浙江省2006年7月高等教育自学考试
美国文学选读试题
课程代码：10055
Part Ⅰ: Choose the relevant match from Column B for each item in Column A.(5%)
Group 1
Column A Column B
（ ）1. F. S. Fitzgerald a. The Hairy Ape
（ ）2.William Faulkner b. Daisy Miller
（ ）3. Henry James c. Sister Carrie
（ ）4. Eugene O’Neill d. The Great Gatsby
（ ）5. Theodore Dreiser e. A Rose for Emily
Group 2
Column A Column B
（ ）1. Emily Grierson a. Sister Carrie
（ ）2.G.W. Hurstwood b. Indian Camp
（ ）3.Ishmael c. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
（ ）4.Tom Sawyer d. A Rose for Emily
（ ）5. Nick e. Moby Dick
Part Ⅱ: Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternatives. Choose the one that would best complete the statement. (60%)
（ ）1. Which of following can be said of the common features which are shared by the the English and American Romanticists ?
A. An increasing emphasis on the free expression of emotions.
B. An increasing attention to the psychic states of their characters.
C. An increasing emphasis on the desire to return to nature.
D. both A and B.
（ ）2. The Romantic Period in American literature stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of _________.
A. the Revolutionary War B. the Civil War
C. the War for Independence D. World War I
（ ）3. Washington Irving’s_________ became the first work by an American writer to win financial success on both sides of the Atlantic in the first half of the 19th century.
A. Charles the Second B. Sketch Book
C. The Scarlet Letter D. Moby Dick
（ ）4. The most important representatives of American transcendentalism, which once flourished in New England as a philosophical and literary movement, are _________.
A. Edgar Poe and James Cooper B. Emerson and Whitman
C. Hawthorne and Melville D. Emerson and Thoreau
（ ）5. Hawthorne’s unique gift was for the creation of _________ which touch the deepest roots of man’s moral nature.
A. romantic stories B. symbolic stories
C. gothic stories D. humorous stories
（ ）6. Ralph W. Emerson’s first little book _________ established him as the most eloquent spokesman of Transcendentalism.
A. Essays B. Nature
C. The American Scholar D. The Over-Soul
（ ）7. Which of the following is not written by Herman Melville ?
A. Typee and Omoo B. Mardi and White Jacket
C. The Bostonians and American Tragedy D. Moby-Dick and Pierre
（ ）8. In the novel Moby Dick, the rebellious struggle of Captain Ahab was thought to be against .
A. the white whale
B. the gliding great demon of the seas of life
C. the overwhelming, mysterious vastness of the universe and the awesome forces
D. the savage harpooners and the motley crew
（ ）9. In the post-Civil War society the American realists portrayed the harsh realities and pressures by _________.
A. a comprehensive picture of modern life in its various occupations, class stratifications and manners
B. a narrative exploration of man’s subconsciousness
C. a disillusion of heroism resulting from the dark memories of the Civil War
D. a revival of heroism resulting from the glorious memories of the Revolutionary War
（ ）10. In his masterpiece The Portrait of A Lady Henry James _________ .
A. incarnates the clash between the Old World and the New in the life journey of an American girl in a European cultural environment
B. tells a story about a young and innocent American confronting the complexity of the European life as well as the American society
C. describes a young American girl who gets “killed” by the winter in Rome
D. tells about some Europeans who learn with difficulty to adapt themselves to the American life
（ ）11. Which of the following can be said about the titular heroine in the novel Daisy Miller?
A. She has become a celebrated cultural type who embodies the spirit of the new world.
B. The author’s sympathy for her, a tender flower crushed by the harsh winter in Rome was easily felt.
C. Her innocence turns out to be an admiring but a dangerous quality in the new world.
D. all of the above
（ ）12. As Emily Dickinson’s poems about love are concerned, which of the following is not right ?
A. Many of them give original depictions of the longing for shared moments, the pain of separation, and the futility of finding happiness.
B. Some of her love poems treat the suffering and frustration love can cause.
C. Her love poems show people’s feelings of rapture and happiness coming from their love experience.
D. Some of them emphasize the power of physical attraction and expressing a mixture of fear and fascination for the mysterious magnetism between sexes.
