全国2005年7月高等教育自学考试

　　英美文学选读试题

　　课程代码：00604

　　全部题目用英文作答，并将答案写在答题纸相应位置上，否则不计分。

　　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. Write your answer on the answer sheet.

　　1.With classical culture and the（　　　）humanistic ideas coming into England, the English Renaissance began flourishing.

　　A. French        B. German

　　C. Italian        D. Greek

　　2."Come live with me and be my love, / And we will all the pleasures prove / That valleys, groves, hills, and fields, / Woods, or steepy mountain yields."

　　The above lines are taken from Marlowe"s "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love", which derives from the（　　　）tradition.

　　A. pastoral       B. heroic

　　C. romantic       D. realistic

　　3."Metaphysical conceit"is a strategy characteristic of John Donne"s poetry. It is（　　　）.

　　A. a confession that avoids questions of moral accountability

　　B. the linking of images from very different ranges of experience

　　C. self-definition through images based on the four primal elements

　　D. the chaining of images representing solid and gaseous elements

　　4."So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."Shakespeare"s Sonnet 18 includes three stanzas according to the content with these last two lines as a（　　　）, which completes the sense of the above lines.

　　A. prelude       B. couplet

　　C. epigraph       D. exposition

　　5."Therefore at this fair are all such merchandise sold, as houses, lands, trades, places, honors, preferments, titles, countries, kingdoms, lusts, pleasures, and delights of all sorts, as whores, bawds, wives, husbands, children, masters, servants…" The above sentences are taken from（　　　）.

　　A. John Bunyan"s Pilgrim"s Progress  B. Jonathan Swift"s Gulliver"s Travels

　　C. Henry Fielding"s Tom Jones   D. Daniel Defoe"s Robinson Crusoe

　　6.Jonathan Swift is a master satirist in English literature. His A Tale of a Tub is an attack on（　　　）.

　　A. the government      B. greed

　　C. the church       D. the abuse of power

　　7.Chaucer was the first English writer to adopt heroic couplet in his writhing of poems. In the early 18th century, the chief proponent of the heroic couplet was（　　　）.

　　A. Alexander Pope      B. William Wordsworth

　　C. Lord Byron       D. Thomas Gray

　　8.As a lexicographer, he distinguished himself as the author of the first English dictionary-A Dictionary of the English Language. What is his name?（　　　）.

　　A. Jonathan Swift      B. Samuel Johnson

　　C. Ben Jonson       D. John Milton

　　9.Which of the following statements about Neo-Classicism and Enlightenment Movement is true?（　　　）.

　　A. The Enlightenment was a progressive intellectual movement throughout Western Europe in the 17th century.

　　B. Neo-Classicism found its artistic models in the classical literature of the ancient Greek and Roman writers like Homer, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, etc. and in the contemporary French writers such as Voltaire and Diderot.

　　C. Neo-Classicism put the stress on the classical artistic ideals of order, logic, proportion, spontaneous emotion, and passion.

　　D. Satire was much used in writing in the neo-classic works. English literature of this age produced a distinguished satirist Daniel Defoe.

　　10.A poet asserted that poetry originated form "emotion recollected in tranquillity". He maintained that the scenes and events of everyday life and the speech of ordinary people were the raw material of which poetry could and should be made. Who is that poet?（　　　）.

　　A. William Blake       B. Alfred Lord Tennyson

　　C. William Wordsworth     D. John Keats

　　11.The composition of "Kubla Khan"by S.T. Coleridge was based on （　　　）.

　　A. a story        B. a dream

　　C. a dialogue       D. an experience

　　12.Romanticism was a literary trend prevailing in English during the period from 1798 to 1832. The Romantic writers（　　　）.

　　A. paid great attention to the spiritual and emotional life of man

　　B. were discontent with the development of industrialism and capitalism, and presented the social evils minutely in their works

　　C. took pains to portray a world of harmony and balance

　　D. tended to glorify Rome and advocated rational Italian and French art as superior to the native traditions

　　13."Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright/ In the forests of the night, / What immortal hand or eye / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?"("The Tiger"by William Blake) The above lines（　　　）.

　　A. describe the tiger"s fierce eyes and forceful hands at night

　　B. express the poet"s curiosity for the skillful creation of the tiger

　　C. express the poet"s surprise at the sight of the tiger"s well-proportioned body

　　D. express the poet"s terror at the sight of the tiger in the forest at night

　　14.Which of the following statements about Victorian literature is NOT true?（　　　）

　　A. Novels became the most widely read and the most vital and challenging expression of progressive thought.

　　B. Victorian novelists were angry with the inhuman social institutions, the decaying social morality, the widespread misery, poverty and injustice.

　　C. Influenced by a particularly strict set of moral standards, Victorian writers like Oscar Wilde, advocated the old moderate, respectable life-style.

