Reading:
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 Chevalier’s 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.
Listening:
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 on gambling. And he had wealth, but it was the
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 confirm
that he regularly consulted notes and journals when composing the memoir.
Third, the Chevalier’s escape from the 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?
In the reading passage and the lecture, both discuss the trusthworthy of chevalier's writings. In the reading part, the author mentiones that his memoir was excaturated because of the three main reasons: first, he was poor, second, the conversation that was recorded wrote many years after the acurate time, third, the matter of escaping from prison. In the listening part, however, the speaker castes serious doubt on what the author mentioned and refutes the reasons.
To begin with, as mentioned in the article, the author sets forth that chevalier said his was wealthy, in contrast, he borrowed money from a wealthy man. Nevertheless, the lecture rebuts the reasons, assorting that achieving to his own money considered lots of time, hence distances. he did not access to the cash, as a result of that he had to borrow the money for a while.
Secondly, the author points out there is a doubtive evidence that conversation between chevalier and Voltaire actually existed. it was write many years later and it could not possible to write it with such an accuarate and relevant detail. however, the speaker flatly contradicts and contends that conversation wrote immediately after that happened and chevalier recorded it that night in his diaries. it provides a proof to the fact that he could rememmber it easily after passing years by referring to his notes. Indeed, composing movements confirmed this idea.
third, the author claims that he could not run away from prison of venice, offering a bribe from his friends. Using just a piece of metal is more likely to stories that might be taile and rarely happent in the real world. On the other hand, the lecturer postulates that it is undenable that he had powerful friends in venice, but, there is a seriuse evidence that demonstrate it accsident is true; aftre escaping, ceiling was ripaired at that time.
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 1, column 351, Rule ID: ENGLISH_WORD_REPEAT_BEGINNING_RULE
Message: Three successive sentences begin with the same word. Reword the sentence or use a thesaurus to find a synonym.
...rd, the matter of escaping from prison. In the listening part, however, the speake...
^^
Line 5, column 285, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: He
...nsidered lots of time, hence distances. he did not access to the cash, as a result...
^^
Line 9, column 129, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: It
...hevalier and Voltaire actually existed. it was write many years later and it could...
^^
Line 9, column 136, Rule ID: BEEN_PART_AGREEMENT[1]
Message: Consider using a past participle here: 'written'.
Suggestion: written
...r and Voltaire actually existed. it was write many years later and it could not possi...
^^^^^
Line 9, column 241, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: However
... such an accuarate and relevant detail. however, the speaker flatly contradicts and con...
^^^^^^^
Line 9, column 403, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: It
... recorded it that night in his diaries. it provides a proof to the fact that he co...
^^
Line 13, column 1, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: Third
...ing movements confirmed this idea. third, the author claims that he could not ru...
^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
actually, but, first, hence, however, nevertheless, second, secondly, so, third, while, in contrast, as a result, to begin with, on the other hand
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 12.0 10.4613686534 115% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 4.0 5.04856512141 79% => OK
Conjunction : 8.0 7.30242825607 110% => OK
Relative clauses : 16.0 12.0772626932 132% => OK
Pronoun: 38.0 22.412803532 170% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 38.0 30.3222958057 125% => OK
Nominalization: 5.0 5.01324503311 100% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1570.0 1373.03311258 114% => OK
No of words: 311.0 270.72406181 115% => OK
Chars per words: 5.04823151125 5.08290768461 99% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.19942759058 4.04702891845 104% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.58286435245 2.5805825403 100% => OK
Unique words: 172.0 145.348785872 118% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.553054662379 0.540411800872 102% => OK
syllable_count: 474.3 419.366225166 113% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.55342163355 97% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 5.0 3.25607064018 154% => OK
Article: 10.0 8.23620309051 121% => OK
Subordination: 2.0 1.25165562914 160% => OK
Conjunction: 0.0 1.51434878587 0% => OK
Preposition: 6.0 2.5761589404 233% => Less preposition wanted as sentence beginnings.
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 14.0 13.0662251656 107% => OK
Sentence length: 22.0 21.2450331126 104% => OK
Sentence length SD: 51.8426288229 49.2860985944 105% => OK
Chars per sentence: 112.142857143 110.228320801 102% => OK
Words per sentence: 22.2142857143 21.698381199 102% => OK
Discourse Markers: 10.4285714286 7.06452816374 148% => OK
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.09492273731 98% => OK
Language errors: 7.0 4.19205298013 167% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 3.0 4.33554083885 69% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 4.0 4.45695364238 90% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 7.0 4.27373068433 164% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.189410047895 0.272083759551 70% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0607390513516 0.0996497079465 61% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0462916460851 0.0662205650399 70% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.114768835183 0.162205337803 71% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0316518909154 0.0443174109184 71% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 13.5 13.3589403974 101% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 57.61 53.8541721854 107% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 5.55761589404 56% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 10.7 11.0289183223 97% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 12.01 12.2367328918 98% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.84 8.42419426049 105% => OK
difficult_words: 81.0 63.6247240618 127% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 13.0 10.7273730684 121% => OK
gunning_fog: 10.8 10.498013245 103% => OK
text_standard: 11.0 11.2008830022 98% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Rates: 80.0 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 24.0 Out of 30
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.