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8. the Chevalier de Seingalt

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리딩 지문 읽기 (3분)

 

Toward the end of his life, the Chevalier de Seingalt (1725-1798) wrote a long memoir recounting his life and adventures. The Chevalier was a somewhat controversial figure, but since he met many famous people, including kings and writers, his memoir has become a valuable historical source about European society in the eighteenth century. However, some critics have raised doubts about the accuracy of the memoir. They claim that the Chevalier distorted or invented many events in the memoir to make his life seem more exciting and glamorous than it really was.
For example, in his memoir the Chevalier claims that while living in Switzerland, he was very wealthy, and it is known that he spent a great deal of money there on parties and gambling. However, evidence has recently surfaced that the Chevalier borrowed considerable sums of money from a Swiss merchant. Critics thus argue that if the Chevalier had really been very rich, he would not have needed to borrow money.
Critics are also skeptical about the accuracy of the conversations that the Chevalier records in the memoir between himself and the famous writer Voltaire. No one doubts that the Chevalier and Voltaire met and conversed. However, critics complain that the memoir cannot possibly capture these conversations accurately, because it was written many years after the conversations occurred. Critics point out that it is impossible to remember exact phrases from extended conversations held many years earlier.
Critics have also questioned the memoir’s account of the Chevalier’s escape from a notorious prison in Venice, Italy. He claims to have escaped the Venetian prison by using a piece of metal to make a hole in the ceiling and climbing through the roof. Critics claim that while such a daring escape makes for enjoyable reading, it is more likely that the Chevaliers jailers were bribed to free him. They point out that the Chevalier had a number of politically well-connected friends in Venice who could have offered a bribe.

 

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리스닝 스크립트

No memoir can possibly be correct in every detail, but still, the Chevalier’s memoir is pretty accurate overall, and is, by and large, a reliable historical source. Let’s look at the accuracy of the three episodes mentioned in the reading.
First, the loan from the merchant. Well, that doesn’t mean that the Chevalier was poor. Let me explain. We know that in Switzerland, the Chevalier spent huge amounts of money on parties and gambling, and he had wealth. But it was a kind of property you have to sell first to get money. So it usually took a few days to convert his assets into actual money. So when he ran out of cash, he had to borrow some while he was waiting for his money to arrive, but that’s not being poor.
Second, the conversations with Voltaire. The Chevalier states in his memoir that each night immediately after conversing with Voltaire, he wrote down everything he could remember about that particular night’s conversation. Evidently the Chevalier kept his notes of these conversations for many years and referred to them when writing the memoir. Witnesses who lived with the Chevalier in his later life confirmed that he regularly consulted notes and journals when composing the memoir.
Third, the Chevalier’s escape from a prison in Venice. Other prisoners in that prison had even more powerful friends than he did, and none of them were ever able to bribe their way to freedom. So bribery hardly seems likely in his case. The best evidence, though, comes from some old Venetian government documents. They indicate that soon after the Chevalier escaped from the prison, the ceiling of his old prison room had to be repaired. Why would they need to repair a ceiling unless he had escaped exactly as he said he did?

 


30점을 위한 분석

리딩 주장
The many stories in Chevalier’s memoir were distorted or invented. (쉐벌리어의 회고록에 있는 이야기들은 왜곡되었고 만들어진 것임)

첫번째 근거
First, based on recent evidence that he borrowed a lot of money from a Swiss merchant, Chevalier was not as wealthy as he claimed in his memoir.
(첫째, 그가 스위스 상인으로부터 많은 돈을 빌렸다는 최근의 증거에 기반해 보면, 쉐벌리어는 부유하지 않았음)

두번째 근거
Secondly, although his claims that he had conversations with the famous writer Voltaire were true, the phrases from the conversation could not be accurate because it was written a few years after the conversations.
(둘째, 그가 유명한 작가인 볼테르와 대화를 한 것은 사실이지만, 그 대화로부터 나온 구문들은 정확할 수 없음. 왜냐하면 회고록은 대화후 몇 년 뒤에 쓰여졌기 때문)

세번째 근거
And lastly, the story that Chevalier escaped from the prison through the roof does not seem true. Rather, he was more likely to have bribed jailers for his escape with help from his politically well-connected friends.
(마지막으로, 쉐벌리어가 지붕을 뚫고 감옥을 탈출했다는 이야기는 사실이 아님. 그는 아마 정치적으로 힘있는 친구들의 도움으로 교도관을 매수해서 탈출했을 것같음)

 

리스닝 반박
Chevalier’s memoir is pretty accurate and contains dependable historical information.
(쉐벌리어의 회고록은 꽤 정확하며 믿을 수 있는 역사적인 정보들을 담고 있음)

첫번째 근거
First, Chevalier was by no means poor. It was true that he borrowed money from a merchant, but this was just because he was awaiting money from the sale of his assets.
(첫째, 쉐벌리어는 절대 가난하지 않았음. 그가 상인으로부터 돈을 빌린 것은 사실이지만, 이것은 그가 그의 자산이 현금화되는 것을 기다리는 중이라서 그런 것임)

두번째 근거
Second, in terms of the accuracy of the conversations with Voltaire, Chevalier mentioned that he wrote down what he conversed with Voltaire each night after he met Voltaire. Therefore, it is safe to say that the conversations are accurate.
(둘째, 볼테르와의 대화의 정확성에 대해서 보자면, 그는 볼테르와 만난 직후 밤마다 대화의 내용을 기록했음. 그러므로 대화가 정확하다고 볼 수 있음)

세번째 근거
Lastly, none of the prisoners in the prison were able to bribe, meaning that Chevalier did not bribe jailers. According to some old Venetian government documents, the ceiling of Chevalier’s prison room had to be fixed, indicating that he escaped from the prison through the roof.
(셋째, 그 감옥의 어떤 죄수들도 교도관을 매수한 사람은 없었음. 오랜 정부 기록에 따르면, 쉐벌리어 감옥 방의 천장이 수리되었다는 기록이 있음. 이것은 그가 천장을 통해 감옥을 탈출했다는 것을 말해주는 것임)