　　D. Victorian prose writers joined forces with the critical realist novelists in exposing and criticizing the social reality.

　　15."It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a （　　　）."This quotation in Austen"s Pride and Prejudice sets the tone of the novel.

　　A. house        B. title

　　C. wife        D. fame

　　16.Tennyson"s poem Ulysses not only expresses the poet"s own determination and courage to brave the struggle of life, but also reflects the restlessness and aspiration of the age. The poem is written in the form of（　　　）.

　　A. epic        B. elegy

　　C. dramatic monologue     D. ode

　　17.In Hardy"s Wessex novels, there is an apparent（　　　）touch in his description of the simple and beautiful though primitive rural life.

　　A. realistic       B. nostalgic

　　C. romantic       D. sentimental

　　18."If I"ve done wrong, I"m dying for it. It is enough! You left me too; but I won"t upbraid you! I forgive you. Forgive me!" These above lines are uttered by the heroine in（　　　）.

　　A. Shapespeare"s Romeo and Juliet

　　B. Emily Bront "s Wuthering Heights

　　C. Thomas Hardy"s Tess of the D"Urbervilles

　　D. Bernard Shaw"s Mrs. Warren"s Profession

　　19.Modernism takes the irrational philosophy and（　　　）as its theoretical base.

　　A. the theory of psycho-analysis   B. Darwin"s evolutionary theory

　　C. the French symbolism    D. Utilitarianism

　　20.The beginning of "The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock"moves from a series of fairly concrete physical settings-a cityscape( the famous"patient etherized upon a table")and several interiors (women"s arms in the lamplight, coffee spoons, fireplaces)-to a series of vague ocean images. It aims to convey（　　　）.

　　A. Prufrock"s emotional distance from the world as he comes to recognize his second-rate status

　　B. Prufrock"s eagerness to meet his dating lover

　　C. Prufrock"s reluctance to meet his dating lover

　　D. Prufrock"s excitement about the modern world

　　21."North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers" School set the boy free. An uninhabited house of two storeys stood at the blind end, detached from its neighbours in a square ground. The other houses of the street, conscious of decent lives within them, gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces."

　　The above passage is the first paragraph of Araby by James Joyce. It sets a(n)（　　　）tone of the story.

　　A. optimistic       B. active

　　C. gloomy       D. serious

　　22."I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, / And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made: / Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee, / And live alone in the bee-loud glade." ("The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by Samuel Butler Yeats) The above lines present the state of a(n)（　　　）life.

　　A. quiet        B. lonely

　　C. ambitious       D. unstable

　　23.In Young Goodman Brown by Hawthorne, the name of Goodman Brown"s wife is（　　　）, which also contains many symbolic meanings.

　　A. Ruth        B. Hester

　　C. Faith        D. Mary

　　24.The Romantic Period, one of the most important periods in the history of American literature, stretches from the end of __________ to the outbreak of ___________.（　　　）

　　A. the 17th century…the American War of Independence

　　B. the 18th century…the American Civil War

　　C. the 17th century…the American Civil War

　　D. the 18th century…the U.S.-Mexican War

　　25."The apparition of these faces in the crowd; / Petals on a wet, black bough." This is the shortest poem written by（　　　）.

　　A. E.E. Cummings      B. T.S. Eliot

　　C. Ezra Pound       D. Robert Frost

　　26.Emily Dickinson"s poem"This is my letter to the World"expresses her（　　　）about her communication with the outside world.

　　A. anxiety       B. eagerness

　　C. curiosity       D. optimistic outlook

　　27.Realism was a reaction against Romanticism or a move away from the bias towards romance and self-creating fictions, and paved the way to（　　　）.

　　A. Cynicism       B. Modernism

　　C. Transcendentalism     D. Neo-Classicalism

　　28.In（　　　）, William Faulkner illuminates the problem of black and white in the American Southern society as a close-knit destiny of blood brotherhood.

　　A. Go Down, Moses     B. Light in August

　　C. The Marble Faun     D. As I Lay Dying

　　29.The theme of Washington Irving"s Rip Van Winkle is（　　　）.

　　A. the conflict of human psyche

　　B. the fight against racial discrimination

　　C. the familial conflict

　　D. the nostalgia for the unrecoverable past

　　30.Hemingway once described Mark Twain"s novel（　　　）the one book from which "all modern American literature comes."

　　A. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

　　B. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

　　C. The Gilded Age

　　D. The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg

　　31.As a genre, naturalism emphasized（ 　　 ）as important deterministic forces shaping individualized characters who were presented in special and detailed circumstances.

　　A. theological doctrines

　　B. heredity and environment

　　C. education and hard work

　　D. various opportunities and economic success

　　32.（ 　　 ）is generally regarded as the forerunner of the 20th century "stream-of-consciousness"novels and the founder of psychological realism.

