“Universal history, the history of what man has accomplished in this world, is at bottom the History of the Great Men who have worked here,” wrote the Victorian sage Thomas Carlyle. Well, not any more it is not.

    Suddenly, Britain looks to have fallen out with its favorite historical form. This could be no more than a passing literary craze, but it also points to a broader truth about how we now approach the past: less concerned with learning from forefathers and more interested in feeling their pain. Today, we want empathy, not inspiration.

    From the earliest days of the Renaissance, the writing of history meant recounting the exemplary lives of great men. In 1337, Petrarch began work on his rambling writing De Viris Illustribus—On Famous Men, highlighting the virtues (or virtue) of classical heroes. Petrarch celebrated their greatness in conquering fortune and rising to the top. This was the biographical tradition which Niccolò Machiavelli turned on its head. In The Prince, he championed cunning, ruthlessness, and boldness, rather than virtue, mercy and justice, as the skills of successful leaders.

    Over time, the attributes of greatness shifted. The Romantics commemorated the leading painters and authors of their day, stressing the uniqueness of the artist’s personal experience rather than public glory. By contrast, the Victorian author Samuel Smiles wrote Self-Help as a catalogue of the worthy lives of engineers, industrialists and explorers. “The valuable examples which they furnish of the power of self-help, of patient purpose, resolute working, and steadfast integrity, issuing in the formation of truly noble and manly character, exhibit,” wrote Smiles, “what it is in the power of each to accomplish for himself.” His biographies of James Walt, Richard Arkwright and Josiah Wedgwood were held up as beacons to guide the working man through his difficult life.

    This was all a bit bourgeois for Thomas Carlyle, who focused his biographies on the truly heroic lives of Martin Luther, Oliver Cromwell and Napoleon Bonaparte. These epochal figures represented lives hard to imitate, but to be acknowledged as possessing higher authority than mere mortals.

    Not everyone was convinced by such bombast. “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles,” wrote Marx and Engels in The Communist Manifesto. For them, history did nothing, it possessed no immense wealth nor waged battles: “It is man, real, living man who does all that.” And history should be the story of the masses and their record of struggle. As such, it needed to appreciate the economic realities, the social contexts and power relations in which each epoch stood. For: “Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly found, given and transmitted from the past.”

    This was the tradition which revolutionized our appreciation of the past. In place of Thomas Carlyle, Britain nurtured Christopher Hill, EP Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm. History from below stood alongside biographies of great men. Whole new realms of understanding—from gender to race to cultural studies—were opened up as scholars unpicked the multiplicity of lost societies. And it transformed public history too: downstairs became just as fascinating as upstairs.

【A】emphasized the virtue of classical heroes.

【B】highlighted the public glory of the leading artists.

【C】focused on epochal figures whose lives were hard to imitate.

【D】opened up new realms of understanding the great men in history.

【E】held that history should be the story of the masses and their record of struggle.

【F】dismissed virtue as unnecessary for successful leaders.

【G】depicted the worthy lives of engineers, industrialists and explorers.

选项分析

[A] emphasized the virtue of classical heroes.

强调传统英雄的美德。

[B] highlighted the public glory of the leading artists.

突出知名艺术家的公共荣誉。

[C] focused on epochal figures whose lives were hard to imitate.

专注于那些人生难以被模仿的划时代人物。

[D] opened up new realms of understanding the great men in history.

开辟了理解历史伟人的新领域。

[E] held that history should be the story of the masses and their record of struggle.

认为历史应该是人民群众及其斗争的历史。

[F] dismissed virtue as unnecessary for successful leaders.

认为成功的领导者不需要有美德。

[G] depicted the worthy lives of engineers, industrialists and explorers.

描绘了工程师、工业家和探险家有价值的生活。

试题解析

答案精析：根据Petrarch可定位至原文第三段第二句。该句指出，他的作品《名人列传》强调了古典英雄的美德（highlighting the virtues (or virtue) of classical heroes），A选项中emphasized是对原文中highlighting的同义替换，其余部分为原词复现，故A选项为正确答案。

答案精析：根据Niccolò Machiavelli可定位至原文第三段最后两句。该段最后一句指出，马基雅维利认为成功领导者的技能是狡猾、无情、勇敢，而不是（rather than）美德、仁慈和正义，也就是说他认为成功的领导者不需要有美德，故F选项为正确答案。

43. G

答案精析：根据Samuel Smiles可定位至原文第四段第三句。该句指出，塞缪尔的作品《自助》是工程师、企业家和探险家有价值的生活（the worthy lives of engineers, industrialists and explorers）的一份目录，也就是他描绘这些人的生活。G选项是对原文信息的复现，故为正确答案。

答案精析：根据Thomas Carlyle可定位至原文第一、五、七段。其中首段只是作为引言出处，没有与选项匹配的内容。第五段首句指出托马斯关注（focus on）真正英雄的人生，并接着指出这些划时代人物（epochal figures）的生活难以模仿（hard to imitate），可以推知，C选项是对本段内容的复现及整合，为正确答案。

答案精析：根据Marx and Engels可定位至原文第六段。该段第二句指出，马克思和恩格斯在《共产党宣言》中写道，迄今为止，所有现存社会的历史都是阶级斗争的历史，接着在第四句指出，history should be the story of the masses and their record of struggle.（历史应该是人民群众及其斗争的历史），E选项是对这一内容的完全复现，故为正确答案。

选项分析

[A] emphasized the virtue of classical heroes.

