天津外国语学院2009年考研英美文学真题

1、天津外国语学院2009年攻读硕士学位研究生入学考试试题考试科目：英语语言文学文学部分section b: american & british literature (70 points) questions in this section are set for applicants to the ma program of american & british literature. write your answer on the answer sheet.1. fill in the blanks or choose the answer that best completes the

2、statement: (25 points)1). beowulf, the oldest great long poem ever written in english, is composed in a form of . a. epics b. lyrics c. folk songs d. sagas2). geoffrey chaucer planned originally to have each of the pilgrims tell stories on the way to canterbury and the same number of stories on the

3、way back in his famous the canterbury tales. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d.43).christopher marlow was bom only two months before william shakespeare. in his life time he wrote some famous tragedies such as tamburlain, the jew of malta and dr faustus. all these tragedies portray a hero who passionately pursues a.

4、 money b. power c. territory d. women4). the poetry of john donne represents a sharp break from the poetry of his predecessors in the elizabethian era. one of the outstanding features in his poetry is conceit which means a. irony b. satire c. elaborated metaphor d. contrast5). in addition to paradis

5、e lost, john miltons another famous poem lycides is a in which he uses some artificial imagery supplied by an idyllic shepherds existence to bewail the loss of a friend. a. pastoral elegy b. odes c. cantos d. ballads6). joseph addison and sir richard steele are famous english essayists. they develop

6、ed a new type of english writing, periodic essays. they often publish their writings in a journal which is called a. the guardian b. the atlantic c. new yorker d. the spectator7). the central character j. alfred prufrock in t.s. eliots famous poem the love song of j. alfred prufrock is a. an old man

7、 b. a godlike figure c. a restless young man d. a muse8). e. m. forster is a novelist but also a novel critic. his famous book on novel criticism is entitled a. politics and the english language b. aspects of the novel c. the rise of the novel d. a room of ones own9). harold pinter is a contemporary

8、 british dramatist. his plays are characterized by the following except a. pauses and silence in dialogues b. mysterious motivation of characters c. spacious confinement d. happy ending10). which of the following words does not describe the features of irvings writings? a. decorum b. humor c. musica

9、lity d. imagination11). which of the following works by henry james does not deal with the international theme? a. daisy miller b. the turn of the screw c. the portrait of a lady d. the ambassadors12). which of the following pairs of characters does not form a contrast of ideas between them? a. natt

10、y bumpoo and judge temple b. ichabod crane and brom bones c. jay gatsby and nick carraway d. ishmael and ahab13). which of the following pairs concerning the writer and the main setting in his/her works is incorrect? a. kate chopin-louisana b. willa cather-georgia c. o henry-new york d. sherwood and

11、erson-ohio14). of the four compson children, s life embodies all the vices of the modern world. a. quentin b. caddy c. jason d. benjy15). i am cruel only to be kind to you the rhetorical device used in this statement is a. metonymy b. metaphor c. oxymoron d. allusion16). each literary movement can b

12、e seen as a strong reaction to the previous aesthetic principles. romanticism in the history of english literature can be presented as a strong reaction to 17). with the narrative technique of stream of consciousness, modem novelists aim at revealing of characters.18). w. b. yeats can be regarded as

13、 an irish nationalist poet. all his life is engaged in the rejuvenation of the irish culture. he organized the rhymers club and launched 19). the literary school of can be defined as having such qualitly of texture and background that it could not have been written in any other place or by anyone el

14、se than a native.20). standing on the bare ground, my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space, all mean egotism vanishes. i become a ; i am nothing, i see all; the currents of the universal being circulate through me; i am part or particle of god.21). in , a novel about americ

15、an civil war, the protagonist keeps asking himself the question, will i run from a battle? and at last he does run away from the battle field. 22). in the 1950s, there was a widespread discontentment among the postwar generation, whose voice was one of protest against all the mainstream culture that

16、 america had come to represent. this generation was known as the generation.23). the second book of the old testament, tells how moses leads the israelites out of egypt to the promised land.24). droning a drowsy syncopated tune, rocking back and forth to a mellow croon, i heard a negro play. the fig

17、ure of speech used in the first line of the poem is25). forbidden public transportation, chased by debt and filthy talking sheets, they followed secondary routes, scanned the horizon for signs and counted heavily on each other. the historic event referred to in the quotation is2. answer three of the

18、 following essay questions: (45 points)1). two types of novels were prominent in the late eighteen century. one is the gothic novel and the other is novel of purpose. write a passage to illustrate the major characteristics of gothic novels and take wuthering heights as all example to illustrate your points.2). george bernard shaws plays aim at social reforms. he holds that the theatre has a d