Question

Read the excerpt from The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone by James Cross Giblin.

These were impressive achievements. But Akerblad’s success in identifying so many demotic characters now led him to make a serious mistake. He became convinced that the demotic script was entirely alphabetic. From then on Akerblad, and other scholars like him, made no further progress in deciphering the demotic passage on the Stone.

Based on this excerpt, which statement best describes the author’s portrayal of Johan Akerblad?

A.) Through Akerblad’s thoughts, Giblin shows him as someone whose determination led to his success in figuring out the passage.


B.)Through Akerblad’s actions, Giblin shows him as someone whose confidence eventually stood in the way of his success.


C.)Through Akerblad’s reactions to others, Giblin portrays him as someone whose stubbornness does not allow him to take the advice of others.


D.)Through Akerblad’s relationships with others, Giblin shows him as someone whose pride kept him from learning from others’ mistakes.

Answer 1

b option is the right answer

Answer 2

Correct option is B (Through Akerblad’s actions, Giblin shows him as someone whose confidence eventually stood in the way of his success.)

• The author mentioned that the achievements of Johan Akerblad are impressive. From achievements, one can become confident and it's common.
• The author also mentioned that "Akerblad’s success in identifying so many demotic characters now led him to make a serious mistake" Here the serious mistake might be overconfidence.
• "He became convinced that the demotic script was entirely alphabetic". This line indicates that Akerblad worked with confidence from his previous achievements and expected the difficulty level to be the same. This might be the reason for not progressing further in deciphering the demotic passage on the Stone.
• This shows that Akerblad's confidence in his own beliefs eventually became a hindrance to his success.

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