美国文学史及选读试卷-(2).doc

(完整版)美国文学史及选读试卷 (2)
美国文学史及选读试卷

Ⅰ。 Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternatives。 Choose the one that would best complete the statement。 (60points in total， 2 points for each）
1。 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
2。 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
3。 The New England Transcendentalism was from the very beginning a local phenomenon restricted only to those people living in New England， who carried out the movement as a reaction against the cold, rigid rationalism of _______ in Boston。
A. Classicism B. Calvinism
C。 Unitarianism D。 Puritanism
4. In the following statements， _________ is NOT true about Washington Irving's famous story “Rip Van Winkle."
A。 The story is not only well—known for Rip’s 20-year sleep but also considered a model of perfect English in American literature.
B. The story is set against the background of the inevitably changing America.
C. The social conservatism and literary preference for the past is revealed， to some extent, in the story。
D. Irving describes Rip’s response and reaction in a dramatic way, so that we see clearly both the narrator and Irving agree on the preferability of the present to the past。
5。 Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay Experience is a serous discussion about the conflict between _________ and ordinary life.
A。 nationalism B。 universalism
C。 idealism D. communism
6. As one of Hawthorne's most profound tales, Young Goodman Brown is written in the manner of its concern with______。
A。 guilt and evil B. good and bad
C。 moral and corruption D. destruction and hope
7. Which of the following is NOT among the artistic features of Whitman’s writing?
A. Free verse。 B。 The use of the poetic “I”。
C。 Allegory。 D. Musicality and rhythm。
8.In the middle of 19th century, America witnessed a cultural flowering which is called “______".
A. the English Renaissance B。 the American Renaissance
C。 the Second Renaissance D.the Salem Renaissance
9。 The main issues involved in the debate of Transcendentalism are generally
philosophical, concerning ______.
A。 the cold, rigid rationalism of Unitarianism
B. the relationship between man and woman
C. the development of Romanticism in America
D. nature， man and the universe
10.Which of the following is not written by Herman Melville?______
A。 Typee and Omoo B. Mardi and White Jacket
C。 Moby—Dick and Pierre D。 The Bostonians and Billy Budd
11.The novel Moby Dick shows the rebellious struggle of Captain Ahab against ______。
A. the overwhelming, mysterious vastness of the universe and the awesome forces
B. the gliding great demon of the seas of life
C. the white whale
D。 the savage harpooners and the motley crew
12. Which of the following is not right about Mark Twain's style of language?
A. His sentence structures are long， ungrammatical and difficult to read.
B. His words are colloquial, concrete and direct in effect.
C。 His humor is remarkable and characterized by puns, straight-faced exaggeration， repetition and anti-climax.
D。 His style of language had exerted rather deep influence on the contemporary writers.
13。 The impact of Darwin’s evolutionary theory on the American thought and the influence of the 19th century French literature on the American men of letters gave rise to another school of realism： American ______。
A. Romanticism B. Transcendentalism
C。 Realism D。 Naturalism
14. Theodore Dreiser, one of the great American naturalist writers, emphasized determinism in his works and therefore created characters who ______ 。
A。 were always haunted by their past memories and could not reconcile themselves with the realities
B。 could never get rid of the control of their environment and heredity
C. were punished for the sins of their ancestors and could never get their salvation
D。 without any exception ended up in tragic deaths
15. Which of the following statements can be said about the novel Sister Carrie?
A. Its heroine is a country girl， who strives to gain her material rise in big cities but soon gets tired of her success.
B。 Its heroine is a Southern aristocratic woman， who refuses to come to terms with the present。
C。 It tells about a young sailor, who struggles to reach the upper society but soon gets disillusioned.
D. The heroine is a young vain girl, who indulges herself in grand parties and luxurious trips but soon becomes penniless。
16. Which of the following statements about American Romantic literature is right？ (　　）
A。 Emerson and Edgar Allan Poe are the forerunners of the literary movement of New England Transcendentalism in the 19th century.