　　A. Theodore Dreiser    B. William Faulkner

　　C. Henry James    D. Mark Twain

　　33.（ 　　 ）is considered to be a spokesman for the alienated youth in the post-war era and his The Catcher in the Rye is regarded as a students" classic.

　　A. Allen Ginsberg    B. E.E. Cummings

　　C. J.D. Salinger    D. Henry James

　　34.Which one of the following statements in NOT true of Indian Camp by Hemingway?

　　（ 　　 ）

　　A. A young Indian woman had been trying to have her baby for two days.

　　B. Nick"s father delivered this woman of a baby by Caesarian section, with a jack-knife and without anesthesia.

　　C. Nick witnessed the violence of both birth and death in the Indian camp.

　　D. This woman"s husband was murdered while she was in labor.

　　35.（ 　　 ）is often acclaimed literary spokesman of the Jazz Age.

　　A. Carl Sandburg    B. Edwin Arlington Robinson

　　C. William Faulkner    D. F.Scott Fitzgerald

　　36.Nathaniel Hawthorne held an unceasing interest in the"interior of the heart" of man"s being. So in almost every book he wrote, Hawthorne discussed（ 　　 ）

　　A. love and hatred      B. sin and evil

　　C. frustration and self-denial    D. balance and self-discipline

　　37.Which of the following has gained its status as a world classic and simultaneously marks the climax of Eugene O"Neill"s literary career and the coming of the age of American drama?

　　（ 　　 ）

　　A. The Hairy Ape    B. Long Day"s Journey Into Night

　　C. Desire Under the Elms    D. Lazarus Laughed

　　38.In the last chapter of Sister Carrie, there is a description about Hurstwood, one of the protagonists of the novel,"Now he began leisurely to take off his clothes, but stopped first with his coat, and tucked it along the crack under the door. His vest he arranged in the same place."Why did he do this? Because （ 　　 ）.

　　A. he wanted to commit suicide

　　B. he wanted to keep the room warm

　　C. he didn"t want to be found by others

　　D. he wanted to enjoy the peace of mind

　　39.In Moby-Dick, the white whale symbolizes（ 　　 ）for Melville, for it is complex, unfathomable, malignant, and beautiful as well.

　　A. nature    B. human society

　　C. whaling industry    D. truth

　　40.（ 　　 ）,disregarding grammar and punctuation, always used"i"instead of "I"in his poetry to show his protest against self-importance.

　　A. Wallace Stevens    B. Ezra Pound

　　C. E.E. Cummings    D. William Carlos Williams

　　Ⅱ. Reading Comprehension (16 points, 4 for each)

　　Reading the quoted parts carefully and answer the questions in English. Write your answer in the corresponding space on the answer sheet.

　　41."Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew,

　　Thou mak"st thy knife keen; but no metal can,

　　No, not the hangman"s axe, bear half the keenness

　　Of thy sharp envy."

　　Questions:

　　A. Identify the author and the title of the play from which this part is taken.

　　B. What figure of speech is used in this quoted passage?

　　C. What idea does the passage express?

　　42."Whene"er I passed her; but who passed without

　　Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;

　　Then all smiles stopped together."

　　Questions:

　　A. Identify the poem and the poet.

　　B. What does the line "Then all smiles stopped together"imply?

　　C. What kind of person do the lines indicate the speaker is?

　　43."The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

　　But I have promises to keep,

　　And miles to go before I sleep,

　　And miles to go before I sleep."

　　Questions:

　　A. Identify the poem and the poet.

　　B. What does the word"sleep"mean?

　　C. What idea do the four lines express?

　　44."I celebrate myself, and sing myself,

　　And what I assume you shall assume,

　　For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

　　I loafe and invite my soul,

　　I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass."

　　(From Walt Whitman"s "Song of Myself")

　　Questions:

　　A. Who does"myself"refer to ?

　　B. How do you understand the line"I loafe and invite my soul?"

　　C. What does"a spear of summer grass"symbolize?

　　Ⅲ. 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.Edmund Spenser is one of the poets of English Renaissance. What are the qualities of his poetry?

　　46.The Man of Property is the first novel of the Forsyte trilogies by Galsworthy. What is the theme and the tone of the novel?

　　47.Eugene O" Neill, America"s greatest playwright, was constantly experimenting with new styles and forms for his plays, especially during the twenties when Expressionism was in full swing. What techniques did O" Neill use in his expressionistic plays?

　　48.Emerson"s book Nature established him ever since as the most eloquent spokesman of New England Transcendentalism. In this book Emerson discusses his idea of the Oversoul. How do you understand the Emersonian "Oversoul"?

　　Ⅳ. 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.Discuss Charles Dickens"s art of fiction: the setting, the character-portrayal, the language, etc, based on his novel Oliver Twist.

　　50.A Rose for Emily is one of Faulkner"s short stories. Comment on the character of the protagonist, Emily Grierson, and analyze how this character is depicted.