常春藤解析英語 33 Not Just Another Russian 俄國文壇巨擘──托爾斯泰

Not Just Another Russian 俄國文壇巨擘──托爾斯泰

by Christine Newton

In 1828, baby Leo was born into the rich and powerful Tolstoy family of Central Russia. He would grow up to write two of the greatest novels in the history of literature and inspire social reform that would make an impact on the world. Not just another Russian author, Leo Tolstoy was a teacher, a philosopher, and the grandfather of non-violent revolution.

Tolstoy was an unsettled young man. He was a poor student who left his university when he could find no meaning in his studies. He joined the army but could not endure the violence and soon left that as well. By this time, Tolstoy was being noticed as a writer but he still felt unfulfilled. It was during this time that Tolstoy wrote his most famous books, War and Peace and Anna Karenina. In them, Tolstoy offered a new kind of fiction to Russian readers. He described events and characters so detailed and convincing that they blurred the line between the imaginary and real life. In Tolstoy's version, it was not great leaders that moved history, but the common people. His work has been called, "not art, but a piece of life."

Tolstoy suffered a mid-life crisis after writing Anna Karenina. Giving up his fortune to live among the peasants, he decided he must find the meaning of life or else kill himself. What he found came from the core of his Christian faith—universal love and passive resistance to evil. Gandhi later adopted this message in his campaign to free India. Martin Luther King, Jr. did the same in his fight for racial equality in America. The effects of passive resistance can still be felt today. Tolstoy was a gifted writer, but it was his revolutionary ideas that changed the course of history and the world in which we live.

1. According to the article, which of the following is most true about Leo Tolstoy?

(A) He always valued his peasant upbringing.

(B) His teachers thought he was very smart.

(C) He was satisfied with his life after people began noticing his work.

(D) He struggled to find meaning throughout his life.

2. What was special about Tolstoy's style of writing?

(A) He was the first author to address the issue of war.

(B) He described important events that really happened.

(C) The characters in his books were very true to life.

(D) He wrote about the great leaders who changed history.

3. Tolstoy considered killing himself because he ______.

(A) had not yet found the meaning of life

(B) was traumatized by his time in the army

(C) lost his inspiration for writing

(D) lost faith in universal love

4. How are Ghandi and Tolstoy alike?

(A) Tolstoy adopted Ghandi's message and wrote about it in his books.

(B) Tolstoy and Ghandi studied together at the university.

(C) Ghandi helped Tolstoy find the meaning of life.

(D) Ghandi used Tolstoy's ideas in his struggle to free India.

單字小鋪

1. reform n. 改革

2. revolution n. 革命

3. unsettled a. 不安定的

4. unfulfilled a. 未得到滿足的

5. convincing a. 令人信服的

6. imaginary a. 虛構(gòu)的

7. peasant n. 農(nóng)夫

8. core n. 核心，精髓

9. passive a. 被動的

10. resistance n. 抵抗

11. campaign n.(為達成某目標所作的)運動∕活動

12. equality n. 平等

13. gifted a. 有天賦的

14. revolutionary a. 革命性的

15. upbringing n. 養(yǎng)育

詞組小鋪

1. be born into...　　出生在……(家庭背景)

2. join the army　　從軍

3. give up...　　放棄……

4. struggle to V　　努力做……

5. be true to life　　逼真的

精解字詞詞組

1. inspire vt. 激發(fā)

inspire sb to V　　激發(fā)某人做……

例: My grandfather's military service inspired me to join the Navy.

(我爺爺?shù)膹能娊?jīng)驗激發(fā)我加入海軍的行列。)

2. make an impact on...　　對……產(chǎn)生影響

例: This new discovery will make a big impact on the field of physics.

(這項新發(fā)現(xiàn)將大大影響物理學(xué)界。)

3. endure vt. 忍受

例: I had to endure his complaining for two hours during our hike yesterday.

(昨天去爬山時，我必須忍受他兩個小時的抱怨。)

4. offer A to B　　提供 A 給 B

例: Having a new restaurant in town will offer more options to the people living here.

(鎮(zhèn)上新餐廳的開張將提供居民更多選擇。)

5. detailed a. 詳細的

in detail　　詳細地

例: The satellite takes such detailed pictures that you can see people's faces in them.

(這架人造衛(wèi)星拍下的照片非常詳盡，連人的臉部都看得到。)

例: The woman described the thief in detail and he was soon caught.

(那位女子詳細描述竊賊的樣子，他不久就落網(wǎng)了。)

6. blur the line between A and B　　模糊 A 與 B 的界線

blur vt. 使模糊

例: Sandra moved and blurred the picture we were taking.

(珊卓拉動了一下，害我們的照片模糊了。)

7. suffer vt. 遭受;經(jīng)歷 & vi. 罹患;受苦

suffer from...　　罹患……(疾病);受……所苦

例: David thought he was very healthy until he suffered a minor heart attack.

(在一次輕微心臟病發(fā)之前，戴維一直以為自己很健康。)

例: People often suffer from colds at this time of year.

(每年這個時候，人們時常受感冒所苦。)

8. adopt vt. 采用，采取

例: Yesterday, the government adopted a new law making all guns illegal.

(昨天政府采用一項新法案，將所有槍枝列為非法。)

9. be satisfied with...　　滿足于……

= be content(ed) with...

例: I don't need to be more popular because I'm satisfied with the friends I have.

(我不需要更受歡迎，有這些朋友我就很滿足了。)

10. address vt. 探討(問題)

例: If we don't address our problems, we'll never be like we used to be.

