1.2 考研真题与典型题详解
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），是指要求清除英国国教Church of England中天主教残余的改革派。其字词于16世纪60年代开始使用，源于拉丁文的Purus，意为“清洁”。
2．The most enduring shaping influence in American thought and American literature was ________.
【答案】American Puritanism
【解析】美国文化源于清教文化，由清教徒移民时传入北美。美国主流价值观都可以追溯到殖民地时期一统天下的清教主义，并且清教思想对美国文学有着根深蒂固的影响。
3．Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety, these were the ________ values that dominated much of the early American writing.
【答案】Puritan
【解析】清教主义，起源于英国，在北美殖民地得以实践与发展。清教徒强调艰苦奋斗、勤俭节约、虔诚和淡泊。这些价值观也影响了早期的美国文学。
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】美国殖民时期最著名的诗人是安·布莱德斯特律和爱德华·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·布莱德斯特律是美国殖民时期著名的诗人。其代表作是诗集《最近在北美出现的第十位缪斯》（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年美国独立的风潮开始，托马斯·潘恩支持美国独立，反对英国的殖民专政，撰写了他的成名小册子《常识》，为美国从英国殖民中独立出来辩论，批评英国国王残暴无能，认为独立后的美国应该建立共和国。
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，《常识》、《人的权利》、《理性的时代》。
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，托马斯·潘恩在伦敦出版《人权论》，激烈抨击埃德蒙·伯克（Edmund Burke，1729-1797）的《法国革命感言录》（Reflections on the Revolution in France）（1790）。《人权论》的可贵之处还在于，它冲破了当时笼罩于整个西方思想界对英国君主立宪政体的迷信，深入骨髓地批判了这一政体，给当时还处于摸索状态的法国革命指明了共和主义的崭新方向。
9．Thomas Paine，with his natural gift for pamphleteering and rebellion，was appropriately born into an age of________.
【答案】Revolution
【解析】潘恩是美国独立革命时期著名的作家之一。
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·弗瑞诺是开启美国民主主义的突出代表之一，他被称为“美国诗歌之父。”
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世纪初，英国人在弗吉尼亚和马萨诸塞定居，这也是美国历史的开端。
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】詹姆斯敦是英国人在北美的第一个永久定居地。
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】早期来到北美的殖民者有不少是清教徒，因而殖民时期的文学深受清教思想影响。
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】由于深受清教主义的影响，美国文学——至少是美国的白人文学——是建立在《圣经》伊甸园神话基础上的文学。
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】美国价值观的核心是个人主义，因而，个人主义也成为贯穿美国文学史的主线。
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多名清教徒前辈乘坐“五月花”号船到达美国马萨诸塞州的普利茅斯。
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个英属北美殖民地奋起反击英国的殖民统治，并且1776年7月4日，大陆会议通过了一份由托马斯·杰弗逊起草的《独立宣言》（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世纪美国诗人大多沿袭英国诗歌的风格。
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·布拉德斯特里特被誉为“美国出现的第十个缪斯”。
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《常识》号召美国摆脱英国的统治。
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】《自传》是本杰明·富兰克林的代表作，其余三项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】“这是考验人的灵魂的时刻”，这句话选自潘恩的《美国危机》。
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】《野生的金银花》是弗瑞诺最具代表性的作品。
III. Explain the following term.
1．American Puritanism（南开大学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?（国际关系学院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.