（ ）13. In her quiet and partially isolated life, Emily Dickinson makes enchanting poetry out of_________.
A. a single household and an inactive life
B. a few adventurous experiences
C. a happy and active life
D. a hard and suffering life
（ ）14. Altogether, Emily Dickinson wrote 1775 poems, of which only _________ had appeared during her lifetime.
A. seven B. eleven
C. twenty D. fifteen
（ ）15. As a realist, Mark Twain concerned particularly about the local character of a region, which came about as “_________”.
A. Naturalism B. Transcendentalism
C. Local Colorism D. both A and C
（ ）16. By the turn of the century, the publication of The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg and The Mysterious Stranger marks the change in Mark Twain from _________to _________.
A. an almost despairing pessimist...an optimist
B. an optimist ... an almost despairing pessimist
C. a local colorist ... a naturalist
D. a naturalist ... a local colorist
（ ）17. In the writings of the naturalists, the characters are usually presented as_________.
A. people who were simply all good or all bad
B. usually idealized heroes or heroines of unspotted virtue and dazzling accomplishments
C. in most cases examples of human experience
D. more often than not dominated by their environment and heredity
（ ）18. Which of the following is right about the first few decades of the 20th century?
A. There was a decline in social standard and it was described as a spiritual wasteland.
B. Individual power and hope became part of the American experience as a result of the First World War.
C. There was a rise in moral standard and it was best described as a spiritual land of promise.
D. all of the above.
（ ）19. After the First World War, a group of expatriate writers in American modern literature were later called “_________”.
A. The Beat Generation B. The Lost Generation
C. The Jazz Generation D. The Modern Generation
（ ）20. Which of the following can be said about the much serious American literature written from 1912 onwards? _________.
A. All of them attempted to convey a vision of social continuity and harmony
B. Generally, they attempted to convey a vision of social breakdown and moral decay
C. Many of them attempted to convey the continuity and discontinuity between the past and the modern time
D. all of the above
（ ）21. Which of the following can not be said about the main principles of the Imagist Movement?
A. Direct treatment of poetic subjects
B. Elimination of merely ornamental or superfluous words
C. The treatment of the medium of poetry in agreement with Romanticism
D. Rhythmical composition in the sequence of the musical phrase rather than in the sequence of a metronome
（ ）22. As a poet in the 20th century, Robert Frost _________.
A. rejected the conventional poetic principles and chose the revolutionary way
B. rejected the romantic way choosing instead the revolutionary principles
C. rejected the revolutionary principles choosing instead the romantic way
D. rejected the revolutionary poetic principles of his contemporaries choosing instead the old-fashioned way to be new
（ ）23. Pound’s translations cast light on his affinity to the Chinese and his strenuous effort in the study of _________.
A. ancient Asian literature B. ancient Roman literature
C. Oriental literature D. ancient Indian literature
（ ）24. Which of the following is not written by Eugene O’Neill?
A. Long Day’s Journey into Night and The Great Gatsby
B. The Emperor Jones and The Hairy Ape
C. Desire Under the Elms and The Great God Down
D. Beyond the Horizon and Anna Christie
（ ）25. Which of the following can be said about the major character Yank in the play The Hairy Ape?
A. Yank has a sense of belonging nowhere, hence homelessness and rootlessness
B. Yank reflects the problem of modern man’s identity
C. Yank is typical of the mood of isolation and alienation in the early twentieth century in the United States only
D. both A and B
（ ）26. In his writings, Fitzgerald could present a panorama of the Jazz Age with a deep sight because _________.
A. he stood aloof and kept a cold eye on the performance of his contemporaries.
B. he joined the big party in the 1920s, partaking of the wealth , frivolity, temptations of the time.
C. he was not only an insider but also an outsider of the Jazz Age therefore had a double vision.
D. he stayed sober enough to see the corruptive nature of the society and the vanity fair.
（ ）27. For Hemingway’s heroes, man’s greatest achievement is _________.
