2010年4月高等教育自学考试英美文学选读试题

　　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 the corresponding letter A, B, C or D on the answer sheet.

　　1. T. S. Eliot’ s ______ bearing a strong thematic resemblance to The Waste Land, is generally regarded as the darkest of Eliot’ s poems.

　　A. “Gerontion” B. “Prufrock”

　　C. Murder in the Cathedral D. The Hollow Men

　　2. Shelley’ s political lyrics ______ is not only a war cry calling upon all working people to rise up against their political oppressors, but an address to them pointing out the intolerable injustice of economic exploitation.

　　A. “Ode to Liberty” B. “Ode to Naples”

　　C. “Ode to the West Wind” D. “Men of England”转自环 球 网 校edu24ol.com

　　3. Charlotte’ s works are famous for the depiction of the life of ______ working women, particularly governesses.

　　A. the middle - class B. the lower - class

　　C. the upper - middle - class D. the upper - class

　　4. All of the following works are known as Hardy’ s “novels of character and environment” EXCEPT ______.

　　A. The Return of the Native B. Tess of the D’ Urbervilles

　　C. Jude the Obscure D. Far from the Madding Crowd

　　5. Jane Austen’ s practical idealism is that love should be justified by ______ and disciplined by self-control.

　　A. reason B. sense

　　C. rationality D. sensibility

　　6. Shakespeare’ s ______, an elaborate and fantastic story, is known as the best of his final romances.

　　A. The Winter’s Tale B. The Tempest

　　C. The Taming of the Shrew D. Love’ s Labour’ s Lost

　　7. “Where intelligence was fallible, limited, the Imagination was our hope of contact with eternal forces, with the whole spiritual world.” was said by ______.

　　A. William Wordsworth B. William Blake

　　C. Samuel Taylor Coleridge D. John Keats

　　8. “To be, or not to be - that is the question;/Whether’ tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,/Or to take arms against a sea of troubles ,/And by opposing end then?” These lines are taken from ______.

　　A. King Lear B. Romeo and Juliet

　　C. Othello D. Hamlet

　　9. John Milton’ s most powerful dramatic poem on the Greek model is ______.

　　A. Paradise Lost B. Paradise Regained

　　C. Samson Agonistes D. Lycidas

　　10. Because of her sensitivity to universal pattens of human behavior, ______ has brought the English novel, as an art of form, to its maturity.

　　A. Charlotte Bronte B. Jane Austen

　　C. Emily Bronte D. Henry Fielding

　　11. Daniel Defoe’s ______ is universally considered as his masterpiece.

　　A. Colonel Jack B. Robinson Crusoe

　　C. Captain Singleton D. A Journal of the Plague Year

　　12. Poetry is defined by ______ as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings, which originates in emotion recollected in tranquility”.

　　A. William Wordsworth B. William Blake

　　C. Percy Bysshe Shelley D. Robert Southey

　　13. Jonathan Swift’ s ______ is generally regarded as the best model of satire, not only of the period but also in the whole English literary history.

　　A. Gulliver’s Travels B. The Battle of the Books

　　C. “A Modest Proposal” D. A Tale of a Tub

　　14. All of the following statements about the Victorian period is true EXCEPT ______.

　　A. England was the “workshop of the world”.

　　B. The early years was a time of rapid economic development as well as serious social problems.

　　C. Towards the mid -century, England had reached its highest point of development as a world power.

　　D. Capitalism came into its monopoly stage, the gap between the rich and the poor was further deepened.

　　15. George Bernard Shaw’ s ______ is a grotesquely realistic exposure of slum landlordism.

　　A. Widower’ s House B. Mrs. Warren’ s Profession

　　C. The Apple Cart D. Getting Married

　　16. Dickens’ s first child hero is ______.

　　A. Little Nell B. David Copperfield

　　C. Oliver Twist D. Little Dorrit

　　17. Of all the eighteenth - century novelists ______ was the first to set out, both in theory and practice, to write specifically a “comic epic in prose”, the first to give the modern novel its structure and style.

　　A. Henry Fielding B. Daniel Defoe

　　C. Jonathan Swift D. Laurence Sterne

　　18. D. H. Lawrence’ s ______ is a remarkable novel in which the individual consciousness is subtly revealed and strands of themes are intricately wound up.

　　A. Sons and Lovers B. The Rainbow

　　C. Women in Love D. Lady Chatterley’ s Love

　　19. Dickens attacks the Utilitarian principle that rules over the English education system and destroys young hearts and minds in ______.

　　A. Hand Times B. Great Expectations

　　C. Our Mutual Friend D. Bleak House

　　20. The belief of the eighteenth - century neoclassicists in England led them to seek the following EXCEPT ______.

　　A. proportion B. unity

　　C. harmony D. spirit

　　21. The Renaissance marks a transition from ______ to the modern world.

　　A. the old English B. the medieval

　　C. the feudalist D. the capitalist

　　22. The great political and social events in the English society of neoclassical period were the following EXCEPT ______.

　　A. the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660 B. the Great Plague of 1665

　　C. the Great London Fire in 1666 D. the Wars of Roses in 1689

　　23. With the scarlet letter A as the biggest symbol of all, ______ proves himself to be one of the best symbolists.

　　A. Hawthorne B. Dreiser

　　C. James D. Faulkner

　　24. The author of Leaves of Grass , a giant of American letters, is ______.

　　A. Faulkner B. Dreiser

　　C. James D. Whitman

　　25. In Tender is the Night, ______ traces the decline of a young American psychiatrist whose marriage to a beautiful and wealthy patient drains his personal energies and corrodes his professional career.

