美国文学选读试题美国文学史及作品选读模拟试题一I.Multiple Choice (1’×15=15’)1.C______was the first colony in American history.A. MassachusettsB. New JerseyC. VirginiaD.Georgia2. _B_____ was the only good American author before the Revolutionary War. Oneof his fellow Americans said, “His shadow lies heavier than any other man’s onthis young nation.”A. John SmithB. Benjamin FranklinC. Thomas JeffersonD.Thomas Paine3. Romantics put emphasis on the following EXCEPT __A____.A. common senseB. imaginationC. intuitionD. individualism4. The Raven was written in 1844 by __B______A. Philip FreneauB. Edgar Allan PoeC. Henry Wadsworth LongfellowD. Emily Dickinson5. The ship __C____ carried about one hundred Pilgrims and took 66 days to beatits way across the Atlantic. In December of 1620, it put the Pilgrims ashore atPlymouth, Massachusetts.A. SunflowerB. ArmadaC. MayflowerD. Titanic6. Melville’s novel __D____ is a tremendous chronicle of a whaling voyage inpursuit of a seemingly supernatural white whale.A. TypeeB. OmooC. White JacketD. Moby Dick7. As a philosophical and literary movement, __D____ flourished in New Englandfrom the 1830s to the Civil War.A.ModernismB.RationalismC.SentimentalismD.Transcendentalism8. The theme of original sin is fully reflected in ___A______.II.M atch the Column A with Column B (1’×10=10’)Column A Column B( c ) 1. Dimmesdale a. Robert Frost( e ) 2. Ahab b. Mark Twain( i ) 3. Drouet c. The Scarlet Letter( a ) 4. Pulitzer Prizer d. Thomas Jefferson( h ) 5. Reclusive poet e. Moby Dick( b ) 6. humorist and satirist f. Ernest Heminway( d ) 7. The Decalration of Indepenence g. Henry David Thoreau( g ) 8. transcendentalist h. Emily Dickinson( j ) 9. The Great Gatsby i. Sister Carrie( f ) 10. The Lost Generation j. F. Scott Fitzgerald III.Define the following words within one phrase(2’×5=10’)1. free verse2. Ralph Waldo Emerson3. Mark Twain4. Benjamin Franklin5. Ezra PoundIV.Simple questions (5’×4=20’)1.What are Puritan thoughts?2.What is Transcedentalism and list some representative figures?3. Explain the symbolic meanings of “A” in The Scarlet Letter.4. Illustrate the three principles of Imagist Poetry.V.Interpreting the following texts (45’)Text 1When a girl leaves her home at eighteen, she does one of two things. Either she falls into saving hands and becomes better, or sherapidly assumes the cosmopolitan standard of virtue and becomes worse. Of an intermediate balance, under the circumstances, there is no possibility. The city has its cunning wiles, no less than the infinitely smaller and more human tempter. There are large forces which allure with all the soulfulness of expression possible in the most cultured human. The gleam of a thousand lights is often as effective as the persuasive light in a wooing and fascinating eye. Half the undoing of the unsophisticated and natural mind is accomplished by forces wholly superhuman. A blare of sound, a roar of life, a vast array of human hives, appeal to the astonished senses in equivocal terms.Without a counsellor at hand to whisper cautious interpretations, what falsehoods may not these things breathe into the unguarded ear!Unrecognised for what they are, their beauty, like music, too often relaxes, then weakens, then perverts the simpler human perceptions.Questions1.Please use one phrase to summarize the above paragraph (2’)2.What are the two possibilities for a girl of eighteen leaving herhome?(2’)3.Please find out the figures of speech (2’)4.What are the attractive forces mentioned in a big city? (4’)5.How are naturalist views are reflected in this paragraph? Illustrateyour points with examples (5’)Text 2Because I could not stop for Death –He kindly stopped for me --The Carriage held but just Ourselves --And Immortality.We slowly drove -- He knew no hasteAnd I had put awayMy labor and my leisure too,For His Civility –We passed the School, where Children stroveAt Recess -- in the Ring --We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain --We passed the Setting Sun –…Since then -- 'tis Centuries -- and yetFeels shorter than the DayI first surmised the Horses' HeadsWere toward Eternity –Questions:1.Identify the poet and the title of this poem? (2’)2.Explain the underlined words (4’)3.What are the implications of “the School”, “the fields of Gazing Grain”, “theSetting Sun”? (3’)4.How do you understand “Since then -- 'tis Centuries -- and yet / Feelsshorter than the Day” ? (3’)5.What are the speaker’s opinions about death? (3’)Text 3Two roads diverged in ayellow wood,And sorry I could nottravel bothAnd be one traveler, long IstoodAnd looked down one asfar as I couldTo where it bent in theundergrowth.Then took the other, as justas fair,And having perhaps thebetter claim,Because it was grassy andwanted wear;Though as for that thepassing thereHad worn them reallyabout the same.And both that morningequally layIn leaves no step hadtrodden black.Oh, I kept the first foranother day!Yet knowing how way leadson to way,I doubted if I should evercome back.I shall be telling this with asighSomewhere ages and ageshence:Two roads diverged in awood, and I--I took the one less traveledby,And that has made all thedifference.Questions:1.Please examine the poetic form (rhyme and meter) (2’)2.Describe the similarities and differences of these two roads. Which one doesthe speaker take? (3’)3.How do you understand the word “sigh”? (4’)4.What might the two roads stand for in the speaker’s mind? (4’)5.What is the theme of this poem? (2’)参考答案I.Multiple Choice (1’×15=15’)1. _C___2._B__3.