1、2012 年南开大学英语专业（英美文学）真题试卷及答案与解析一、名词解释1 William the Conqueror and his achievements2 the five-act structure of Shakespeares plays3 denotation and connotation4 gothic novels5 Ralph Waldo Emerson and his works二、分析题5 Questions 1 to 6 are based on the following poem by Edmund Spencer.Sonnet 75 from Amorett
2、iOne day I wrote her name upon the strand,But came the waves and washed it away:Again I wrote it with a second hand,But came the tide, and made my pains his prey.“ Vain man,“ said she, “ that does in vain assay.A mortal thing so to immortalize,For I myself shall like to this decay,And also my name b
3、e wiped out likewise. “ Not so,“ said I, “ let baser things deviseTo die in dust, but you shall live in fame:My verses your virtues rare shall eternize,And in heavens write your glorious name.Where whenas death shall all the world subdue,Our love shall live, and later life renew. “6 What happens to
4、what the speaker has written in the first four lines? What is the young womans response to what he has done?7 In Lines 9-14, what does the speaker say his verses will do? What does the speaker say will live after death has “subdued“ all the world?8 To what time is the speaker referring in the last t
5、wo lines? With what belief is he associating his love?9 What is the rhyme scheme of this poem?10 Spencer uses alliteration in this poem. Please give two examples of alliteration in the poem. Why does he use alliteration?11 What is the theme of the poem? 11 Questions 7 to 10 are based on the several
6、stanzas from Edgar Allen Poes poem The Raven.The Raven Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten loreWhile I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door“ Tis some
7、 visitor,“ I muttered, “ tapping at my chamber doorOnly this and nothing more.Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.Eagerly I wished the morrow; vainly I had sought to borrowFrom my books surcease of sorrowsorrow for the
8、 lost LenoreFor the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named LenoreNameless here for evermore.And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtainThrilled mefilled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating“Tis some visit
9、or entreating entrance at my chamber doorSome late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber doorThis it is, and nothing more. “Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,“Sir, “ said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came
10、 rapping,And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,That I scarce was sure I heard you“here I opened wide the doorDarkness there, and nothing more.Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;Bu
11、t the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?“This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “ Lenore!“Merely this and nothing more.12 In Stanza 1 ,what is the speaker doing when he first hears the tapping? What does
12、 he seek “to borrow“ in Stanza 2?13 What does the speaker say “to still the beating“ of his heart? What does the speaker see when he opens the door?14 What does the speaker whisper?15 Paraphrase the first five stanzas of the poem.2012 年南开大学英语专业（英美文学）真题试卷答案与解析一、名词解释1 【正确答案】 William the Conqueror was
13、Duke of Normandy from 1035 and King of England from 1066 to his death. To claim the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has b
14、ecome known as the Norman Conquest. His reign, which brought Norman culture to England, had an enormous impact on the subsequent course of England in the Middle Ages. In addition to political changes, his reign also saw changes to English law, a program of building and fortification, changes to the
15、vocabulary of the English language, and the introduction of continental European feudalism into England.2 【正确答案】 Most of Shakespeares plays are in the format of 5 acts. Act 1 is the exposition, in which thedramatis personae are presented, and time and place are established. We learn about the antece
16、dents of the story. Act 2 is the complications in which the course of action becomes more complicated, the “tying of knots“ takes place. Act 3 is the climax of action in which the development of conflict reaches its high point. Act 4 is reversals where the consequences of Act 3 play out, momentum sl
17、ows, and tension is heightened by false hopes or fears. Act 5 is the catastrophe in which the conflict is resolved, whether through a catastrophe, the downfall of the hero, or through his victory and transfiguration. The format of five-act play is common in Shakespeares plays, and is grounded in the
18、 concepts of unity in Aristotles Poetics.3 【正确答案】 Denotation and connotation are two principal methods of describing the meanings of words.Denotation of a word is the thing in the real world the word is linked to, and it is the precise, literal definition of a word. Connotation of a word refers to t