　　A. Dreiser B. Faulkner

　　C. Fitzgerald D. Jack London

　　26. Melville is best - known as the author of his mighty book, ________, which is one of the world’ s greatest masterpieces.

　　A. Song of Myself B. Moby - Dick

　　C. The Marble Faun D. Mosses from an Old Manse

　　27. The theme of Henry James’ essay “______” clearly indicates that the aim of the novel is to present life, so it is not surprising to find in his writings human experiences explored in every possible form.

　　A. The American B. The Europeans

　　C. The Art of Fiction D. The Golden Bowl

　　28. During WWI, ______ served as an honorable junior officer in the American Red Cross Ambulance Corps and in 1918 was severely wounded in both legs.

　　A. Anderson B. Faulkner

　　C. Hemingway D. Dreiser

　　29. In order to protest against America’ s failure to join England in WWI, ______ became a naturalized British citizen in 1915.

　　A. William Faulkner B. Henry James

　　C. Earnest Hemingway D. Ezra Pound

　　30. Robert Frost described ______as “a book of people,” which shows a brilliant insight into New England character and the background that formed it.

　　A. North of Boston B. A Boy’s Will

　　C. A Witness Tree D. A Further Range

　　31. We can easily find in Dreiser’ s fiction a world of jungle, and ______ found expression in almost every book he wrote.

　　A. naturalism B. romanticism

　　C. transcendentalism D. cubism

　　32. As an active participant of his age, Fitzgerald is often acclaimed literary spokesman of the ______.

　　A. Jazz Age B. Age of Reason

　　C. Lost Generation D. Beat Generation

　　33. From the first novel Sister Carrie on, Dreiser set himself to project the American values for what he had found them to be: ______ to the core.

　　A. altruistic B. political

　　C. religious D. materialistic

　　34. The 20th -century stream- of- consciousness technique was frequently and skillfully used by ______ to emphasize the reactions and inner musings of the narrator.

　　A. Hemingway B. Frost

　　C. Faulkner D. Whitman

　　35. With the help of his friends Phil Stone and Sherwood Anderson, ______ published a volume of poetry The Marble Faun and his first novel Soldiers’ Pay.

　　A. Faulkner B. Hemingway

　　C. Ezra Pound D. Fitzgerald

　　36. The Sun Also Rises casts light on a whole generation after WWI and the effects of the war by way of a vivid portrait of “______.”

　　A. the Beat Generation B. the Lost Generation

　　C. the Babybooming Age D. the Jazz Age

　　37. Within her little lyrics Dickinson addresses those issues that concern ______, which include religion, death, immorality, love and nature.

　　A. the whole human beings B. the frontiers

　　C. the African Americans D. her relatives

　　38. H. L. Mencken, a famous American critic, considered ______ “the true father of our national literature. ”

　　A. Hamlin Garland B. Joseph Kirkland

　　C. Mark Twain D. Henry James

　　39. In his poetry, Whitman shows concern for ______ and the burgeoning life of cities.

　　A. the colonists B. the capitalists

　　C. the whole hard -working people D. the intellectuals

　　40. In 1837, ______ published Twice - Told Tales, a collection of short stories which attracted critical attention.

　　A. Emerson B. Melville

　　C. Whitman D. Hawthorne

　　II. 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, Bees of England, forge

　　Many a weapon, chain, and scourge,

　　That these stingless drones may spoil

　　The forced produce of your toil?

　　Questions:

　　A. Identify the poet and the poem from which the lines are taken.

　　B. What do you know about the poem’ s writing background?

　　C. What do you think the poet intends to say in the poem?

　　42. Let us go then, you and I,

　　When the evening is spread out against the sky

　　Like a patient etherized upon a table;

　　Let us go, through certain half- deserted streets,

　　The muttering retreats

　　Of restless nights in one -night cheap hotels

　　And sawdust restaurants with oyster- shells:

　　(The lines above are taken from “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. S Eliot. )

　　Questions:

　　A. What does the poem present?

　　B. What form is the poem composed in?

　　C. What does the poem suggest?

　　43. This is my letter to the World

　　That never wrote to Me -

　　The simple News that Nature told -转自环 球 网 校edu24ol.com

　　With tender Majesty

　　Questions:

　　A. Identify the poet.

　　B. What idea does the poem express?

　　C. Why does the poet use dashes and capital letters in the poem?

　　44. There was music from my neighbor’ s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motorboats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week - ends his Rolls - Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing- brushes and hammers and garden - shears, repairing the ravages of the night before.

　　(The passage above is taken from The Great Gatsby )

　　Questions:

　　A. What time does the story reflect?

　　B. What does the novel evoke?

　　C. What does Gatsby’ s failure magnify?

　　III. Questions and Answers (24 points in all, 6 for each)

　　Give a brief answer to each of the following questions in English. Write your answers in the corresponding space on the answer sheet.

　　45. Working through the tradition of a Christian humanism, Milton wrote Paradise Lost, intending to expose the ways of Satan and to “justify the ways of God to men. ” What is Milton’ s fundamental concern in Paradise Lost?

　　46. Briefly introduce Blake’ s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.

　　47. What are the factors that gave rise to American naturalism?

　　48. Briefly state Mark Twain’ s magic power with language in his novels.

　　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. Why is Hardy regarded as a naturalistic writer in English literature? Discuss in relation to his novels you know.

　　50. Please discuss Henry James’ contribution to American literature in regard to his representative works, themes, writing techniques and language.

·2010年4月自学考试成绩查询时间及方式汇总

·2010年各地7、10月自学考试报名汇总

更多信息请访问：自学考试频道    自学考试论坛    自学考试博客圈