__A__4.__B__5.__C___6.__D_7.__D__8._A__9.__B__ 10.__B___11._C__ 12.__D__ 13._A_ 14._C __ 15._D__II.Match the Column A with Column B (1’×10=10’)1.( c )2.( e )3.( i )4.( a )5.( h )6.( b )7.( d )8.( g )9.(j ) 10.( f )III.Define the following words within one phrase (2’×5=10’)(Any related information can be given marks)1. poetry without a fived beat or regular rhyme scheme, produced by Walt Whitman2. is the representative of transcedentalists, who believes in individualism andself-reliance and brings transcendentalism to New England3．is a humorist and satirist, who uses broad humor and biting social satire4．is one of Thoreau’s masterpieces, which is the result of the author’s two years of living near Walden lake.5. is regarded as the classical poem of imagist poetry by Ezra Pound,conveying the theme of the speaker’s sudden pleasure of finding somebeautiful faces in the subwayIV.Simple Questions (5’×4=20’) (Answers should be to the points. 1 score for time, 2 scores for features and 1 score for representative figures when definingtheliterary terms)a)Puritan thoughts: to make pure their religious beliefs and practices, to restoresimplicity, to live a hard and disciplined life and oppose pleasure and arts.b)Transcendentalism is the climax of American Romanticism.First, the Transcendentalist placed emphasis on spirit, or the oversoul, as the mostimportant thing in the universe.Secondly, Transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual.Thirdly, the Transcendentalists offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic ofthe spirit.3. a. The letter’s meaning shifts as time passes. Originally intended to markHester asan adulterer, the “A”eventually comes to stand for “Able”or“Angel”.b. Besides Hester, Dimmesdale also ironed the letter A on his body, which provokedhis self-consciousness and showed his repent for what he did.c. Pearl, their baby, wore a green letter a in a piece of seaweed while playing on thebeach. This green letter A symbolizes vitality or new life, and also suggests herinheritance from her mother.4. a. direct treatment of the “thing”（no fuss, frill, or ornament）,b. exclusion of superfluous words（precision and economy of expression）,c. the rhythm of the musical phrase rather than the sequence of ametronome（free verse form and music）.V.Interpreting the following texts (45’)Text 11. The attraction of big city (2’)2. One is to fall into the saving hands and becomes better; secondly, she mayadmit themoral value of big city and becomes worse. (2’)3. Simile, metaphor and synecdoche (2’)4. The gleam of lights, a blare of sound, a roar of life, and a vast array ofhumanhives (4’)5. Naturalist attempted to achieve extreme objectivity and frankness,presenting characters of low social and economic classes who weredominated by their environment and heredity. In this novel, the majorfemale character Carrie Meeber is deeply influenced by the presentenvironment and heredity, which leads to the result of her dynamiccharacter.(5’) (the features of naturalism 3 scores, examples 2 scores) Text 21. Emily Dickinson and “Because I Could not Stop for Death”(2’)2. He: death; civility: politeness; Recess: break Surmised: guessed (4’)3. They represent three stages of life. The school is the childhood and youngage; the fields of gazing grain refers to the mature period and the setting sun the old age, that is the end of one’s life. (3’)4. Because this day is towards death, immortal and eternal (3’)5. Death is immortality (3’)Text 31. It is written in iambic tetrameter and rhymed abaab.(2’)2. Similarities: both of the roads are beautiful (fair)Differences: one is quiet and grassy, less-traveled; the other is trodden by manypeople and flatHe took the less-travelled road (3’)3. The word “sigh”is a tricky word. Because sigh can be interpreted intonostalgic relief or regret. If it is the relief sigh, then the difference means the speaker feels glad with the road he took. If it is the regret sigh, then the difference would not be good, and the speaker would be sighing in regret.Hence, sigh is ambigous here for the speaker is not showing whether his choice is right or wrong. (4’)4. The real road; the life road and the road in career (4’)5.Choice is inevitable but you never know what your choice will mean until youhave lived it. This is also the theme of the poem. (2’)第 7页。