(如果我們不探討彼此之間的問題，就無法回到從前的樣子了。)

11. consider + V-ing　　考慮……

例: You should consider getting a haircut at that new barbershop.

(你真該考慮去那家新開的理發(fā)店理個發(fā)。)

12. be traumatized by...　　(精神上)受到……所創(chuàng)

traumatized a. 精神受創(chuàng)的

例: Bill was so traumatized by the accident that he couldn't get in a car for two months.

(比爾因那起意外而精神受創(chuàng)，兩個月都不敢搭車。)

13. lose faith in...　　對……失去信心

have faith in...　　對……有信心

例: We should have faith in Rose's ability to solve the problem.

(我們應(yīng)該對蘿絲解決問題的能力有信心。)

文法一點靈

It was during this time that Tolstoy wrote his most famous books...

注意:

本句使用 it is/was 引導(dǎo)的強勢句構(gòu)，有下列兩種情況：

a. It is/was + 介詞詞組∕副詞子句∕時間副詞(詞組)+ that 子句

本句構(gòu)中的 that 為名詞子句連接詞，而不等于關(guān)系代名詞 who、whom 或 which。

例: It was until midnight that I finished the report.

(我直到半夜才完成報告。)

b. It is/was +(代)名詞 + 關(guān)系代名詞 who/whom/which 引導(dǎo)的形容詞子句

此處的 who、whom、which 均可用 that 取代。且翻譯本句構(gòu)時，通常先譯形容詞子句，再譯被修飾的名詞或代名詞。

例: It was my best friend who/that stood by me when I felt sad.

(我難過時在身邊支持我的是我最好的朋友。)

中文翻譯&標準答案

1828 年，小托爾斯泰誕生于俄羅斯中部一個富裕顯赫的家庭。他長大后將寫下文學(xué)史上最偉大的兩部小說，并啟發(fā)影響全世界的社會改革。托爾斯泰不只是名俄羅斯作家，也是一位老師、一位哲學(xué)家，更是非暴力革命的始祖。

托爾斯泰年輕時非常不安定。他是一位可憐的學(xué)生，找不到學(xué)習(xí)的意義便離開就讀的大學(xué)。他去從軍卻無法忍受暴力，也很快便離開了。這時候，托爾斯泰以作家的身分闖出了名聲，但依舊感覺不得志。就在這段時期，他寫了最有名的兩部作品《戰(zhàn)爭與和平》和《安娜.卡列尼娜》。在這兩部作品中，他向俄羅斯讀者展現(xiàn)了前所未有的小說型態(tài)。他筆下所描述的事件與角色如此巨細靡遺，且深具說服力，因而模糊了虛構(gòu)與現(xiàn)實之間的界線。在托爾斯泰的眼中，改變歷史的不是偉大的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者，而是平民。他的作品被稱為『非關(guān)藝術(shù)，卻貼近生活』。

托爾斯泰完成《安娜.卡列尼娜》后經(jīng)歷了一段中年危機。他放棄財富和農(nóng)民一起生活，決定除非找到生活的意義，否則寧可自我了斷。他找到的是基督教信仰的中心思想——廣愛世人與被動地對抗邪惡。甘地在稍后的解放印度運動中采用了他的信念，馬汀.路德金在爭取美國種族平等時亦然。被動反抗的影響延續(xù)至今。托爾斯泰是一位天才作家，然而卻是他開創(chuàng)性的思想改變了歷史與我們所生活的世界。

1. 根據(jù)本文，下列關(guān)于托爾斯泰的敘述何者最接近事實?

(A) 他一直很重視自己的農(nóng)民出身。

(B) 他的老師認為他很聰明。

(C) 人們注意到他的作品后，他對生活感到很滿意。

(D) 他窮極一生努力尋找生活的意義。

題解: 根據(jù)本文，托爾斯泰出身顯赫、因認為求學(xué)沒有意義而離開校園、作品為人所知時依舊感到不得志，因此努力找尋生活的意義，故選 (D)。

2. 托爾斯泰的寫作風(fēng)格有何特別之處?

(A) 他是第一位探討戰(zhàn)爭題材的作家。

(B) 他描述真正發(fā)生過的事件。

(C) 他書中的角色都十分逼真。

(D) 他撰寫關(guān)于改變歷史的偉大領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者的故事。

題解: 根據(jù)第二段，托爾斯泰巨細靡遺描述事件與角色，深具說服力，模糊了虛構(gòu)與現(xiàn)實之間的界線，故選 (C)。

3. 托爾斯泰曾想過自殺，因為 _____。

(A) 他還沒找到生命的意義

(B) 他在軍旅生活中受創(chuàng)

(C) 他失去寫作的靈感

(D) 他失去廣愛世人的信仰

題解: 根據(jù)第三段，托爾斯泰放棄財富和農(nóng)民一起生活，決定除非找到生活的意義，否則寧可自我了斷，故選 (A)。

4. 甘地與托爾斯泰有何相似之處?

(A) 托爾斯泰采用甘地的信念，將之寫在書中。

(B) 托爾斯泰與甘地是大學(xué)同窗。

(C) 甘地幫助托爾斯泰找到生命的意義。

(D) 甘地運用托爾斯泰的想法努力解放印度。

題解: 根據(jù)第三段，甘地稍后在解放印度的運動中采用托爾斯泰的信念，發(fā)展出不流血、非暴力的被動抗爭手法，故選 (D)。

標準答案: 1. (D)　2. (C)　3. (A)　4. (D)