1、 英美文学选读试题 2005年11月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. Mark your choice by blackening the corresponding letter A， C or ID on the answer sheet . 1. Romance, which uses narrative ve
2、rse or prose to tell stories of _ adventures or other heroic deeds, is a popular literary form in the medieval period.A. Christian B. Knightly C. Greek D. Primitive2. Among the great Middle English poets, Geoffrey Chaucer is known for his production of _.A. Piers Plowman B. Sir Gawain and the Green
3、Knight B. Confessio Amantis D. The Canterbury Tales3. Which of the following historical events does not directly help to stimulate the rising of the Renaissance Movement?A. The rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman culture.B. The new discoveries in geography and astrology.C. The Glorious revolution
4、.D. The religious reformation and the economic expansion.4. Which of the following statements best illustrates the theme of Shakespeares Sonnet 18?A. The speaker eulogizes the power of Nature.B. The speaker satirizes human vanity.C. The speaker praises the power of artistic creation.D. The speaker m
5、editates on mans salvation.5. And we will sit upon the rocks, /Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks, /By shallow rivers to whose falls/ Melodious birds sing madrigals. The above lines are probably taken from _.A. Spensers The Faerie QueeneB. John Donnes The Sun RisingC. Shakespeares Sonnet 18D. Ma
6、rlowes The Passionate Shepherd to His Love6. Bassanio: Antonio, I am married to a wife Which is as dear to me as life itself; But life itself, my wife, and all the world, Are not with me esteemd above thy life; I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all, Here to the devil, to deliver you. Portia: Your
7、 wife would give you little thanks for that, If she were by to hear you make the offer.The above is a quotation taken from Shakespeares comedy The Merchant of Venice. The quoted part can be regarded as a good example to illustrate A. dramatic irony B. personificationC. allegoryD. symbolism7. The tru
8、e subject of John Donnes poem, The Sun Rising, is to A. attack the sun as unruly servantB. give compliments to the mistress and her power of beautyC. criticize the suns intrusion into the lovers private lifeD. lecture the sun on where true royalty and riches lie8. Of all the 18th century novelists H
9、enry Fielding was the first to set out, both in theory and practice, to write specifically a _ in prose, the first to give the modern novel its structure and style.A. tragic epicB. comic epicC. romanceD. lyric epic9. The Houyhnhnms depicted by Jonathan Swift in Gullivers travels are A. horses that a
10、re endowed with reasonB. pigmies that are endowed with admirable qualitiesC. giants that are superior in wisdomD. hairy, wild, low and despicable creatures, who resemble human beings not only in appearance but also in some other ways10. Here are four lines from a literary work: Others for language a
11、ll their care express,/And value books, and women men, for dress. The work is A. Thomas Grays Elegy Written in a Country ChurchyardB. John Miltons Paradise LostC. Alexander Popes Essay on CriticismD. Shakespeares Midsummer Nights Dream11. The phrase to urge people to abide by Christian doctrines and
12、 to seek salvation through constant struggles with their own weaknesses and all kinds of social evils may well sum up the implied meaning of A. Gullivers Travels B. The Rape of the LockC. Robinson CrusoeD. The Pilgrims Progress12. William Wordsworth, a romantic poet, advocated all the following EXCE
13、PT A. the use of everyday language spoken by the common peopleB. the expression of the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelingsC. the use of humble and rustic life as subject matterD. the use of elegant wording and inflated figures of speech13. Which of the following is taken from John KeatsOde on
14、a Grecian Urn?A. I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!B. They are both gone up to the church to pray.C. Earth has not anything to show more fair.D. Beauty is truth, truth beauty.14. If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? is an epigrammatic line by A. J. KeatsB. W. BlakeC. W. WordsworthD. P. B
15、. Shelley15. Ode on a Grecian Urn shows the contrast between the _ of art and the _ of human passion.A. glory.uglinessB. permanence. transienceC. transience . sordidnessD. glory . permanence16. In the statement -oh, God! Would you like to live with your soul in the grave? the term soul apparently re
16、fers to A. Heathcliff himselfB. CatherineC. ones spiritual lifeD. ones ghost17. The typical feature of Robert Brownings poetry is the A. bitter satireB. larger-than-life caricatureC. Latinized dictionD. dramatic monologue18. The Victorian Age was largely and age of _, eminently represented by Dicken
17、s and Thackeray.A. poetryB. dramaC. proseD. epic prose19. _is the first important governess novel in the English literary history.A. Jane EyreB. EmmaC. Wuthering HeightsD. Middlemarch20. The major concern of _ fiction lies in the tracing of the psychological development of his characters and in his
18、energetic criticism of the dehumanizing effect of the capitalist industrialization on human nature.A. D. H. Lawrences B. J. GalsworthysC. W. ThackeraysD. T. Hardys21. _ is considered to be the best-known English dramatist since Shakespeare, and his representative works are plays inspired by social c
19、riticism.A. Richard SheridanB. Oliver GoldsmithC. Oscar WildeD. Bernard Shaw22. Which of the following is NOT a typical feature of Modernism?A. To elevate the individual and inner being over the social being.B. To put the stress on traditional values.C. To portray the distorted and alienated relatio
20、nships between man and his environment.D. To advocate a conscious break with the past.23. The Romantic writers would focus on all the following issues EXCEPT the _ in the American literary history.A. individual feelings B. idea of survival of the fittestC. strong imaginationD. return to nature24. He
21、nry David Thoreaus work, _ has always been regarded as a masterpiece of New England Transcendentalism.A. WaldenB. The PioneersC. NatureD. Song of Myself25. The famous 20-year sleep in Rip Van Winkle helps to construct the story in such a way that we are greatly affected by Irvings A. concern with th