B. The forest Young Goodman Brown goes to during his night journey is literally a place where the evil beings rustle about。
C. For Emerson and his disciples， material economy is good for spiritual。
D。 Rip Van Winkle feels happy and fortunate to be with his family again after he comes back from the woods。
17。In his famous poem Song of Myself， Walt Whitman sets forth two principal beliefs: the belief in the singularity and equality of all beings in value, and the theory of （　　）, which is illustrated by lengthy catalogues of people and things。
A. nationality B. universality
C。 nature D。 community
18。 In the play The Hairy Ape, the major character Yank .
A. has a sense of belonging nowhere, hence homelessness and rootlessness
B. is typical of the mood of isolation and alienation in the early twentieth century in the United States only
C。 reflects the problem of modern man’s identity
D。 both A and C
19。 A Rose for Emily is difficult to read because .
A。 the chronology of narration is displaced alternatively
B。 there are too many characters whose relations are too complicated
C。 its language is too symbolic and the dialogues are fragmented
D. none of the above
20. According to Nathaniel Hawthorne， romance should be_________.
A。 both imaginative and creative                  B. a true record of human life
C. full of adventures                                  D. a mixture of facts and fancy
21. The three dominant figures in the period of Realism of American are William Dean Howells， Mark Twain and_________。
A。 Henry James                                    B. Tom James
C。 James Joyce                                     D。 Henry Joyce
22. 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
23. 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
24. 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
25. “It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street.” This is a detailed description of Emily’s old house. The purpose of such description is to imply the person living in it________.
A。 is an old woman B. has good taste
C. is a conservative aristocrat D。 is a prisoner of the past
26。 Most of O’Neill’s plays are tragedies, dealing with ______.
A。 the basic issues of human existence and predicament
B。 life and death， illusion and disillusion, dream and reality
C. alienation and communication， self and society, desire and frustration
D. all of the above
27.As a spokesman of the “Roaring 20s”， Scott Fitzgerald portrayed ______.
A。 the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself
B. the psychological journey of the modern man and his helplessness in the modern world
C. the primitive struggle of individuals in the context of irresistible natural forces
D。 the hollowness of the American worship of riches and the unending American dream of fulfillment
28. In his writings, Fitzgerald could present a panorama of the Jazz Age with a deep sight because ______.
A. He is both an insider and an outsider of the Jazz Age with a double vision.
B. He joined the big party in the 1920s,partaking of the wealth, frivolity， temptations of the time。
C. He stood aloof and kept a cold eye on the performance of his contemporaries.
D. He stayed sober enough to see the corruptive nature of the society and the vanity fair。
29. To Hemingway, man’s greatest achievement is to show ______。
A。 bravery before danger B. grace under pressure
C。 encouragement under pressure D。 optimism under pressure
30。 Which of the following statements can be said about the works of Scott Fitzgerald, a spokesman of the “Roaring 20s”?
A。 Many of them portrayed the hollowness of the American worship of riches and the unending American dream of fulfillment.
B。 They are symbolic of the psychological journey of the modern man and his helplessness in the modern world.
C. They show the primitive struggle of individuals in the context of irresistible natural forces。
D。 They penetrate into the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself.
Ⅱ. Choose the relevant match from Column B for each item in Column A。 （10 points in all, 2 point for each)
1. Henry David Thoreau A. The American Scholar
2. Ralph Waldo Emerson B. Mosses from an Old Manse
3. Nathaniel Hawthorne C. Walden
4. Mark Twain D. The Turn of the Screw
5. Henry James E。 The Gilded Age
Ⅲ。 Explain the following terms。 (25 points in total， 5 for each）
1。 Local Clolorism
2。 Psychological Realism
3. Blank verse
4。 Ode
5. Epic
Ⅳ. What does “Song of Myself" reveal？ （5 points）