英国文学试题

Instructions

：

This

examination

consists

of

5

parts

，

and

the

total

time

for

the

examination is 2 hours. All the answers should be entered onto the Answer Sheet.

Part I

：

Multiple Choices

（

10%

）

Choose the best answer to the following sentences.

1.

Which of the following is NOT a feature of Beowulf

？

A. Alliteration

B. Anglo-

Saxons’ early life in England

C. Germanic language

D. The national epic of Anglo-Saxon people

2.

English Renaissance Period was an age of

.

A. prose and novel

B. poetry and drama

C. essays and journals

D. ballads and songs

3.

The

main

literary

form

of

the

early

17

th

century

was

poetry.

John

Milton

was

acknowledged as the greatest. Besides him

，

there were two groups of poets. They were the

Cavalier poets and

.

A. the lake poets

B. the university wits

C. the Metaphysical poets

D. the Romantic poets

4. Pamela is widely considered to be the first novel and was written by ___________.

A. Thomas Hardy

B. James Joyce

C. Samuel Richardson

D. Henry Fielding

5.

The

publication

of

，

which

was

the

joint

work

of

William

Wordsworth

and

Samuel T. Coleridge

，

marked the beginning of the Romantic Age in England.

A. Don Juan

B. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

C. Lyrical Ballads

D. Queen Mab

6.

Among the most famous realistic novelists of the Victorian age are

，

W. M.

Thackeray

，

Bronte sisters

，

etc.

A. Joseph Conrad

B. Henry Fielding

C. Charles Dickens

D. D. H. Lawrence

7.

In James Joyce’s ____________ the story “Eveline” paints a portrait of a young

woman from Dublin deciding whether or not to leave her hometown.

A. Ulysses

B. Orlando

C. Dubliners

D. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

8.

In the 18

th

century England

，

satire was much used in writing. Literature of this age

produced some excellent satirists

，

such as Jonathan Swift

，

Henry Fielding and

.

William Blake

B. Robert Burns

C.

Alexander Pope

D. Daniel Defoe

9.

William Wordsworth never used “gaudy and inane phraseology” because he felt that

poetry should ____________.

A. be read only by the well-educated

B. use difficult vocabulary to express complicated emotions

C. use simple speech to communicate the truths of human experience

D. rely on strange and uncommon words to bring people new experiences

10.

Virginia

Woolf

is

renowned

for

adopting

the

technique

，

which

displays

the

sequence of thoughts and impressions in a person’s mind.

A. mind-reading

B. third-person narration

C. stream-of- consciousness

D. feminist

Part II

：

Gap Filling

（

10%

）

Complete the following sentences and write your answers on the Answer Sheet.

1.

Geoffrey Chaucer’s work

gives us a picture of the condition of English life of

his day

，

such as its work and play

，

its deeds and dreams

，

its fun and sympathy.

2.

During the Norman Conquest

，

the most important form of literary composition is

，

the representative of which is the legend of King Arthur and the round table

knights.

3.

Epoch of Renaissance witnessed a particular development of English drama. It was

William Shakespeare and

who made blank verse the principal vehicle of expression in

drama.

4.

Hamlet

，

Othello

，

Macbeth and

are

generally

regarded

as

William

Shakespeare’s four great tragedies.

5.

Edmund

Spenser

is

generally

regarded

as

the

greatest

nondramatic

poet

of

the

Elizabethan Age. His fame is chiefly based on his masterpiece

.

6.

In Elizabethan Period

，

wrote more than 50 excellent essays

，

which made him

one of the best essayists in English literature.

7.

The

was a progressive intellectual movement throughout western Europe in the

18

th

century.

8.

In the latter part of the 18

th

century

，

there appeared

，

as a reaction against Reason

，

___________ novel and literature of sentimentality.

9.

Thomas

Gray’s

highly

p

raised

poem

shows

the

poet’s

sympathy

for

the

poor

，

and

condemns

the

great

ones

who

despise

the

poor

and

bring

sufferings

to

the

common people.

10.

The

Romantic

movement

in

England

had

two

significant

movements

as

its

background

：

the French Revolution and

.

11

________

is

perhaps

the

most

talented

early

novelist.

She

wrote

a

number

of

books concerning young

，

relatively wealthy women pursuing marriage

，

such as Pride and

Prejudice and Emma.

12.

George

Byron

is

chiefly

known

for

his

two

long

poems.

One

is

Childe

Harold’s

Pilgrimage and the other is

.

13

John

Keats

wrote

several

famous

___________

，

a

type

of

lyric

poem

that

is

meditative and formal.

14.

________

_

，

the eldest of the two famous novelist sisters

，

wrote Jane Eyre in the

middle of the 19

th

century.

15.

_____________

monologue

was

first

successfully

used

in

poetry

by

Robert

Browning.

16.

One

of

the

most

striking

features

of

in

the

20

th

century

literature

is

anti-past

，

anti- tradition

，

anti- novel

，

anti- hero

，

etc.

17.

__________

，

the manifesto of modernist poetry in the 20

th

century

，

was written

by T. S. Eliot.

18.

A Passage to India

，

Howard’s End

，

and A Room with a View are three of the most

famous novels by ___________.

19.

Lord Jim is one of the most famous novels by _________

，

who was born in Poland

and learned English as his third language.

20.

Man and Superman and Pygmalion are two of most famous plays by __________.

Part III

：

Definition of Terms

（

15%

）

Choose THREE out of the following terms and explain them in two or three sentences.

Sonnet

；

Point of view

；

Soliloquy

；

Setting

；

Heroic couplet

Part IV

：

Appreciation

（

40%

）

Choose TWO of the following three excerpts and write a passage of comment

（

about 80

words

）

on each one. Your comment should cover the questions after each excerpt.

Excerpt 1

：

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills

，

When all at once I saw a crowd

，

A host

，

of golden daffodils

；

Beside the lake

，

beneath the trees

，

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

…

For oft

，

when on my couch I lie

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 dances with the daffodils.

（

William Wordsworth

，

“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”

）

Questions

：

1. What is the central image of this poem

？

What is the poet’s reaction as revealed in the

poem

？

2.

Wordsworth believes that “All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful

feelings” and poetry “takes its origin

from emotion recollected in tranquility”. How does this

poem reflect the poet’s philosophy of composition

？

Excerpt 2

：

The proper study of mankind is man.

Placed on this isthmus of a middle state

，

A being darkly wise

，

and rudely great

：

With too much knowledge for the Skeptic side

，

With too much weakness for the Stoic’s pride

，

He hangs between

；

in doubt to act

，

or rest

；

In doubt to deem himself a God

，

or beast

；

In doubt his mind or body to prefer

；

Born but to die

，

and reasoning such

，

Whether he thinks too little or too much

；

Chaos of thought and passion

，

all confused

；

Still by himself abused or disabused

；

Created half to rise

，

and half to fall

；

（

Alexander Pope

，

An Essay on Man

）

Questions

：

1.

What’s the topic of the above line

s

？

ize the main idea in a few sentences.

Excerpt 3

：

I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts

，

which I hope will not be liable

to the least objection.

I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London

，

that a

young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious

，

nourishing

，

and wholesome

food

，

whether stewed

，

roasted

，

baked

，

or boiled

；

and I make no doubt that it will equally

serve in a fricassee or a ragout.

I do therefore humbly offer it

to public consideration that of the hundred and twenty

thousand children

，

already computed

，

twenty thousand may be reserved for breed

，

whereof

only one fourth part to be males

，

which is more than we allow to sheep

，

black cattle

，

or

swine

；

and

my

reason

is

that

these

children

are

seldom

the

fruits

of

marriage

，

a