A. to show grace under pressure
B. to keep bravery before danger
C. to share encouragement under pressure
D. to be optimistic under pressure
（ ）28. Which of the following is said of Hemingway’s heroes?
A. He is always struggling against nature and the environment together with others.
B. In a world of chaos, he is doomed to a loosing battle and failure in the end.
C. He can be physically destroyed but never defeated spiritually.
D. He is the last hero but determined to fight to the end.
（ ）29. In his novels, Faulkner creates his own kingdom that mirrors _________.
A. the frivolity and carelessness of the young generation and the sense of loss and despair of the whole society.
B. the spiritual wasteland of the Southern society and the decline of the whole American society
C. the sense of loss and despair among the post-war generation and the decline of the whole American society
D. the decline of the Southern society and the spiritual wasteland of the whole American society
（ ）30. Which of the following can be said about Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily ?
A. The “stream of consciousness” technique is employed in it .
B. The chronology of narration is displaced.
C. Its language is too symbolic and the dialogues are fragmented.
D. There are too many characters whose relations are too complicated.
PartⅢ: Interpretation(21%)
Read the following selections and then answer the questions.
Passage 1
Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, which ever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound. If left to himself, he would have whistled life away in perfect contentment; but his wife kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin he was bringing on his family. Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was incessantly going, and every thing he said or did was sure to produce a torrent of household eloquence. Rip had but one way of replying to all lectures of the kind, and that, by frequent use, had grown into a habit. He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, cast up his eyes, but said nothing. This, however, always provoked a fresh volley from his wife; so that he was fain to draw off his forces, and take to the outside of the house—the only side which, in truth, belongs to a henpecked husband.
1. From which story is this passage taken from? Who is the writer?
2. According to the passage, what kind of man is Rip?
Passage 2
The harpoon was darted; the stricken whale flew forward; with igniting velocity y the line ran through the grooves;—ran foul. Ahab stooped to clear it; he did clear it; but the flying turn caught him round the neck, and voicelessly as Turkish mutes bowstring their victim, he was shot out of the boat, ere the crew knew he was gone. Next instant, the heavy eye-splice in the rope’s final end flew out of the stark-empty tub, knocked down an oarsman, and smiting the sea, disappeared in its depths.
For an instant, the tranced boat’s crew stood still; then turned. “The ship? Great God, where is the ship?” Soon they through dim, bewildering mediums saw her sidelong fading phantom, as in the gaseous Fata Morgana, only the uppermost masts out of water; while fixed by infatuation, or fidelity, or fate, to their once lofty perches, the pagan harpooners still maintained their sinking look-outs on the sea. And now, concentric circles seized the lone boat itself, and all its crew, and each floating oar, and every lancepole, and spinning, animate and inanimate, all round and round in one vortex, carried the smallest chip of the Pequod out of sight.
3. Which novel is this passage taken from? Who is the author?
4. How do you interpret the symbolic meaning of the ship Pequod and the white whale in the passage?
Passage 3
Hurstwood put his hand, red from cold, down in his pockets. Tears came into his eyes. “That’s right,” he said; “I’m no good now. I was all right. I had money. I’m going to quit this,” and, with death in his heart, he started down toward the Bowery. People had turned on the gas before and died; why shouldn’t he? He remembered a lodging house where there were little, close rooms, with gas-jets in them, almost pre-arranged, he thought, for what he wanted to do, which rented for fifteen cents. Then he remembered that he had no fifteen cents.
Hurstwood moved on, wondering. The sight of the large, bright coin pleased him a little. He remembered that he was hungry and that he could get a bed for ten cents. With this, the idea of death passed, for the time being, out of his mind. It was only when he could get nothing but insults that death seemed worthwhile.
5. According to the passage, what situation did Hurstwood fall in at present?
Passage 4
Whose woods these are I think I know
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
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.
6. Who’s the writer of the poem? What kind of feeling is shown of the poet in this stanza?
7. Please interpret the last stanza of this poem.
Part Ⅳ: Give brief answers to the following questions. (14%)
1. Give a brief analysis of the major characteristics of American Realism.
2. Please state the major features of the modernistic works in American literature.
......
......
|
|
