A weac passage - SS1 English Lesson Note
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
In 1359, a young clerk, who was neither a soldier nor a nobleman, was a guest in the English army that was attacking a French town. He was only a scribbler of verses, upon whom military leaders lavished favours.The young man was the great English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer. Whenever soldiers retreated from charging a dangerous breach in the city wall, Chaucer would write verses ridiculing their cowardice. By the next day, the whole camp was singing or reciting the verses. Their victims would then be laughed at into fresh courage. They would rather be shot at than laughed at. Human nature is indeed queer. This phenomenon has cost people a great deal in history. Sometimes, the fear of being laughed at has closed doors to fame and fortune. At other times, those who subdue this fear achieve unusual successes. Napoleon Bonaparte aimed at becoming Master of Europe and the whole world. He must, however, conquer Great Britain, which demanded that he must cross the English Channel. If only he had ships that could ignore wind and current and sail faster than the British man-of-war! Luckily, there came to his court an American inventor, Robert Fulton, who had invented a way of propelling ships by steam instead of by sails. He had also studied practical details for building a submarine torpedo boat. He made successful tests of these inventions, which satisfied Napoleon’s naval experts. That was Napoleon’s great opportunity! He yearned to try Fulton’s ideas. Then, strangely he decided against it. Should Fulton’s inventions fail, Napoleon felt he would be the laughing stock of Europe, which he could not bear. So he let go of this opportunity.
An Italian sailor, Christopher Columbus, planned to “reach the east by sailing west.” He approached the Portuguese Court. Portugal, at this time, was Spain’s greatest rival in the establishment of colonies.
King John of Portugal divined that the success of the voyage might make his country become very great in Europe. He agreed to send Columbus on the expedition but his counsellors warned that he would be laughed at throughout Europe if he should spend his money on such a foolish adventure, and so he dismissed Columbus.
Columbus went next to Spain, Portugal’s rival. There, too, the counselors snubbed the idea. But Queen Isabella, unafraid of ridicule, declared she would sell her jewels, if necessary, to finance the expedition of discovery.
Queen Isabella’s attitude enabled Columbus to discover America. Because of that discovery, Spain became one of the richest and most powerful nations in Europe.