强调传统英雄的美德。

[B] highlighted the public glory of the leading artists.

突出知名艺术家的公共荣誉。

[C] focused on epochal figures whose lives were hard to imitate.

专注于那些人生难以被模仿的划时代人物。

[D] opened up new realms of understanding the great men in history.

开辟了理解历史伟人的新领域。

[E] held that history should be the story of the masses and their record of struggle.

认为历史应该是人民群众及其斗争的历史。

[F] dismissed virtue as unnecessary for successful leaders.

认为成功的领导者不需要有美德。

[G] depicted the worthy lives of engineers, industrialists and explorers.

描绘了工程师、工业家和探险家有价值的生活。

试题解析

答案精析：根据Petrarch可定位至原文第三段第二句。该句指出，他的作品《名人列传》强调了古典英雄的美德（highlighting the virtues (or virtue) of classical heroes），A选项中emphasized是对原文中highlighting的同义替换，其余部分为原词复现，故A选项为正确答案。

答案精析：根据Niccolò Machiavelli可定位至原文第三段最后两句。该段最后一句指出，马基雅维利认为成功领导者的技能是狡猾、无情、勇敢，而不是（rather than）美德、仁慈和正义，也就是说他认为成功的领导者不需要有美德，故F选项为正确答案。

43. G

答案精析：根据Samuel Smiles可定位至原文第四段第三句。该句指出，塞缪尔的作品《自助》是工程师、企业家和探险家有价值的生活（the worthy lives of engineers, industrialists and explorers）的一份目录，也就是他描绘这些人的生活。G选项是对原文信息的复现，故为正确答案。

答案精析：根据Thomas Carlyle可定位至原文第一、五、七段。其中首段只是作为引言出处，没有与选项匹配的内容。第五段首句指出托马斯关注（focus on）真正英雄的人生，并接着指出这些划时代人物（epochal figures）的生活难以模仿（hard to imitate），可以推知，C选项是对本段内容的复现及整合，为正确答案。

答案精析：根据Marx and Engels可定位至原文第六段。该段第二句指出，马克思和恩格斯在《共产党宣言》中写道，迄今为止，所有现存社会的历史都是阶级斗争的历史，接着在第四句指出，history should be the story of the masses and their record of struggle.（历史应该是人民群众及其斗争的历史），E选项是对这一内容的完全复现，故为正确答案。

选项分析

[A] emphasized the virtue of classical heroes.

强调传统英雄的美德。

[B] highlighted the public glory of the leading artists.

突出知名艺术家的公共荣誉。

[C] focused on epochal figures whose lives were hard to imitate.

专注于那些人生难以被模仿的划时代人物。

[D] opened up new realms of understanding the great men in history.

开辟了理解历史伟人的新领域。

[E] held that history should be the story of the masses and their record of struggle.

认为历史应该是人民群众及其斗争的历史。

[F] dismissed virtue as unnecessary for successful leaders.

认为成功的领导者不需要有美德。

[G] depicted the worthy lives of engineers, industrialists and explorers.

描绘了工程师、工业家和探险家有价值的生活。

试题解析

答案精析：根据Petrarch可定位至原文第三段第二句。该句指出，他的作品《名人列传》强调了古典英雄的美德（highlighting the virtues (or virtue) of classical heroes），A选项中emphasized是对原文中highlighting的同义替换，其余部分为原词复现，故A选项为正确答案。

答案精析：根据Niccolò Machiavelli可定位至原文第三段最后两句。该段最后一句指出，马基雅维利认为成功领导者的技能是狡猾、无情、勇敢，而不是（rather than）美德、仁慈和正义，也就是说他认为成功的领导者不需要有美德，故F选项为正确答案。

43. G

答案精析：根据Samuel Smiles可定位至原文第四段第三句。该句指出，塞缪尔的作品《自助》是工程师、企业家和探险家有价值的生活（the worthy lives of engineers, industrialists and explorers）的一份目录，也就是他描绘这些人的生活。G选项是对原文信息的复现，故为正确答案。

答案精析：根据Thomas Carlyle可定位至原文第一、五、七段。其中首段只是作为引言出处，没有与选项匹配的内容。第五段首句指出托马斯关注（focus on）真正英雄的人生，并接着指出这些划时代人物（epochal figures）的生活难以模仿（hard to imitate），可以推知，C选项是对本段内容的复现及整合，为正确答案。

答案精析：根据Marx and Engels可定位至原文第六段。该段第二句指出，马克思和恩格斯在《共产党宣言》中写道，迄今为止，所有现存社会的历史都是阶级斗争的历史，接着在第四句指出，history should be the story of the masses and their record of struggle.（历史应该是人民群众及其斗争的历史），E选项是对这一内容的完全复现，故为正确答案。

选项分析

[A] emphasized the virtue of classical heroes.

