1.2　考研真題與典型題詳解

I. Fill in the blanks.

1．The most enduring shaping influence in American thought and American literature was ________.

【答案】American Puritanism

【解析】美國(guó)文化源于清教文化，由清教徒移民時(shí)傳入北美。美國(guó)主流價(jià)值觀都可以追溯到殖民地時(shí)期一統(tǒng)天下的清教主義，并且清教思想對(duì)美國(guó)文學(xué)有著根深蒂固的影響。

2．The first permanent English settlement in North America was established at ______, Virginia.

【答案】Jamestown

【解析】1607年在北美弗吉尼亞詹姆斯敦定居的殖民者是第一批美國(guó)永久居民。

3．Among the members of the small band of Jamestown settlers was ________, an English soldier of fortune, whose reports of exploration, published in the early 1600s, have been described as the first distinct American literature written in English.

【答案】Captain John Smith

【解析】約翰·史密斯上校（1580.1-1631.6.21）因在北美弗吉尼亞州建立了英國(guó)第一個(gè)永久殖民地詹姆斯敦而揚(yáng)名天下。他的《自殖民地第一次在弗吉尼亞墾荒以來(lái)發(fā)生的各種事件的真實(shí)介紹》則是美國(guó)文學(xué)的“第一書”，其實(shí)也是整個(gè)美國(guó)歷史的“第一書”。

4．Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety, these were the ______ values that dominated much of the early American writing.

【答案】Puritan

【解析】勤勞、節(jié)儉、虔誠(chéng)、持重是引領(lǐng)早期美國(guó)文學(xué)的清教價(jià)值觀。

5．The term “Puritan” was applied to those settlers who originally were devout members of the Church of ______.

【答案】England

【解析】清教徒（Puritan），是指要求清除英國(guó)國(guó)教（Church of England）中天主教殘余的改革派。該詞于16世紀(jì)60年代開(kāi)始使用，源于拉丁文的Purus，意為“清潔”。

6．The General History of Virginia contains Smith’s most famous tale of how the Indian princess named ________ saved him from the wrath of her father.

【答案】Pocahontas

【解析】約翰·史密斯在《弗吉尼亞通史》中講述了他與印第安公主波卡虹塔斯（Pocahontas)之間的故事。公元1608年史密斯與當(dāng)?shù)赜〉诎膊柯涞囊晃唤胁ㄍ咛沟那蹰L(zhǎng)談判，這位酋長(zhǎng)年輕的女兒波卡虹塔斯挽救了史密斯船長(zhǎng)的性命。

7．________ was a famous explorer and colonist. He established Jamestown.

【答案】Captain John Smith

【解析】約翰·史密斯上校，新英格蘭的艦隊(duì)司令，是英國(guó)軍人，探險(xiǎn)家和作家。他因在北美弗吉尼亞州建立了英國(guó)第一個(gè)永久殖民地詹姆斯敦而揚(yáng)名天下。

8．The Puritan philosophy known as ________ was important in New England during colonial time, and had a profound influence on the early American mind for several generations.

【答案】Puritanism

【解析】清教主義，起源于英國(guó),在北美殖民地得以實(shí)踐與發(fā)展。清教徒構(gòu)成了當(dāng)時(shí)北美移民的主體，在新英格蘭北部更是清一色的清教徒。清教主義奠定了美國(guó)社會(huì)的基礎(chǔ)，塑造了美國(guó)人的性格，從各個(gè)方面影響著美國(guó)社會(huì)。

II. Multiple choices

1．Early in ________, the English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts started the main stream of the American national history.（北二外2007研）

A. 14th century

B. 15th century

C. 17th century

D. 16th century

【答案】C

【解析】17世紀(jì)初，英國(guó)人在弗吉尼亞和馬薩諸塞定居，這也是美國(guó)歷史的開(kāi)端。

2．The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few of them ________.（北二外2008研）

A. Quakers

B. Anglicans

C. Catholics

D. Puritans

【答案】D

【解析】早期來(lái)到北美的殖民者有不少是清教徒，因而殖民時(shí)期的文學(xué)深受清教思想影響。

3．The first permanent English settlement in North America was established at ________.（北二外2009研）

A. Jamestown

B. New York

C. Boston

D. Concord

【答案】A

【解析】詹姆斯敦是英國(guó)人在北美的第一個(gè)永久定居地。

4．American Colonial literature is longer than any other literary period, which started when the first settlers kept diaries and sermons and developed till _________.（北二外2010研）

A. the mid of 18th C

B. early 17th C

C. the end of 17th C

D. the end of 18th C

【答案】D

【解析】美國(guó)殖民時(shí)期文學(xué)歷經(jīng)兩個(gè)世紀(jì)，從17世紀(jì)初到18世紀(jì)末。

5．The ship “_____” carried about one hundred Pilgrims and took 66 days to beat its way across the Atlantic. In December of 1620, it put the Pilgrims ashore at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

A. Sunflower

B. Armada

C. Mayflower

D. Titanic

【答案】C

【解析】1620年100多名清教徒前輩乘坐“五月花”號(hào)船到達(dá)美國(guó)馬薩諸塞州的普利茅斯。

III. Explain the following term.

American Puritanism（南開(kāi)大學(xué)2008研；廈門大學(xué) 2011 研）

Key：

The word Puritanism is originally used to refer to the theology advocated by a party within the Church of England. The term Puritanism is also used in a broader sense to refer to the attitudes and values considered characteristic of the Puritans. It has been employed to denote a rigid moralism, or the condemnation of innocent pleasure, or religious narrowness adhered by the early New England Puritans. The American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influence over American moral values. And this Puritan influence over American Romanticism was conspicuously noticeable. In addition, a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of original sin and the mystery of evil marked the works by such famous writers as Hawthorne and Melville.

IV. Essay question

What is the significance of American Puritanism in American literature?

Key：

The settlement of the North American continent by the English began in the early part of the 17th century. The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few of the Puritans. They carried with them to America a code of values which became what is now popularly known as American Puritanism. It was one of the most enduring shaping influences in American literature. To some extent, it has become a state of mind, a part of national cultural atmosphere that the Americans breathe.

The American Puritans were idealists, believing that the Church should be restored to the “Purity” and religion was a matter of primary importance. They accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin, total depravity and limited atonement. It has been a critical commonplace that the American literature—or Anglo-American literature—is based on a myth, that is, the Biblical myth of the Garden of Eden. Fired with such a sense of mission, the Puritans looked at even the worst of life in the face with a tremendous amount of optimism. All this went, in due time, into the making of American literature. The spirits of optimism burst out of the pages of so many American authors, such as, Emerson, Whitman, etc.

Furthermore, the American Puritan’s metaphorical mode of perception was chiefly instrumental in calling into being a literary symbolism which is distinctly American. Puritan doctrine and literary practice contributed greatly to the development of an indigenous symbolism. The ever symbolizing process became, in time, part of the intellectual tradition. To Hawthorne, Melville, Howells and many others, symbolism as a technique has become a common practice. This peculiar mode of perception was an essential part of their upbringing.

With regard to technique, simplicity characterizes the Puritan style of writing. The style is fresh, simple and direct; the rhetoric is plain and honest, not without a touch of nobility often traceable to the direct influence of the Bible. All this has left an indelible imprint on American writing. Thus American Puritanism has been, by and large, a healthy legacy to the Americans.