2004年4月浙江省高等教育自学考试美国文学选读试题

请将答案填在答题纸相应位置上

　　Part Ⅰ： Choose the relevant match from Column B for each item in Column A.（5%）

　　Group 1

　　Column A Column B

　　1. Nathaniel Hawthorne A. White Jacket

　　2. Herman Melville B. The Sketch Book

　　3. Washington Irving C. The Scarlet Letter

　　4. Ernest Hemingway D. A Farewell to Arms

　　5. F. Scott Fitzgerald E. This Side of Paradise

　　Group 2

　　Column A Column B

　　1. Homer Barren A. The Great Gatsby

　　2. George Hurstwood B. A Rose for Emily

　　3. Yank C. Moby Dick

　　4. Tom Buchanan D. Sister Carrie

　　5. Fedallah E. The Hairy Ape

　　Part Ⅱ： Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternative answers. Choose the one that would best complete the statement. （60%）

　　1. The Romantic Period in American literature started from the publication of Washington Irving‘s ______ and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.

　　A. The Sketch Book B. Tales of a Traveller

　　C. A History of New York D. The Scarlet Letter

　　2. At the middle of 19th century， America witnessed a cultural flowering which is called “_____”。

　　A. the English Renaissance B. the Second Renaissance

　　C. the American Renaissance D. the Salem Renaissance

　　3. As a philosophical and literary movement， the main issues involved in the debate of Transcendentalism are generally concerning ______.

　　A. nature ， man and the universe

　　B. the relationship between man and woman

　　C. the development of Romanticism in American literature

　　D. the cold， rigid rationalism of Unitarianism

　　4. In the history of American literature， ______ is usually agreed to be the summit of the American Romanticism.

　　A. the Harlem Renaissance B. England Transcendentalism

　　C. New England Transcendentalism D. New Transcendentalism

　　5. About the novel The Scarlet Letter， which of the following statements is not right

　　A. It‘s very hard to say that it is a love story or a story of sin.

　　B. It‘s a highly symbolic story and the author is a master of symbolism.

　　C. It‘s mainly about the moral， emotional and psychological effects of the sin upon the main characters and the people in general.

　　D. In it the letter A takes the same symbolic meaning throughout the novel.

　　6. The great sea adventure story Moby-Dick is usually considered______.

　　A. a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth and knowledge of the universe.

　　B. an adventurous exploration into man‘s relationship with nature

　　C. a simple whaling tale or sea adventure

　　D. a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the artistic truth and beauty

　　7. In his poems， Walt Whitman is innovative in the terms of the form of his poetry， which is called “______.”

　　A. free verse B. blank verse

　　C. alliteration D. end rhyming

　　8. After the Civil War America was transformed from ______ to ______.

　　A. an agrarian community … an industrialized and commercialized society

　　B. an agrarian community … a society of freedom and equality

　　C. a poor and backward society … an industrialized and commercialized society

　　D. an industrialized and commercialized society … a highly developed society

　　9. Which of the following is said of the American naturalism

　　A. They preferred to have their own region and people at the forefront of the stories.

　　B. Their characteristic setting is usually an isolated town.

　　C. Humans should be united because they had to adapt themselves to changing harsh environment.

　　D. Their characters were conceived more or less complex combinations of inherited attributes， their habits conditioned by social and economic forces.

　　10. 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.

　　11. 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

　　12. Which of the following is not written by Henry James

　　A. The Portrait of A Lady and The Europeans

　　B. The Wings of the Dove and The Ambassadors

　　C. What Maisie Knows and The Bostonians

　　D. The Genius and The Gilded Age

　　13. More than five hundred poems Dickinson wrote are about nature， in which her general Skepticism about the relationship between ______ is well-expressed.

　　A. man and man B. men and women

　　C. man and nature D. men and God

　　14. Which of the following is right about Emily Dickinson‘s poems about nature

　　A. In them， she expressed her general affirmation about the relationship between man and nature.

　　B. Some of them showed her disbelief that there existed a mythical bond between man and nature.

　　C. Her poems reflected her feeling that nature is restorative to human beings.

　　D. Many of them showed her feeling of nature‘s inscrutability and indifference to the life and interests of human beings.

　　15. As a great innovator in American literature， Walt Whitman wrote his poetry in an unconventional style which is now called free verse， that is ______.

　　A. lyrical poetry with chanting refrains

　　B. poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme

　　C. poetry without rhymes at the end of the lines but with a fixed beat

　　D. poetry in an irregular metric form and expressing noble feelings

　　16. By the end of the 19th century， the American realists sought to ______and therefore rejected the portrayal of idealized characters and events in their writings.