强调传统英雄的美德。

[B] highlighted the public glory of the leading artists.

突出知名艺术家的公共荣誉。

[C] focused on epochal figures whose lives were hard to imitate.

专注于那些人生难以被模仿的划时代人物。

[D] opened up new realms of understanding the great men in history.

开辟了理解历史伟人的新领域。

[E] held that history should be the story of the masses and their record of struggle.

认为历史应该是人民群众及其斗争的历史。

[F] dismissed virtue as unnecessary for successful leaders.

认为成功的领导者不需要有美德。

[G] depicted the worthy lives of engineers, industrialists and explorers.

描绘了工程师、工业家和探险家有价值的生活。

试题解析

答案精析：根据Petrarch可定位至原文第三段第二句。该句指出，他的作品《名人列传》强调了古典英雄的美德（highlighting the virtues (or virtue) of classical heroes），A选项中emphasized是对原文中highlighting的同义替换，其余部分为原词复现，故A选项为正确答案。

答案精析：根据Niccolò Machiavelli可定位至原文第三段最后两句。该段最后一句指出，马基雅维利认为成功领导者的技能是狡猾、无情、勇敢，而不是（rather than）美德、仁慈和正义，也就是说他认为成功的领导者不需要有美德，故F选项为正确答案。

43. G

答案精析：根据Samuel Smiles可定位至原文第四段第三句。该句指出，塞缪尔的作品《自助》是工程师、企业家和探险家有价值的生活（the worthy lives of engineers, industrialists and explorers）的一份目录，也就是他描绘这些人的生活。G选项是对原文信息的复现，故为正确答案。

答案精析：根据Thomas Carlyle可定位至原文第一、五、七段。其中首段只是作为引言出处，没有与选项匹配的内容。第五段首句指出托马斯关注（focus on）真正英雄的人生，并接着指出这些划时代人物（epochal figures）的生活难以模仿（hard to imitate），可以推知，C选项是对本段内容的复现及整合，为正确答案。

答案精析：根据Marx and Engels可定位至原文第六段。该段第二句指出，马克思和恩格斯在《共产党宣言》中写道，迄今为止，所有现存社会的历史都是阶级斗争的历史，接着在第四句指出，history should be the story of the masses and their record of struggle.（历史应该是人民群众及其斗争的历史），E选项是对这一内容的完全复现，故为正确答案。

选项分析

[A] emphasized the virtue of classical heroes.

强调传统英雄的美德。

[B] highlighted the public glory of the leading artists.

突出知名艺术家的公共荣誉。

[C] focused on epochal figures whose lives were hard to imitate.

专注于那些人生难以被模仿的划时代人物。

[D] opened up new realms of understanding the great men in history.

开辟了理解历史伟人的新领域。

[E] held that history should be the story of the masses and their record of struggle.

认为历史应该是人民群众及其斗争的历史。

[F] dismissed virtue as unnecessary for successful leaders.

认为成功的领导者不需要有美德。

[G] depicted the worthy lives of engineers, industrialists and explorers.

描绘了工程师、工业家和探险家有价值的生活。

试题解析

答案精析：根据Petrarch可定位至原文第三段第二句。该句指出，他的作品《名人列传》强调了古典英雄的美德（highlighting the virtues (or virtue) of classical heroes），A选项中emphasized是对原文中highlighting的同义替换，其余部分为原词复现，故A选项为正确答案。

答案精析：根据Niccolò Machiavelli可定位至原文第三段最后两句。该段最后一句指出，马基雅维利认为成功领导者的技能是狡猾、无情、勇敢，而不是（rather than）美德、仁慈和正义，也就是说他认为成功的领导者不需要有美德，故F选项为正确答案。

43. G

答案精析：根据Samuel Smiles可定位至原文第四段第三句。该句指出，塞缪尔的作品《自助》是工程师、企业家和探险家有价值的生活（the worthy lives of engineers, industrialists and explorers）的一份目录，也就是他描绘这些人的生活。G选项是对原文信息的复现，故为正确答案。

答案精析：根据Thomas Carlyle可定位至原文第一、五、七段。其中首段只是作为引言出处，没有与选项匹配的内容。第五段首句指出托马斯关注（focus on）真正英雄的人生，并接着指出这些划时代人物（epochal figures）的生活难以模仿（hard to imitate），可以推知，C选项是对本段内容的复现及整合，为正确答案。

答案精析：根据Marx and Engels可定位至原文第六段。该段第二句指出，马克思和恩格斯在《共产党宣言》中写道，迄今为止，所有现存社会的历史都是阶级斗争的历史，接着在第四句指出，history should be the story of the masses and their record of struggle.（历史应该是人民群众及其斗争的历史），E选项是对这一内容的完全复现，故为正确答案。