《英美文学》练习测试题库 下载本文

6. Must we but weep o‘er days more blest ?

Must we but blush ?— Our father bled.

(The Isles of Greece )

答案:Must we only weep for the past happy time ?

Must we only feel ashamed , our fathers fought and died. So we must take up arms and fight.

7. When old age this generation waste,

Thou shall remain, in midst of other woe Than ours, a fiend to man, to whom thou say‘st; ―Beauty is truth, truth beauty.‖ – that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. ( Ode on a Grecian Urn )

答案: When the old generation die, you shall live in the sorrows of another generation. You tell the people that truth and beauty are one, and that is all you know and need to know.

8. The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the

heart of the child.

Emerson: Nature

答案:The sun only lights up the adult superficially, but it lights up both the eye and the depth of the soul of the child .This means the child is purer than the adult.

9. It is when the feet weary and hope seems vain that the heartaches and the

longings arise. Know then, that for you is neither surfeit nor content. In your rocking-chair, by your window dreaming, shall you long, alone. In your rocking-chair, by your window, shall you dream such happiness as you may never feel.

Theodore Dreiser: Sister Carrie 答案:When you are tired and hopeless, desire will appear in your heart. When you sit in your arm-chair by the window, you are dreaming of the happiness, but you can never get it.

10. A wafer of moon was shining over Gatsby‘s house, making the night fine as before, and surviving the laughter and the sound of his glowing garden. A sudden emptiness seemed to flow now from the windows and the great doors, endowing with complete isolatio the fighre of the host who stood othe porch, his hand up in as formal gesture of farewell. (Scott Fitzgerald: Great Gatsby)

答案:After the guests left, the laughter and the music faded, but the moon was still thining and the night was still fine. An emptiness overwhelmed the whole place, the figure of Gatsby became very lonely and isolated.

13

11. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them,…

( Of Studies)

答案:Men with experience look down upon reading, ignorant people admire reading, wise people make use of the knowledge from books.

12. And every fair from fair sometimes declines.

By chance or nature‘s changing course untrimmed But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow‘st. (Sonnet 18)

答案:Every beautiful thing and person can not keep its or his beauty for ever, because of the accidents or natural law.

13 Place me on Sunium‘s marbled steep,

Where nothing, save the wave and I, May hear our mutual murmurs sweep; There, swan-like, let me sing and die; A land of slaves shall ne‘er be mine…

( Isles of Greece )

答案:Let me stand on the cliff by the sea alone and murmur to the waves. I would die as a swan after I sing my last song, because I would not live as a slave in my country.

14. ―So much the worse for me, that I am strong. Do I want to live?

What kind of living will it be when you – oh, God! Would you like to live with your soul in the grave?‖

(Wuthering Hights)

答案:I am strong, but this is even worse, because after you die, my life will be torture.

15. ―I love my murderer---but not yours!‖

(Wuthering Hights)

答案:Even if you kill me, I still love you; But you kill yourself. I can never forgive you for that.

16. For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams

14

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars mever rises but I see the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

Ellen Poe : Annabel Lee

答案:Whenever I see the moon, I think of Annabel Lee; Whenverer I see the stars, I think of her beautiful eyes.

17. I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence;

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one I less straveled by, And that has made all the difference

Robert Frost: The Road Not Taken

答案:In the future I shall tell this with some regret: facing the two roads, I chose a road few people had traveled by, and that has decided my whole life.

Ⅳ. Answer the following questions briefly: (简答题) 1. Why did Benjamin Franklin sit up late in his room?

Answer: Because he had to finish reading the books he borrowed from the apprentices of the booksellers, so he could return the books in the morning.

2. What is Emerson‘s great contribution to American philosophy and literature?

Answer: Emerson brought Transcendentalism to American philosophy and literature and became the leader of the school.

3. What are the common themes in Poe‘s poems? Answer: The common themes are love and death.

4. What a kind of woman is Hester in The Scarlet Letter?

Answer: She was a woman with a strong will and personality, brave in her pursuit of true love. She has a rebellious spirit in face of conventional bondage.

5. What is the theme of the poem To Those Who’ve Failed?

Answer: It shows the greatness of the common people. Even if they fail, their spirit is immortal.

6. What is the characteristic of the language of the novel Huckleberry Finn ? Answer: comic jargon, dialect, easy, informal, unaffected and humorous

7. What is the theme of Dickinson‘ poem I’m Nobody ?

Answer: Its theme is that fame is empty; common people are worthy people

8. What is the position of Eugene O‘Neill in American literature?

Answer: O‘Neill is the greatest American playwright, the founder of American

15

Drama.

9. Why is Gatsby eager to become rich?

Answer: He wanted to win back his love, Daisy by his money and position

10. What kind of man is Hemingway‘s hero

Answer: Hemingway‘s hero is a man who keeps grace under pressure, a man who can be physically destroyed but never defeated spiritually.

11. What is the difference between the man and the child in their relation with nature, according to Emerson?

Answer: The man has a superficial seeing. The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child.

12. What are the characteristics in the style of Ellen Poe‘s poems?

Answer: Poe‘s poems show strong musical effect and the beauty of form.

13. What different meanings do the scarlet letter ―A‖ symbolizes? Answer: The scarlet letter A can mean Adultery, Able and Angel.

14. What does the ―self ― in Whitman‘s poem mean?

Answer: The ―self‖ in Whitman‘s poem is both the poet himself and all Americans

15. Why did Huckleberry Finn tear up the letter he had written?

Answer: Because Huck decided to save Jim and help him to become a free man.

16. What are the features of the style of Dickinson‘s poetry? Answer: The features are brevity, directness and plainness.

17. Why is Robert Frost generally considered as a regional poet?

Answer: Because his poems focus on the landscape and people in New England.

18. Why did Yank in Hairy Ape come to the zoo?

Answer: Because he could not find where he belonged to, and he wanted to see the ape.

19. Why is Great Gatsby often considered as a parody of the American Dream?

Answer: American dream is a romantic expectation, but now traditional devotions are wasted on spiritual gumdrops and material trivialities.

20. What is the theme of Faulkner‘s story A Rose for Emily ?

Answer: The theme is the tragedy of the aristocrats in the American South, their decline and states of mind.

16