In the book’s frontispiece, Voltaire is seen writing at his desk, and over him a shaft of light from heaven, the light of truth, passes through Newton to Voltaire’s collaborator Madame du Châtelet; she reflects that light onto the inspired Voltaire.
Voltaire’s book(Elements of the Philosophy of Newton)commanded a wide audience, according to Feingold, because “he was neither a mathematician nor a physicist, but a literary giant aloof from the academic disputes over Newtonian ideas.” In other words, Voltaire’s amateurism in science “was a source of his contemporary appeal, demonstrating for the first time the accessibility of Newton’s ideas to nonspecialists.”
1句子翻译
根据Feingold的说法，伏尔泰的书拥有广大的读者是因为“他(伏尔泰)既不是一个数学家也不是一个物理学家，而是一个文学巨匠，置身有关牛顿思想的学术争论之外。”换句话说，伏尔泰在科学方面的业余性“是他当代感染力的来源，第一次展示了牛顿的思想对非专业人士来说也是可接近的”。
2解析
词组“not …but”意思是“不是…而是…”，本句中虽然用“neither/nor”代替了“not”，但是意思是一样的。
“aloof from the academic disputes over Newtonian ideas”是形容词短语修饰前面的“a literary giant”，其中“aloof from”意思是“置身…之外，远离”。
“ be accessible to”意思是“可接近的，可获得的”，虽然本句话中用的是accessibility，后面的介词也还是必须得用to。
3相关题目
For the following question, consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.
Which of the following statements about Voltaire’s Elements of the Philosophy of Newton can be inferred from the passage?
A Voltaire’s literary stature helped secure a large audience for this attempt to popularize Newton’s ideas.
B Voltaire’s status as a nonscientist was an advantage in this effort to bring Newtonian science to the attention of the general public.
C The frontispiece of the book implies that Voltaire’s understanding of Newton’s ideas was not achieved without assistance.
答案：A, B, C
4解析
原文说伏尔泰有很多读者的时候提到他是一个“literary giant”，由此 可推出选项 A 正确—“伏尔泰的文学地位在他尝试普及牛顿的思想时帮助他取得了大量的读者”。
原文中提到“Voltaire’s amateurism in science”是他魅力的源泉，由此可推出选项B正确—“伏尔泰非科学家的地位是一个优势”。
对书的扉页的描述展示了是Madame du Châtelet将牛顿的思想解释给伏尔泰听的，所以选项C“扉页暗示伏尔泰对牛顿思想的理解不是在没有协助的情况下获得的”也是正确的。
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