英美文学指南

British Literature

I. Fill in the blanks with appropriate answers. (20%)

II.

Multiple

Choice.

Select

from

the

four

choices

of each

item

the

one

that

best

answers

the

question or completes the statement. Put your answers in the brackets. (40%)

III.

Reading

Comprehension:

Read

the

quoted

parts

carefully

and

answer

the

questions

in

English.

(20%)

Possible Quotes:

1.

― Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;

Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

1) Where does the poem comes from?

2) Who wrote it?

3)

What does ―eternal lines‖ mean?

2.

―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 them?‖

1)

Who is the writer of this work? What’s the title of the work?

2)

. What does the phrase ―to take arms against a sea of troubles ‖ mean?

3)

How do you understand the quotation ―To be, or not to be

-

that is the question‖?

3.

Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;

Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile

The short and simple annals of the poor.

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,

And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,

A

waits alike the inevitable hour.

The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

1) Identify the author and the works;

2) What does

3) Explain the first stanza;

4) What does the whole passage imply.

4.

―…

All is no lost: the unconquerable will,

And study of revenge, immortal hate,

And courage never to submit or yield:

And what is else not to be overcome?……

Irreconcilable to our gran

d Foe‖

1) Please identify the poem and the poet.

2).

Interpret―all is not lost‖.

3) What does the whole passage mean?

5.

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dance with the daffodils.

1) What is the

2) Interpret the passage.

3) Why did the poet write the poem, what did he want to express?

6.

―My favour at her breast,

The dropping of the daylight in the west,

The bough of cherries some officious fool

Broke in the orchard of her, the white mule

She rode with round the terrace

–

all and each

Would draw from her alike the approving speech,

Or blush, at least. She thanked men

–

good! But thanked

Somehow

–

I know not how

–

as if she ranked

My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name

With anybody’s gift‖

1)

This

is

taken

from

the

―My

last

Duchess‖

written

by

Robert

Browning.

What

does

it

mean

―a

nine-hundred- years-

old name‖, and to whom the word was spoken?

2) What is the literary form?

3) Interpret the passage and analyze the character of the speaker.

7.

Where burning Sappho loved and sung,

Where grew the arts of war and peace,

Where Delos rose, and Phoebus sprung!

Eternal summer gilds them all,

But all, except their sun, is set.

1)Identify the poem and its author;

2)What does it mean

3)What does the passage imply?

8.

Destroyer and Preserver; hear, O hear!

1)What does the

2)Why called it

3)Identify the poet and the poem.

9.

“

Do

you

think,

because

I

am

poor,

obscure,

plain,

and

little,

I

am

soulless

and

heartless?

—

Y

ou

think

wrong!

…

And if God had gifted me with some beauty, and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to

leave me, as it is now for me to leave you

…—

it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed

through the grave, and we st

ood at God’s feet, equal—as we are!‖