1、2008 年厦门大学英语专业（英美文学）真题试卷及答案与解析一、名词解释1 Ballad2 epic3 flat character4 gothic novels5 symbolism6 new criticism二、匹配题7 A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers8 Lord Jim9 Ulysses(a novel)10 The Importance of Being Earnest11 Slaughterhouse Five12 Light in August13 For Whom the Bell Tolls 14 Our Man in H
2、avana三、问答题15 “Paris in the 1920s was the cradle of Western modernist literature. “ Do you agree or not? Why?16 What are the common characteristics of Shakespeare s great tragedies?四、评论题17 Yossarian(from; Catch-22)18 Sister Carrie(from; Sister Carrie)19 Jordan Baker(from: The Great Gatsby)20 Clarissa
3、 Dalloway(from; Mrs. Dalloway)21 Young Blifil(from; Tom Jones)22 Henchard(from: Mayor of Casterbridge)五、分析题23 Read the following poem and write a short essay based on the following questions in about 100 words(8 points):Song by Adrienne Rich(1929 )You re wondering if I m lonely;OK then, yes, I m lon
4、elyas a plane rides lonely and levelon its radio beam, aimingacross the Rockiesfor the blue-strung aislesof an airfield on the ocean You want to ask, am I lonely? Well, of course, lonely as a woman driving across country day after day, leaving behind mile after milelittle towns she might have stoppe
5、d and lived and died ill, lonely If I m lonely it must be the loneliness of waking first, of breathing dawn s first cold breath on the city of being the one awake in a house wrapped in sleep. Questions:A. The speaker in this poem enjoys being alone and compares her “loneliness“ to that of an airplan
6、e. What compensates for the airplane s loneliness?B. What does the comparison to the woman driving cross-country suggest?C. What is the speaker s true feeling of being alone?2008 年厦门大学英语专业（英美文学）真题试卷答案与解析一、名词解释1 【正确答案】 Ballad: Traditionally, a ballad is a song, transmitted orally from generation to g
7、eneration, that tells a story and that eventually is written down. As such, ballads usually cannot be traced to a particular author or group of authors. Typically, ballads are dramatic, condensed, and impersonal narratives, such as “ Bonny Barbara Allan. “2 【正确答案】 epic; It is, originally, an oral na
8、rrative poem, majestic both in theme and style. Epics deal with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance, involving action of broad sweep and grandeur. Most epics deal with the exploits of a single individual, thereby giving unity to the composition. Great epics include t
9、he Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer.3 【正确答案】 flat character; A flat character is a minor character in fiction who does not undergo substantial change or growth in the course of a story. Also referred to as “two-dimensional characters“ or “static characters,“ flat characters play a supporting role to t
10、he main character who should be round. An example of flat character is Mr. Collins in Jane Austen s Pride and Prejudice.4 【正确答案】 gothic novels: Gothic novel is a genre of literature that flourished in the late 18th and early 19th century in England. It is generally believed to have been invented by
11、the English author Horace Walpole. Prominent features of Gothic novel include terror, mystery, the supernatural, ghosts, haunted houses, castles, darkness, death, madness, secrets, and hereditary curses.5 【正确答案】 symbolism; Symbolism is the writing technique of using symbols. It s a literary movement
12、 that arose in France in the last half of the 19th century and that greatly influenced many English writers , particularly poets, of the 20th century. It enables poets to compress a very complex idea or set of ideas into one image or even one word. It s one of the most powerful devices that poets em
13、ploy in creation.6 【正确答案】 new criticism; An approach to literature made popular between the 1940s and the 1960s that evolved out of formalist criticism. New Critics suggest that detailed analysis of the language of a literary text can uncover important layers of meaning in that work. Critics such as
14、 John Crown Ransom, I. A. Richards, and Robert Penn Warren are commonly associated with New Criticism.二、匹配题7 【正确答案】 Henry David Thoreau【试题解析】 (在康科德与梅里马克河上一周(简称河上一周)是梭罗的重要作品。该书 1849 年出版，记载了 1839 年夏末梭罗与兄长约翰自制小舟，驾船漂游家乡附近两条河流的见闻和感想。)8 【正确答案】 Joseph Conrad【试题解析】 (吉姆爷是康拉德的一部长篇小说。)9 【正确答案】 James Joyce【试题解析
15、】 (尤利西斯是爱尔兰作家乔伊斯的一部意识流小说，出版于1922 年。)10 【正确答案】 Oscar Wilde【试题解析】 (认真的重要性(又译不可儿戏)是英国剧作家奥斯卡 王尔德的喜剧代表作。)11 【正确答案】 Kurt Vonnegut【试题解析】 (库尔特冯纳古特是美国著名黑色幽默小说家，第五号屠宰场是其代表作。)12 【正确答案】 William Faulkner【试题解析】 (福克纳是美国南方文学的代表，八月之光是他的一部批判种族主义的小说。)13 【正确答案】 Ernest Hemingway【试题解析】 (丧钟为谁而鸣(或译战地钟声)是海明威的小说，以 1936年西班牙内战
16、为背景。)14 【正确答案】 Graham Greene【试题解析】 (格雷厄姆格林，英国小说家，哈瓦那特派员是他的一本畅销书。)三、问答题15 【正确答案】 I agree with this statement. Throughout the first twenty years of the century European artists had flocked to Paris, considering it the cultural center of the Western World. Feeling alienated from the conservative post-w
17、ar sensibilities of their country, many young Americans moved there, hoping to take part in the experimental advances of the artistic community. Though it was only to last until the start of World War II, this time saw the beginning of a number of the major European movements including Modernism, Da