19、he emotional meaning or associated meaning that a word may carry.4 【正确答案】 Gothic novel is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Its origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his novel The Castle of Otranto. The gothic novels always include
20、 the following elements: the setting in a castle, an atmosphere of mystery and suspense, an ancient prophecy, omens, portents, supernatural or otherwise inexplicable events, high, even overwrought emotion, women in distress or threatened by a powerful, impulsive, tyrannical male, and the metonymy of
21、 gloom and horror. The gothic novel has influenced the novel, the short story, poetry and even film-making up to the present day.5 【正确答案】 Emerson is an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He is acclaimed as one of the major writers o
22、f the mid-19th century, one of the most stimulating American minds. His writing falls into two types: essay and poetry, and his fame came mainly from his essays. Among his best are Nature and The American Scholar and Self-Reliance. Nature has been called “ the manifesto of American transcendentalism
23、“ ; The American Scholar has been regarded as “Americas Declaration of Intellectual Independence“.二、分析题6 【正确答案】 In this poem, the speaker wrote his beloveds name on the sand, but it was washed away by the tide. He wrote her name again, but again the tide washed it away. The young woman then told him
24、 that he was working in vain, because it is impossible to make something immortal that is not meant to be immortal.7 【正确答案】 The speaker says his verses can eternize the virtues of his lover and write her name in heaven. So in this way, he believes the love between them can live after death has “subd
25、ued“ all the world.8 【正确答案】 In the last two lines, the time the speaker refers to is the end of the world, when death takes all lives of the world. And he believes his love is the only thing that can survive death and renew the life9 【正确答案】 The rhyme scheme of this sonnet is abab bcbc cdcd ee, which
26、 mirrors the motion of the waves Spenser describes crashing continually against the strand.10 【正确答案】 The alliteration can be found in these lines; “But came the waves and washed it away“ , and “My verses your virtues rare shall eternize“. Waves and washed, verses and virtues are in alliteration. All
27、iteration in this sonnet serves two purposes; it is pleasing to the ear; then it emphasizes the words in which it occurs. The words wave, wash, verse and virtue are the keys for us to understand the theme of this poem.11 【正确答案】 The theme of this poem is clear; No matter how short life is, the poem c
28、an immortalize love and life.12 【正确答案】 In the first stanza, the speaker is pondering and nodding when he hears the tapping. He seeks to borrow “surcease of sorrow“ from the book, that is to say, he wishes to forget the pain and sadness for the loss of a girl by reading books.13 【正确答案】 To still the b
29、eating of his heart, the speaker says repeatedly “ Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door/ Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door“. His words mean some visitor wants to come into his house. But when he opens the door, he sees nothing but darkness.14 【正确答案】 The spea
30、ker whispers the name of a departed girlLenore.15 【正确答案】 It is a boring midnight. While I was tired, I was reading a strange and old collection of folklore, and while I dozed off, almost to the nap stage, I heard this weird tapping. It sounded like someone was knocking at the door. I thought it was
31、nothing but a visitor.It was bleak in December, nasty weather. The fire cast strange shadows on the floor. I suddenly wished it was the next day already. I had been reading, in an attempt to stop my thoughts, and to stop my broken heart for my lost love. Her name was Lenore. She was a very beautiful
32、 woman whom the angels named, but she was no longer with us, as she was dead.The curtains blew with a draft of air, and it scared the living hell out of me, all kinds of strange ideas and terrors came into my head. I kept repeating to myself that it was just the visitor at the door, nothing else.The
33、n I found some courage, stopped stalling, and said “ You didnt knock loud enough. Im sorry I didnt hear you the first time! Because I was sleepy and your knock was not loud enough. “ and then I opened the door. But there was only the dark of night, no one was there.I stood in the darkness for a long time, wondering, fearing and doubting. I imagined the most horrible thing, but there was nothing but silence and darkness outside the door. I whispered the name of Lenore, and someone murmured the same word, just like an echo to my whisper, and that is the only sound I heard.