　　A. describe the wide range of American experience

　　B. show animal nature of human beings

　　C. present the subtleties of human personality

　　D. both A and C

　　17. In the first part of the 20th century， apart from Darwinism， there were two thinkers -______， whose ideas had the greatest impact on the period.

　　A. the German Karl Marx and the Austrian Sigmund Freud

　　B. the German Karl Marx and the American Sigmund Freud

　　C. the Swiss Carl Jung and the American William James

　　D. the Austrian Karl Marx and the German Sigmund Freud

　　18. Which of the following can be said about Eugene O‘Neill plays

　　A. Most of his plays are concerned about the root， the truth of human desires and human frustrations.

　　B. His tragic view of life is reflected in many of his works.

　　C. His plays are concerned about the relationship between man and nature as well as man and woman.

　　D. both A and B.

　　19. Most of O‘Neill’s plays are concerned about the following except______.

　　A. success and failure in man‘s literary career

　　B. life and death， illusion and disillusion， dream and reality

　　C. alienation and communication， self and society ， desire and frustration

　　D. the basic issues of human existence and predicament

　　20. Which of the following can be said about a typical modern literary work

　　A. It is a record of sequence and coherence of the history and the world.

　　B. It is a juxtaposition of the past and present， of the history and the memory.

　　C. It is a book of integrity drawn from diverse areas of experience.

　　D. Its perspective is shifted from the internal to the external， from the private to the public.

　　21. As to the great American poet Ezra Pound， which of the following is not right

　　A. His language is usually oblique yet marvelously compressed and his poetry is dense with personal， literary ， and historical allusions.

　　B. His artistic talents are on full display in the history of the Imagist Movement.

　　C. From his analysis of the Chinese ideogram Pound learned to anchor his poetic language in concrete， perceptual reality， and to organize images into larger patterns through juxtaposition.

　　D. For he was politically controversial and notorious for what he did in the wartime， his literary achievement and influence are somewhat reduced.

　　22. In his poetry， Robert Frost made the colloquial ______ speech into a poetic expression.

　　A. England B. New England

　　C. Plymouth D. Boston

　　23. Which of the following statements is right about Robert Frost‘s poetry

　　A. He combined traditional verse forms with the difficult and highly ornamental language.

　　B. He combined traditional verse forms with the pastoral language of the Southern area.

　　C. He combined traditional verse forms with a simple spoken language-the speech of New England farmers.

　　D. He combined traditional verse forms with the experimental.

　　24. 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.

　　25. As Fitzgerald‘s writing style is concerned， which of the following is right

　　A. The author dropped off the device of having events observed by a “central consciousness”。

　　B. His intervening passages of narration leaves the tedious process of transition to the author‘s imagination.

　　C. The scenic method is employed， each of which consists of one or more dramatic scenes.

　　D. His diction and metaphors are partially original and details accurate.

　　26. Which of the following is not written by Ernest Hemingway， one of the best-known American authors of the 20th century

　　A. The Sun Also Rises B. The Old Man and the Sea

　　C. Mosses From the Old Manse D. The Green Hills of Africa

　　27. Which of the following statements is right about the novel A Farewell to Arms

　　A. The author favored the idea of nature as an expression of either god‘s design or his beneficence.

　　B. The author attempted to write the epitaph to a decade and to the whole generation in the 1930s.

　　C. The author emphasizes his belief that man is trapped both physically and mentally and suggests that man is doomed to be entrapped.

　　D. It tells a story about the tragic love affair of a wounded American soldier with an Italian nurse.

　　28. Which of the following is depicted as the mythical county in William Faulkner‘s novels

　　A. Cambrige. B. Oxford.

　　C. Mississippi. D. Yoknapatawpha. 29. To Faulkner， the primary duty of a writer was to explore and represent the infinite possibilities inherent in human life. Therefore a writer should ______.

　　A. observe with no judgment whatsoever

　　B. reduce authorial intrusion to the lowest minimum

　　C. observe at a great distance and sometimes participate in the events

　　D. both A and B

　　30. Which of the following is right about American fiction from 1945 onwards

　　A. A group of new writers who survived the war wrote about their ideals within the artistic field.

　　B. There appeared a significant group of Jewish-American writers whose works were set against the Jewish experience and tradition.

　　C. Black fiction began to attract critical attention during the 1950s.

　　D. American fiction in the 1950s and 1960s proves to be a harvest which derived from its predecessors.

　　PartⅢ： Interpretation（21%）

　　Read the following selections and then answer the questions. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet.