18、daism, and Surrealism. This decade put American literature on the map: F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote and lived the “ jazz age,“ Ezra Pound collected funds for writers, composed short operas, and wrote experimental poems, and Ernest Hemingway sat in a garret forging a brand-new American prose. “ Now for
19、some if not all of these reasons, Paris was where the twentieth century was,“ observed Gertrude Stein who held weekly salons throughout the 1920s. So, it is safe to say that Paris in the 1920s is the cradle of Western modernist literature.16 【正确答案】 A typical Shakespearean tragedy is concerned primar
20、ily with one personthe tragic hero. Each Shakespeare tragedy is essentially one of exceptional suffering and calamity leading to the death of the hero. The tragedy often involves a person of high estate. The hero undergoes a sudden reversal of fortune. This reversal excites and arouses the emotions
21、of pity and fear within the audience. The tragic fate of the hero is often triggered by a tragic flaw in the hero s character. Shakespeare often introduces abnormal conditions of the mind. Supernatural elements are often introduced as well. Much of the plot seems to hinge on “chance“ or “accident“.
22、Besides the outward conflict between individuals or groups of individuals, there is also an inner conflict(s)and torment(s)within the soul of the tragic hero. The tragic hero need not be an overwhelmingly “good“ person; however, it is necessary that he/she should contain so much greatness that in hi
23、s/her fall the audience may be vividly conscious of the individual s potential for further success, but also the temptation of human nature. The tragic world is one of action. Action is created when thoughts turn into reality. Unfortunately for the tragic hero, their plans do not materialize as they
24、 may have hoped and their actions ultimately lead to their own destruction. The ultimate power in the tragic world is a moral order; more specifically, the struggle between good and evil. 四、评论题17 【正确答案】 In Catch-22, Yossarian is a 28-year-old Captain in the 256th squadron of the Army Air Forces wher
25、e he serves as a B-25 bombardier stationed on the small island of Pianosa during World War II. Throughout the novel, Yossarian s main concern is the idea that people are trying to kill him, and he goes to great lengths to try to prevent his death.18 【正确答案】 Sister Carrie is the protagonist of Sister
26、Carrie, a novel by American naturalist Theodore Dreiser. Sister Carrie is a young country girl who moves to the big city where she starts realizing her own American Dream by first becoming a mistress to men that she perceives as superior and later as a famous actress.19 【正确答案】 Jordan Baker is a char
27、acter in The Great Gatsby, a great novel by American writer Fitzgerald. Jordan is Daisy Buchanan s long-time friend, a professional golf player with a slightly shady reputation. Fitzgerald told Maxwell Perkins that her character was based on the golfer Edith Cum-mings, a friend of Ginevra King.20 【正
28、确答案】 Clarissa Dalloway is the protagonist of Mrs. Dalloway. Clarissa Dalloway goes around London in the morning, getting ready to host a party that evening. The nice day reminds her of her youth at Bourton and makes her wonder about her choice of husband. Her party is a slow success. It is attended
29、by most of the characters she has met in the book, including people from her past.21 【正确答案】 Young Blifil is antagonist to Tom Jones and the son of Bridget Allworthy and Captain Blifil. Although he appears at first to be a virtuous character, his hypocrisy soon exposes itself. The fact that Blifil ha
30、s few redeeming qualities makes Tom compassion for him at the end of the novel after the revelation that Blifil kept the secret of Tom s birth to himselfeven more commendable.22 【正确答案】 In The Mayor of Casterbridge, the hero Michael Henchard, in drunkenness, sells his wife to a pass-by sailor. With a
31、 guilty feeling, he swears never to drink again for the next twenty years. He works hard and becomes the mayor of Casterbridge. But he has to pay for his previous crime. He successively loses his wife, his reputation, his business and his step-daughter, and finally dies in poverty and loneliness.五、分
32、析题23 【正确答案】 Although the airplane rides lonely, it has the company/guidance of the radio beam and the aim of landing on an airfield on the ocean. In other words, the definite aim, as well as the radio beam as the plane s companion, compensates for its loneliness. This poem was written one year after
33、 the author s divorce. The comparison to the woman driving cross country suggests the speaker s isolation and transition in her life then. However, the speaker enjoys being alone and confesses that “I am lonely“ very frankly. Being alone is not always associated with misery and pain. Being alone enables the speaker to enjoy the quietness, tranquility and freedom of life.
