历年自考历年英美文学选读试卷及答案

英美文学历年真题全国2009年4月英美文学选读试题请将答案填在答题纸相应的位置上(全部题目用英文作答)I. Multiple Choice(40 points in all, 1 for each) Select from the four choices of each item the one that best answers the question or completes the statement and write the corresponding letter on the answer sheet.1. In Renaissance, the European humanist thinkers and scholars made attempts to do the following EXCEPT _.A. getting rid of those old feudalist ideasB. getting control of the parliament and governmentC. introducing new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisieD. recovering the purity of the early church, from the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church2. The Petrarchan sonnet was first introduced into England by _.A. Surrey B. WyattC. Sidney D. Shakespeare3. As the best of Shakespeares final romances,_ is a typical example of his pessimistic view towards human life and society in his late years. A. The Tempest B. The Winters Tale C. Cymbeline D. The Rape of Lucrece4. John Miltons greatest poetical work _ is the only generally acknowledged epic in English literarure since Beowulf.A. AreopagiticaB. Paradise LostC. LycidasD. Samson Agonistes5. The British bourgeois or middle class believed in the following notions EXCEPT _.A. self - esteem B. self - relianceC. self - restraint D. hard work6. “Graveyard School”writers are the following sentimentalists EXCEPT _.A. James Thomson B. William CollinsC. William Cowper D. Thomas Jackson7. The best model of satire in the whole English literary history is Jonathan Swifts _.A. A Modest Proposal B. A Tale of a TubC. Gullivers Travels D. The Battle of the Books8. As a representative of the Enlightenment,_ was one of the first to introduce rationalism to England.A. John Bunyan B. Daniel DefoeC. Alexander Pope D. Jonathan Swift9. For his contribution to the establishment of the form of the modern novel,_ has been regarded by some as “Father of the English Novel”.A. Daniel Defoe B. Henry FieldingC. Jonathan Swift D. Samuel Richardson10. Which of the following descriptions of Gothic Novels is NOT correct?A. It predominated in the early eighteenth century.B. It was one phase of the Romantic movement.C. Its principal elements are violence, horror and the supernatural.D. Works like The Mysteries of Udolpho and Frankenstein are typical Gothic romance. 11. “Byronic hero” is a figure of the following traits EXCEPT _.A. being proud B. being of humble originC. being rebellious D. being mysterious12. Robert Browning created _ by adopting the novelistic presentation of characters.A. the verse novel B. the blank verseC. the heroic couplet D. the dramatic poetry13. Charles Dickens novel _ is famous for its vivid descriptions of the workhouse and life of the underworld in the nineteenth- century London. A. The Pickwick Paper B. Oliver Twist C. David Copperfield D. Nicholas Nickleby14. Charlotte Brontes works are all about the struggle of an individual consciousness towards _ about some lonely and neglected young women with a fierce longing for love, understanding and a full, happy life. A. self - reliance B. self - realization C. self - esteem D. self - consciousness15. The symbolic meaning of “Book” in Robert Brownings long poem The Ring and the Book is _.A. the common sense B. the hard truthC. the comprehensive knowledge D. the dead truth16. Thomas Hardys pessimistic view of life predominated most of his later works and earns him a reputation as a _ writer.A. realistic B. naturalisticC. romantic D. stylistic17. After the First World War, there appeared the following literary trends of modernism EXCEPT _.A. expressionism B. surrealismC. stream of consciousness D. black humour18. The masterpieces of critical realism in the early 20th century are the three trilogies of _.A. Galsworthys Forsyte novels B. Hardy s Wessex novelsC. Greenes Catholic novels D. Woolfs stream-of-consciousness novels19. In the mid - 1950s and early 1960s, there appeared “_” who demonstrated a particular disillusion over the depressing situation in Britain and launched a bitter protest. against the outmoded social and political values in their society.A. The Beat Generation B. The Lost GenerationC. The Angry Young Men D. Black Mountain Poets20.The following are English stream-of-consciousness novels EXCEPT _.A.Pilgrimage B. UlyssesC.Mrs.Dalloway D. A Passage to Inida21. The leader of the Irish National Theater Movement in the early 20th century was _.A. W.B.Yeats B. Lady GregoryC. J.M.Synge D. John Galworthy22. T.S.Eliots most popular verse play is _.A. Murder in the Cathedral B. The Cocktail PartyC. The Family Reunion D. The Waste Land23. The American writer _ was awarded the Nobel Prize for the anti-racist Intruder in the Dust in 1950.A. Ernest Hemingway B. Gertrude SteinC. William Faulkner D.T.S. Eliot24. Hemingways second big success is _ , which wrote the epitaph to a decade and to the whole generation in the 1920s, in order to tell us a story about the tragic love affair of a wounded American soldier with a British nurse.A. For Whom the Bell Tolls B. A Farewell to ArmsC. The Sun Also Rises D. The Old Man and the Sea25. With the publication of _ , Dreiser was launching himself upon a long career that would ultimately make him one of the most significant American writers of the school later known as literary naturalism.A. Sister Carrie B. The TitanC. The Genius D. The Stoic26. Henry James is generally regarded as the forerunner of the 20th-century “stream -of-consciousness”novels and the founder of _.A. neoclassicism B. psychological realismC. psychoanalytical criticism D. surrealism27. In 1849, Herman Melville published _ ,a semi-autobiographical novel, concerning the sufferings of a genteel youth among brutal sailors.A. Omoo B. MardiC. Redburn D. Typee28. As a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,_ marks the climax of Mark Twains literary activity.A. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn B. Life on the MississippiC. The Gilded Age D. Roughing It29. Realism was a reaction against _ or a move away from the bias towards romance and self- creating fictions, and paved the way to Modernism.A. Romanticism B. RationalismC. Post-modernism D. Cynicism30. When World War II broke out,_ began working for the Italian government, engaged in some radio broadcasts of anti- Semitism and pro- Fascism.A. Ezra Pound B.T.S. EliotC. Henry James D. Robert Frost31. In 1915 _ became a naturalized British citizen, largely in protest against Americas failure to join England in the First World War.A. Henry James B.T.S.EliotC. W.D.Howells D. Ezra Pound32. What Whitman prefers for his new subject and new poetic feelings is “_ ,” that is, poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme.A. blank verse B. free rhythmC. balanced structure D. free verse33. The American woman poet _ wanted to live simply as a complete independent being, and so she did, as a spinster.A. Emily Shaw B. Anna DickinsonC. Emily Dickinson D. Anne Bret34. The Birthmark drives home symbolically _ point that evil is a mans birthmark, something he was born with.A. Whitmans B. MelvillesC. Hawthornes D. Emersons35. The Financier ,The Titan and The Stoic written by _ are called his “Trilogy of Desire”.A. Henry James B. Theodore DreiserC. Mark Twain D. Herman Melville36. Disregarding grammar and punctuation,_ always used “i” instead of “I” in his poems to show his protest against self-importance.A. Wallace Stevens B. Ezra PoundC. Robert Frost D. E.E.Cummings37. Though Robert Frost is generally considered a regional poet whose subject matters mainly focus on the landscape and people in _ , he wrote many poems that investigate the basic themes of mans life in his long poetic career.A. the west B. the southC. New England D. Alaska38. Most critics have agreed that Fitzgerald is both an insider and an outsider of _ with a double vision.A. the Gilded Age B. the Rational AgeC. the Jazz Age D. the Magic Age39. In the American Romantic writings,_ came to function almost as a dramatic character that symbolized moral law.A. fire B. waterC. trees D. wilderness40. The desire for an escape from society and a return to _ became a permanent convention of the American literature.A. the family life B. natureC. the ancient time D. fantasy of loveII. Reading Comprehension (16 points in all, 4 for each)Read the quoted parts carefully and answer the questions in English. Write your answers in the corresponding space on the answer sheet.41. Wherefore feed and clothe and save From the cradle to the grave Those ungrateful drones who would Drain your sweat- nay, drink your blood? Questions:A. Identify the poet and the title of the poem from which the stanza is taken. B. What figure of speech is used in Line 2?C. Whom does “drones” refer to?Answer: A: The Men of England by Percy Bysshe ShelleyB. Metaphor (不确定答案) C. Drones: the male of the honey-bees that do not work, referring here to the parasitic class in human society.42. The following quotation is from one of the poems by T. S. Eliot: No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; Am an attendant lord, one that will do To swell a progress, start a scene or two Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool, Deferential, glad to be of use, Politic, cautious, and meticulous, Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse; Questions: A. Identify the title of the poem from which the quoted part is taken. B. Whos the speaker of the quoted lines? C. What does the first line show about the speaker?Answer:A. The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock.B. Prufrock.C. (待补充)43There was a child went forth every day, And the first object he lookd upon, that object he became, And that object became part of him for the day or a certain part of the day, Or for many years or stretching cycles of years. Questions: A. Identify the poet.B. From which poem and which collection of the poet are these lines taken?C. What does the poet describe in the poem? Answer: A. Walt Whitman B. There Was a Child Went Forth; Leaves of Grass. C. This poem describes the growth of a child who learned about the world around him and improved himself accordingly.44. I heard a Fly buzz- when I died- The Stillness in the Room Was like the Stillness in the Air- Between the Heaves of Storm- The Eyes around- had wrung them dry- And Breaths were gathering firm For that last Onset- when the King Be witnessed - in the Room- Questions: A. Identify the poet. B. What does “the King” refer to? C. What moment is the poem trying to describe?Answer: A. Emily Dickinson B. the King refers to the God of death. C. the poem trying to describe the moment of death. the author even imagined her own death, the loss of her own body, and the journey of her soul to the unknownIII. Questions and Answers (24 points in all, 6 for each)Give brief answers to each of the following questions in English. Write your answers in the corresponding space on the answer sheet.45. List at least two leading neoclassicists in England. What did Neoclassicists celebrate in literary creation?A. The Neoclassicism period was an important age with the remarkable authors Pope, Defoe, etc.B. 1) The Neoclassical period is about 1660-1798, also known as the Age of Enlightenment or the age of Reason. 2)In essence, the Neoclassical Period was a progressive intellectual movement. 3)The Enlighteners believed in self-restraint, self-reliance and hard work; They celebrated reason/rationality, equality and science. They advocated universal education, which could make people rational and prefect, they believed. 