1.2　考研真題與典型題詳解

I. Fill in the blanks.

1．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），是指要求清除英國國教Church of England中天主教殘余的改革派。其字詞于16世紀60年代開始使用，源于拉丁文的Purus，意為“清潔”。

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

【答案】American Puritanism

【解析】美國文化源于清教文化，由清教徒移民時傳入北美。美國主流價值觀都可以追溯到殖民地時期一統天下的清教主義，并且清教思想對美國文學有著根深蒂固的影響。

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

【答案】Puritan

【解析】清教主義，起源于英國，在北美殖民地得以實踐與發展。清教徒強調艱苦奮斗、勤儉節約、虔誠和淡泊。這些價值觀也影響了早期的美國文學。

4．Many Puritans wrote verse, but the works of two writers, Anne Bradstreet and ________, rose to the level of real poetry.

【答案】Edward Taylor

【解析】美國殖民時期最著名的詩人是安·布萊德斯特律和愛德華·泰勒。

5．The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America is a collection of poems composed by ________.

【答案】Anne Bradstreet

【解析】安·布萊德斯特律是美國殖民時期著名的詩人。其代表作是詩集《最近在北美出現的第十位繆斯》（The Tenth Muse Late Sprung up in America）。

6．On January 10, 1776, Thomas Paine’s famous pamphlet ________ appeared.

【答案】Common Sense

【解析】1776年美國獨立的風潮開始，托馬斯·潘恩支持美國獨立，反對英國的殖民專政，撰寫了他的成名小冊子《常識》，為美國從英國殖民中獨立出來辯論，批評英國國王殘暴無能，認為獨立后的美國應該建立共和國。

7．Except Common Sense, Paine’s the other two famous works were_______ and________.

【答案】The Rights of Man; The Age of Reason

【解析】潘恩著名的作品包括，《常識》、《人的權利》、《理性的時代》。

8．Thomas Paine’s second most important work ________ was an impassioned plea against hereditary monarchy.

【答案】The Rights of Man

【解析】1791年3月，托馬斯·潘恩在倫敦出版《人權論》，激烈抨擊埃德蒙·伯克（Edmund Burke，1729-1797）的《法國革命感言錄》（Reflections on the Revolution in France）（1790）。《人權論》的可貴之處還在于，它沖破了當時籠罩于整個西方思想界對英國君主立憲政體的迷信，深入骨髓地批判了這一政體，給當時還處于摸索狀態的法國革命指明了共和主義的嶄新方向。

9．Thomas Paine，with his natural gift for pamphleteering and rebellion，was appropriately born into an age of________.

【答案】Revolution

【解析】潘恩是美國獨立革命時期著名的作家之一。

10．Philip Freneau was noteworthy first because of the nature of his poems. They were truly American and very patriotic. In this respect, he reflected the spirit of his age. Therefore, he has been called the “________ of American Poetry”.

【答案】Father

【解析】菲利普·弗瑞諾是開啟美國民主主義的突出代表之一，他被稱為“美國詩歌之父。”

II. Multiple Choice.

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世紀初，英國人在弗吉尼亞和馬薩諸塞定居，這也是美國歷史的開端。

2．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】詹姆斯敦是英國人在北美的第一個永久定居地。

3．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】早期來到北美的殖民者有不少是清教徒，因而殖民時期的文學深受清教思想影響。

4．It is a critical commonplace now that American literature is based on a myth, that is, ________.（北二外2008研）

A. the ancient Greek myth of Zeus

B. the British myth of the Saint Grail

C. the Biblical myth of the Garden of Eden

D. the legend of the Sleepy Hollow

【答案】C

【解析】由于深受清教主義的影響，美國文學——至少是美國的白人文學——是建立在《圣經》伊甸園神話基礎上的文學。

5．The common thread throughout American literature has been the emphasis on the ________.

A. Revolutionism

B. Reason

C. Individualism

D. Rationalism

【答案】C

【解析】美國價值觀的核心是個人主義，因而，個人主義也成為貫穿美國文學史的主線。

6．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】1920年100多名清教徒前輩乘坐“五月花”號船到達美國馬薩諸塞州的普利茅斯。

7．The English colonies in North America rose in arms against their parent country and the Continental Congress adopted ________ in 1776.

A. the Declaration of Independence

B. the Sugar Act

C. the Stamp Act

D. the Mayflower Compact

【答案】A

【解析】1776年13個英屬北美殖民地奮起反擊英國的殖民統治，并且1776年7月4日，大陸會議通過了一份由托馬斯·杰弗遜起草的《獨立宣言》（Declaration of Independence）。

8．What style did the seventeenth century American poets adapt to the subject matter confronted in a strangely new environment?