22、e passage of timeB. expression of transient beautyC. satire on laziness and corruptibility of human beingsD. idea about supernatural manipulation of mans life26. Walt Whitman was a pioneering figure of American poetry. His innovation first of all lies in his use of _, poetry without a fixed beat or
23、regular rhyme scheme.A. bland verseB. heroic coupletC. free verseD. iambic pentameter27. The literary characters of the American type in early 19th century are generally characterized by all the following features EXCEPT that they A. speak local dialectsB. are polite and elegant gentlemenC. are simp
24、le and crude farmersD. are noble savages(red and white) untainted by society28. Hster Pryme, Dimmesdale, Cillingworth, and Pearl are most likely the names of the characters in _.A. The Scarlet LetterB. The House of the Seven GablestC. The portrait of a LadyD. The Pioneers29. This is my letter to the
25、 World is a poetic expression of Emily Dickinsons _ about her communication with the outside world.A. indifference B. angerC. anxietyD. sorrow30. With Howells, James, and Mark Twain active on the literary scene, _ became the major trend in American literature in the seventies and eighties of the 19t
26、h century.A. SentimentalismB. romanticismC. realismD. naturalism31. After The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Twain gives a literary independence to Toms buddy Huck in a book entitled _.A. Life on the MississippiB. The Gilded AgeC. The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnD. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs
27、Court32. However, _ the keynote of Daisy Millers character, turns out to be an admiring but a dangerous quality and her defiance of social taboos in the Old World finally brings her to a disaster in the clash between two different cultures.A. experience B. sophisticationC. worldlinessD. innocence33.
28、 Generally speaking, all those writers with a naturalistic approach to human reality tend to be _.A. transcendentalists B. idealistsC. pessimistsD. impressionists34. Emily Dickinson wrote many short poems on various aspects of life. Which of the following is NOT a usual subject of her poetic express
29、ion?A. Religion and immortalityB. Life and deathC. Love and marriageD. War and peace35. In After Apple- Picking, Robert Frost wrote: For I have had too much / Of apple -picking: I am overtired/ Of the great harvest I myself desired. From these lines we can conclude that the speaker is _.A. happy abo
30、ut the harvestB. still very much interested in apple-pickingC. expecting a greater harvestD. indifferent to what he once desired36. Chinese poetry and philosophy have exerted great influence over _.A. Ezra PoundB. Ralph Waldo EmersonC. Robert FrostD. Emily Dickinson37. The Hemingway Code heroes are
31、best remembered for their _.A. indestructible spiritB. pessimistic view of lifeC. war experiencesD. masculinity38. In The Emperor Jones and The Hairy Ape, ONeill adopted the expressionist techniques to portray the _ of human beings in a hostile universe.A. helpless situationB. uncertaintyC. profound
32、 religious faithD. courage and perseverance39. In Hemingways Indian Camp, Nicks night trip to the Indian village and his experience inside the hut can be taken as _.A. an essential lesson about Indian tribesB. a confrontation with evil and sinC. an initiation to the harshness of lifeD. a learning pr
33、ocess in human relationship40. Which of the following statements about Emily Grierson, the protagonist in Faulkners story A Rose for Emily, is NOT true?A. She has a distorted personality.B. She is physically deformed and paralyzed.C. She is the symbol of the old values of the South.D. She is the vic
34、tim of the past glory.Reading Comprehension41. Her eyes met his and he looked away. He neither believed nor disbelieved her, but he knew that he had made a mistake in asking; he never had known, never know, what she was thinking. The sight of her inscrutable face, the thought of all the hundreds of
35、evenings he had seen her sitting there like that, soft and passive, but so unreadable, unknown, enraged him beyond measure.Questions:A. Identify the writer and the work.B. What does the phrase inscrutable face mean?C. What idea does the quoted passage express?42. And when I am formulated, sprawling
36、on a pin,When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,Then how should I beginTo spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways.Questions:A. Identify the poem and the poet.B. What does the phrase butt-ends mean?C. What idea does the quoted passage express?43. God knows, . Im not myself-Im somebody else
37、- . and Im changed, and I cant tell whats my name, or who I am.Questions:A. Identify the work and author.B. The speaker says he is changed. Do you think he is changed, or the social environment has changed?C. What idea does the quoted sentence express?44. I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere
38、 ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.Questions:A. Identify the poem and the poet.B. What does the phrase ages and ages hence mean?C. What idea does the quoted passage express?. Questions and Answers45. As a rule
39、, an allegory is a story in verse or prose with a double meaning: a surface meaning, and an implied meaning. List two works and examples of allegory. What is an allegory usually concerned with by its implied meaning?46. Inspiration for the romantic approach initially came from two great shapers of t
40、hought. Who are the two? And what ideas they expressed inspire the romantic writers?47. The white whale, Moby Dick, is the most important symbol in Melvilles novel. What symbolic meaning can you draw from it?48. Nature is a philosophic work, in which Emerson gives an explicit discussion on his idea
41、of the Over-soul. What is your understanding of Emersonian Over-soul?. Topic Discussion49. How is Romanticism different from Neoclassicism? Provide brief evidence from the literary works you know best.50. Summarize the story of Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in about 100 words, and comment on the theme of the novel.