4)In literature, The Enlightenment Movement brought about a revival of interest in the ancient Greek and Roman classical works; the works at the time, heavily didactic and moralizing; having fixed laws and rules for every type of the literature; among which prose and the modern English novel predominated the age.46. Jane Eyre is one of the most popular and important novels of the Victorian Age. Why is Jane Eyre such a successful novel?Answer: A. The story opens with the titular heroine, Jane Eyre, a plain little orphan.B. This novel sharply criticize the existing society, e.g. the religious hypocrisy of charity institutions, the social discrimination Jane experiences and the false social convention as concerning love and marriage.C. The success of the novel is also due to its introduction to the English novel the first governess heroine Jane Eyre.D. It is an intense moral fable at the same time. Jane, like Mr. Rochester, has to undergo a series of physical and moral tests to grow up and achieve her final happiness.47. Who are the three dominant figures of the American Age of Realism and what are the differences in their understanding of the “truth”?Answer: A. the three dominant figures of the American Age of Realism are Mark Twain, Howells, Henry James. B. Mark Twain and Howells seemed to have paid more attention to the life of the Americans, Henry James had apparently laid a greater emphasis on the “inner world” of man. Howells focused his discussion on the rising middle class and the way they lived, while Twain preferred to have his own region and people at the forefront of his stories.48. Whats Dreiser s naturalistic belief? Please discuss the question with Carrie, a character in Sister Carrie as an example.Answer: 1) Penniless and full of the illusions of ignorance and youth, Sister Carrie leaves her rural home to seek work in Chicago, she grows from an innocent, pure country girl to be a girl mature in intellect and emotion, and she becomes a star of musical comedies. But in spite of her success in material, she is not happy but lonely and dissatisfied. 2) Sister Carrie best embodies Dreisers naturalistic belief that while men are controlled and conditioned by heredity, instinct and chance, a few extraordinary and unsophisticated human beings refuse to accept their fate wordlessly and instead strive, unsuccessfully, to find meaning and purpose for their existenceIV. Topic Discussion(20 points in all, 10 for each) Write no less than 150 words on each of the following topics in English in the corresponding space on the answer sheet.49. Briefly discuss William Shakespeares artistic achievements in characterization, plot construction and language.Answer: As one of the most remarkable playwrights and poets the worlds has ever known, Shakespeare has effected his influence far beyond the time he livedthe Renaissance period. In this greatest tragedy “ Hamlet”, his skillful handling of plot construction, powerful condemnations of the royal corruption as well as his genius application of soliloquy are all displayed perfectly, which not only makes this play the most popular one on the stage, but also creates Shakespeare an everlasting fame in the literary world, going beyond the national boundaries for centuries.50. Briefly discuss Mark Twains art of fiction in terms of the setting, the language, and the characters, etc., based on his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.Answer: 1).Adventures of Huckleberry find proved itself to be the milestone in American literature and thus firmly established Twains position in American literature.2) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn marks the climax of Twains literary creativity. The novel is written in a language that is totally different from the rhetorical language used by Emerson, Poe, and Melville. It is simple, direct, lucid, and faithful to the colloquial speech. Speaking in vernacular, a wild and uneducated Huck, running away from civilization for his freedom, is vividly brought to life. Indeed, with his great mastery and effective use of vernacular, Twain has made colloquial speech an accepted, respectable literary medium in the literary history of the country. 3) Mark Twains humor is remarkable, too. His humor is not only of witty remarks mocking at small things or of farcical elements making people laugh, but a kind of artistic style used to criticize the social injustice and satirize the decayed romanticism.4). The profound portrait of Huckleberry Finn is another great contribution of the book to the legacy of American literature.5). Twain, known as a local colorist, preferred to present social life through portraits of the local characters of his regions, including people living in that area, the landscape, and other peculiarities like the customs, dialects, costumes and so on. The Mississippi valley and the West became his major theme. Unlike James and Howells, Mark Twain wrote about the lower-class people. He successfully used local color and historical settings to illustrate and shed light on the contemporary society. 或者参考第二个答案：As a true father of American national literature, Twain has impresses the whole world with his milestone work “ Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, which not only gives a record of a vanished life moving millions of people worldwide, but also become a classic for both children and adults owing to its vernacular and remarkable humor.1. b 2. b 3. a 4. b 5. a 6. d 7. a 8. c 9. b 10. a 11. b 12. a 13. b 14. b 15. b 16. b 17. d 18. a 19. c 20. d 21. a 22. a 23. c 24. b 25. a 26. b 27. c 28. a 29. a 30. a 31. a 32. d 33. c 34. c 35. b 36. d 37. c 38. c 39. d 40. b 41. A. A Song: Men of England, Shelley B. Personification C. the male of the honey-bees that do