　　Passage 1

　　To go into solitude， a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society. I am not solitary whilst I read and write， though nobody is with me. But if a man would be alone let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds， will separate between him and vulgar things. One might think the atmosphere was made transparent with this design， to give man， in the heavenly bodies， the perpetual presence of the sublime. Seen in the streets of cities， how great they are！ If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years， how would men believe and adore； and preserve for many generations the remembrance off the city of God which had been shown！ But every night come out these preachers of beauty， and light the universe with their admonishing smile.

　　The stars awaken a certain reverence， because though always present， they are always inaccessible； but all natural objects make a kindred impression， when the mind is open to their influence. Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort all her secret， and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy or a wise spirit. The flowers， the animals， the mountains， reflected all the wisdom of his best hour， as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood.

　　1. Which essay is this passage taken from Who is the author

　　2. According to the author， what relationship lies between man and nature

　　Passage 2

　　Once I said to myself it would be a thousand times better for Jim to be a slave at home where his family was， as long as he‘d got to be a slave， and so I’d better write a letter to Tom Sawyer and tell him to tell Miss Watson where he was. But I soon give up that notion， for two things： she‘d be mad and disgusted at his rascality and ungratefulness for leaving her， and so she’d sell him straight down the river again； and if she didn‘t， everybody naturally despises an ungrateful nigger， and they’d make Jim feel it all the time， and so he‘d feel ornery and disgraced. And then think of me！ It would get all around， that Huck Finn helped a nigger to get his freedom； and if I was to ever see anybody from that town again， I’d be ready to get down and lick his boots for shame. That‘s just the way： a person does a low-down thing， and then he don’t want to take no consequences of it. Thinks as long as he can hide it， it ain‘t no disgrace. That was my fix exactly. The more I studied about this， the more my conscience went to grinding me， and the more wicked and low-down and ornery I got to feeling. And at last， when it hit me all of a sudden that here was the plain hand of Providence slapping me in the face and letting me know my wickedness was being watched all the time from up there in heaven， whilst I was stealing a poor old woman’s nigger that hadn‘t ever done me no harm， and now was showing me there’s One that‘s always on the lookout， and ain’t going to allow no such miserable doings to go only just so fur and no further， I most dropped in my tracks I was so scared. Well， I tried the best I could to kinder soften it up somehow for myself， by saying I was brung up wicked， and so I warn‘t so much to blame； ……

　　3. Which novel is this passage taken from Who is the author

　　4. Who is the narrator in the above passage What state of mind is he in now

　　Passage 3

　　In a Station of the Metro

　　The apparition of these faces in the crowd；

　　Petals on a wet， black bought.

　　5. What object is treated in the poem How does the poet bring it out

　　Passage 4

　　There was music from my neighbor‘s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft， or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound， drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week-ends his Rolls Royce became an omnibus， bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight， while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants， including an extra gardener， foiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears， repairing the ravages of the night before.

　　……

　　I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby‘s house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited—they went there. They got into automobiles which bore them out to Long Island， and somehow they ended up at Gatsby’s door. Once there they were introduced by somebody who knew Gatsby， and after that they conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with an amusement park. Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all， came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission.

　　I had been actually invited. A chauffeur in a uniform of robin‘s-egg blue crossed my lawn early that Saturday morning with a surprisingly formal note from his employer； the honor would be entirely Gatsby’s， it said， if I would attend his “little party” that night. He had seen me several times， and had intended to call on me long before， but a peculiar combination of circumstances had prevented it — signed Jay Gatsby， in a majestic hand.

　　Dressed up in white flannels I went over to his lawn a little after seven， and wandered around rather ill at ease among swirls and eddies of people I didn‘t know — though here and there was a face I had noticed on the commuting train. I was immediately struck by the number of young Englishmen dotted about； all well dressed， all looking a little hungry， and all talking in low， earnest voices to solid and prosperous Americans. I was sure that they were selling something： bonds or insurance or automobiles. They were at least agonizingly aware of the easy money in the vicinity and convinced that it was theirs for few words in the right key.

　　As soon as I arrived I made an attempt to find my host， but the two or three people of whom I asked his whereabouts stared at me in such an amazed way， and denied so vehemently any knowledge of his movements， that I slunk off in the direction of the cocktail table — the only place in the garden where a single man could linger without looking purposeless and alone.

　　6. Who is the narrator here Were the people to the parties familiar with Gatsby Why did they go to Gatsby‘s parties

　　7. How do you interpret the atmosphere of contradiction which is evoked in this chapter

　　Part Ⅳ： Give brief answers to the following questions. （14%）

　　1. Please give a brief analysis of the major features of American romanticism.

　　2. Give a brief analysis of the differences between the three realists： William D. Howells， Mark Twain and Henry James