2016年温州大学821英语文学与文化试题A.doc
第 页,共 4 页12016 年硕士研究生招生考试试题 A科目代码及名称: 821 英语文学及文化 适用专业:英语语言文学 02 方向考生(请考生在答题纸上答题,在此试题纸上答题无效)Part One English and American Literature(80 points in all )I. Identify the following works or quotations with their authors. Please write your answers on the Answer Sheet. (10 points)1. Paradise Lost2. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus3. The Great Gatsby4. Death of a Salesman5. “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”6. Hamlet 7. The Wasteland8. “The door of the jail being flung open from within, there appeared, in the first place, like a black shadow emerging into sunshine, the grim and gristly presence of the town-beadle, with a sword by his side, and his staff of office in his hand. This personage prefigured and represented in his aspect the whole dismal severity of the Puritanic code of law, which it was his business to administer in its final and closest application to the offender. Stretching forth the official staff in his left hand, he laid his right upon the shoulder of a young woman, whom he thus drew forward, until, on the threshold of the prison-door, she repelled him, by an action marked with natural dignity and force of character, and stepped into the open air as if by her own free will. She bore in her arms a child, a baby of some three months old, who winked and turned aside its little face from the too vivid light of day; because its existence, heretofore, had brought it acquaintance only with the grey twilight of a dungeon, or other darksome apartment of the prison.”9. “Almost five thousand years agone, there were Pilgrims walking to the Clestial City, as these two honest persons are; and Beelzebub, Apollyon, and Legion, with their Companions, perceiving by the path that the Pilgrims made, that their way to the City lay through this Town of Vanity, they contrived here to set up a Fair; a Fair wherein should be sold all sorts of Vanity, and that it should last all the year long.”10. “The Harivansa says, An abode without birds is like a meat without seasoning. Such was not my abode, for I found myself suddenly neighbor to the birds; not by having imprisoned one, but having caged myself near them.”II. Explain FOUR of the following literary terms in about 50 words for each. (20 points)1. English Renaissance2. Allegory3. Satire4. Enlightenment 5. Aestheticism 第 页,共 4 页26. Alliteration7. Modernism8. New Criticism III. Prose Commentary. (10 points) Read the following prose excerpt and answer the questions followed. STUDIES serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight, is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment, and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best, from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need proyning, by study; and studies themselves, do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books, else distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things. Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit: and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know, that he doth not. Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtile; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Abeunt studia in mores. Nay, there is no stond or impediment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body, may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head; and the like. So if a mans wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen; for they are cymini sectores. If he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers cases. So every defect of the mind, may have a special receipt.What is the function of studies? How many types of reading does Bacon introduce? In what sense does reading makes a full man? IV. Novel Commentary. (20 points)Oscar Wilde writes, “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.” Do you agree or not? Illustrate your points with examples from your reading of English or American literature.V. Poetry Commentary. (20 points) Write a commentary on William Wordsworths poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” in relation to Wordsworths comments in his Preface to Lyrical 第 页,共 4 页3Ballads.“The principle object, then, which I proposed to myself in these poems was to choose incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them, throughout, as far as possible, in a selection of language really used by them; and, at the same time, to throw over them a certain colouring of imagination, whereby ordinary things should be represented to the mind in an unusual way; and further, and above all, to make these incidents and situations interesting by tracing in them, truly though not ostentatiously, the primary laws of our nature: chiefly, as far as regards the manner in which we associate ideas in a state of excitement.” (Preface to Lyrical Ballads, William Wordsworth)I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high oer 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. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazed-and gazed-but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: 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.(“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, William Wordsworth)Part Two Cultures of English Speaking Countries (70 points)I. Directions: In this part, there are 10 questions or statements. For each question or statement, there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should choose the best one and write the corresponding letter on the answer sheet. (101.5 = 15)1. The following figures were often considered the founding fathers of the American Republic 第 页,共 4 页5except _.A. George Washington B. Thomas Jefferson C. Roger Williams D. John Adams2. The general election in the US is held every _ years.A. two B. three C. four D. five 3. Which one of the following writers was an African American?A. Arthur Miller B. Toni Morrison C. Mark Twain D. J. D. Salinger4. Great Britain includes the following EXCEPT _.A. England B. Wales C. Scotland D. Northern Ireland5. The role of the American president includes the following EXCEPT _.A. command the armed forces B. negotiate and sign treatiesC. pass laws D. appoint certain personnel 6. In the UK, the party that wins the majority of _ will form the government.A. votes in Parliament B. votes in the general electionC. seats in the House of Lords D. seats in the House of Commons7. All of the following are characteristics of American public schools EXCEPT _.A. religious teaching B. locally controlled C. coeducational D. publicly supported by taxes8. The Founders of the United States wanted the _ branch to be the dominant one of the federal government. A. executive B. legislative C. judicial D. none of them9. In the history of the UK, the Great Charter was made in the interests of _.A. the king B. the feudal lords C. the townsmen D. the serfs10. What is the most important weapon in the hand of the Supreme Court in the US?A. Veto B. Overriding a veto C. Impeachment D. Judicial reviewII. Directions: Define the following 3 terms and write your answer on the answer sheet. (35 = 15)1. Constitutional Monarchy2. Federalism in US3. Laissez faireIII. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words. (52 = 10)1. The Congress of the United States consists of two parts: the Senate and the House of _.2. The incumbent president of the United States is Barack _.3. In the national flag of the United States, there are fifty _ which represent the fifty states in this country, and thirteen stripes which represent the original thirteen states.4. In terms of religion, the United Kingdom is traditionally a _ state.5. In America, WASP is the abbreviation of “white Anglo-Saxon _.“IV. Answer the following two questions briefly. (25 =10)1. What makes up the British Constitution?2. What were the major ideas in the Declaration of Independence?V. Make a comment on the following topic in the form of an essay in no less than 300 words. (120 = 20)The federal government of the United States of America is based on the principle of checks and balances. How does this principle operate?第 页,共 4 页1