A. The style of their own.

B. The style mixed with English and American elements.

C. The style mixed with native-American and British tradition.

D. The style of established European poets.

【答案】D

【解析】17世紀美國詩人大多沿襲英國詩歌的風格。

9．Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan poet. Her poems made such a stir in England that she became known as the ________ who appeared in America.

A. Ninth Muse

B. Tenth Muse

C. Best Muse

D. First Muse

【答案】B

【解析】安·布拉德斯特里特被譽為“美國出現的第十個繆斯”。

10．It was not until January 1776 that a widely heard public voice demanded complete separation from England. The voice was that of ______, whose pamphlet Common Sense, with its heated language, increased the growing demand for separation.

A. Thomas Paine

B. Thomas Jefferson

C. George Washington

D. Patrick Henry

【答案】A

【解析】潘恩的《常識》號召美國擺脫英國的統治。

11．Which is not connected with Thomas Paine?

A. Common Sense.

B. The American Crisis.

C. The Rights of Man.

D. The Autobiography.

【答案】D

【解析】《自傳》是本杰明·富蘭克林的代表作，其余三項都是潘恩的主要作品。

12．“These are the times that try men’s souls”，these words were once read to Washington’s troops and did much to spur excitement to further action with hope and confidence. Who is the author of these words?

A. Benjamin Franklin.

B. Thomas Paine.

C. Thomas Jefferson.

D. George Washington.

【答案】B

【解析】“這是考驗人的靈魂的時刻”，這句話選自潘恩的《美國危機》。

13．Which work is written by Freneau?

A. The Rights of Man.

B. The Wild Honey Suckle.

C. Poor Richard’s Almanac.

D. The Day of Doom.

【答案】B

【解析】《野生的金銀花》是弗瑞諾最具代表性的作品。

III. Explain the following term.

1．American Puritanism（南開大學2008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. Read the following quotations and answer the questions.

Passage 1

Questions:

(1) This is the ninth of the “Contemplations” written by an early American woman writer. What is her name?

(2) Make a brief comment on this short poem.

Key:

(1) Anne Bradstreet.

(2) This short poem offers the reader an insight into the mentality of the early Puritan pioneering into a new world. When the poet, heard the grasshopper and the cricket sing, she thought of this as their praising their reator and searched her own soul accordingly. It is evident that she saw something metaphysical inhering in the physical, a mode of perception which was singularly Puritan.

Passage 2

Huswifery

Questions:

(1) Identify the poet of this poem.

(2) Make a brief comment on this poem.

Key:

(1) Edward Taylor.

(2) The poem indicates that the poet saw religious significance in a simple daily incident like a housewife spinning. The spinning wheel, the distaff, the flyers, the spool, the reel and the yarn have all acquired a metaphorical significance in the symbolic, Puritan eyes of Edward Taylor.

Passage 3

These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: This dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods.

Questions:

(1) Which book is this passage taken from?

(2) Who is the author of this book?

(3) Whom is the author praising? Whom is the author criticizing?

(4) What do you think of the language used in the book?

Key:

(1) The American Crisis

(2) Thomas Paine

(3) Paine is praising those who stand “it”, it referring to “the service of their country”. In the meantime, Paine is criticizing those who shrink from the service of their country in this crisis.

(4) The language is plain, impressive and forceful. Paine himself once said that his purpose as a writer was to use plain language to make those who can scarcely read understand.

Passage 4

Questions:

(1) Who is the writer of these verses?

(2) What is the title of this poem?

(3) Give a brief comment on this poem.

Key:

(1) Philip Freneau.

(2) “The Wild Honey suckle”.

(3) Here Freneau offers a version of an abundant America with potential for providing a good life for all. The poem is also an indication of his dedication to American subject matter as he examined peculiarly American characteristics of the countryside.

V. Short answer questions

1．Who was Anne Bradstreet? What were her literary achievements?

Key: Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672) is one of the most important figures in the history of American Literature. She is considered by many to be the first American poet, and her first collection of poems, The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, By a Gentlewoman of Those Parts, was the first book written by a woman to be published in the United States. Mrs. Bradstreet’s works also serves as a document of the struggles of a Puritan wife against the hardships of New England colonial life.

2．What are the basic Calvinist tenets?（國際關系學院2007研）

Key: Calvinist theology is sometimes identified with the five points of Calvinism, also called the doctrines of grace. In English, The five points are sometimes referred to by the acronym TULIP, which means Total Inherited Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace and Perseverance of the Saints England colonial life.

VI. Essay question

1．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, 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.