Nickyl90

The Black Death, a severe epidemic that ravaged fourteenth-century Europe, has intrigued scholars ever since Francis Gasquet's 1893 study contending that this epidemic greatly intensified the political and religious upheaval that ended the Middle Ages.
Thirty-six years later, historian George Coulton agreed but, paradoxically, attributed a silver lining to the Black Death:
prosperity engendered by diminished competition for food, shelter, and work led survivors of the epidemic into the Renaissance and subsequent rise of modern Europe.



In the 1930s, however, Evgeny Kosminsky and other Marxist historians claimed the epidemic was merely an ancillary factor contributing to a general agrarian crisis stemming primarily from the inevitable decay of European feudalism.
In arguing that this decline of feudalism was economically determined, the Marxist asserted that the Black Death was a relatively insignificant factor.
This became the prevailing view until after the Second World War, when studies of specific regions and towns revealed astonishing mortality rates ascribed to the epidemic, thus restoring the central role of the Black Death in history.



This central role of the Black Death (traditionally attributed to bubonic plague brought from Asia) has been recently challenged from another direction.
Building on bacteriologist John Shrewsbury's speculations about mislabeled epidemics, zoologist Graham Twigg employs urban case studies suggesting that the rat population in Europe was both too sparse and insufficiently migratory to have spread plague.
Moreover, Twigg disputes the traditional trade-ship explanation for plague transmissions by extrapolating from data on the number of dead rats aboard Nile sailing vessels in 1912.
The Black Death, which he conjectures was anthrax instead of bubonic plague, therefore caused far less havoc and fewer deaths than historians typically claim.



Although correctly citing the exacting conditions needed to start or spread bubonic plague, Twigg ignores virtually a century of scholarship contradictory to his findings and employs faulty logic in his single-minded approach to the Black Death.
His speculative generalizations about the numbers of rats in medieval Europe are based on isolated studies unrepresentative of medieval conditions, while his unconvincing trade-ship argument overlooks land-based caravans, the overland migration of infected rodents, and the many other animals that carry plague.

两个问题，第一，关于上面文中红色字体的部分。是说以前的研究表明黑死病是对政治和宗教的兴起起到了加强的作用，还是强烈的打击了政治和宗教啊？我研究了好几遍，后面的silver lining应该是一丝光明的意思，那么也就是说几十年之后这个科学家agree前面的观点，but指出了黑死病的一点小优点，那么按照这么推理的话，应该是黑死病打击了政治和宗教。可是前面偏偏又有个intensify,怎么看也不像是缺点啊！

  

第二个问题：

Which of the following statements is most compatible with Kosminsky's approach to history, as it is presented in the passage?



(A) The Middle Ages were ended primarily by the religious and political upheaval in fourteenth-century Europe.

(B) The economic consequences of the Black Death included increased competition for food, shelter, and work.

(C) European history cannot be studied in isolation from that of the rest of the world.

(D) The number of deaths in fourteenth-century Europe has been greatly exaggerated by other historians.

(E) The significance of the Black Death is best explained within the context of evolving economic systems.

这道题是在比较K这个人使用的方式和选项中的哪个最相似吗？

因为定位最后一段，His speculative generalizations about the numbers of rats in medieval Europe are based on isolated studies unrepresentative of medieval conditions。所以说K这个人在研究黑死病的时候没有考虑当时的环境，且只考虑了船只带来的老鼠，而没有考虑陆地上也存在携带黑死病的老鼠吗？

请指教！

lenghongmin

Although correctly citing the exacting conditions needed to start or spread bubonic plague, Twigg ignores virtually a century of scholarship contradictory to his findings and employs faulty logic in his single-minded approach to the Black Death.His speculative generalizations about the numbers of rats in medieval Europe are based on isolated studies unrepresentative of medieval conditions, while his unconvincing trade-ship argument overlooks land-based caravans, the overland migration of infected rodents, and the many other animals that carry plague.
黑体词均表达了作者dismissive的态度。

Which of the following statements is most compatible with Kosminsky's approach to history, as it is presented in the passage?
(A) The Middle Ages were ended primarily by the religious and political upheaval in fourteenth-century Europe.
(B) The economic consequences of the Black Death included increased competition for food, shelter, and work.
(C) European history cannot be studied in isolation from that of the rest of the world.
(D) The number of deaths in fourteenth-century Europe has been greatly exaggerated by other historians. (E) The significance of the Black Death is best explained within the context of evolving economic systems.

Locate：In the 1930s, however, Evgeny Kosminsky and other Marxist historians claimed the epidemic was merely an ancillary factor contributing to a general agrarian crisis stemming primarily from the inevitable decay of European feudalism.In arguing that this decline of feudalism was economically determined, the Marxist asserted that the Black Death was a relatively insignificant factor.

applejsjs

The author's attitude toward Twigg's work is best characterized as which of the following?
A Dismissive   B Indifferent    C Vindictive     D Cautious       E Ambivalent
我选的是D     答案是A
理由Although correctly citing the exacting conditions needed to start or spread bubonic plague, Twigg ignores virtually a century of scholarship contradictory to his findings and employs faulty logic in his single-minded approach to the Black Death.  His speculative generalizations about the numbers of rats in medieval Europe are based on isolated studies unrepresentative of medieval conditions, while his unconvincing trade-ship argument overlooks land-based caravans, the overland migration of infected rodents, and the many other animals that carry plague.
作者开始承认了 correctly citing阿   我觉得是两方面的    A太绝对了

NN帮忙看一下阿   真的快考试了

brunhildS

可是34题给的答案是E啊~为什么呢？

lilingfeng

楼主,题目问的是K的,最后一段是WIG说的,不是K.

In the 1930s, however, Evgeny Kosminsky and other Marxist historians claimed the epidemic was merely an ancillary factor contributing to a general agrarian crisis stemming primarily from the inevitable decay of European feudalism.

定位这句话,应该选A

答案是否正确?