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I. Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F):
1. Much early British literature was concerned with Christianity, and Anglo-Saxons produced many versions of the Bible.
2. Beowulf was a sea monster killed by a Swedish warrior.
3. “The Wife of Bath” is one of the tales contained inThe Canterbury Tales.
4. There was a general flowering of culture and intellectual life in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries which is known as “The Renaissance.”
5. William Shakespeare is a great poet and much is known of his life.
6. Keats, Shelley and Byron brought the Romantic Movement to its height.
7. Robinson Crusoe tells the story of a shipwreck and solitary survival.
8. Writers of romantic literature are more concerned with imagination and feeling than with the power of reason.
9.Don Juanis an epic poem composed by John Milton.
10. Thomas Hardy, the author ofTess of the D’Urbervilles, was also a first-class poet.
II. Choose the answer that best completes the statement or answers the question:
1. Which of the following books is written by Geoffrey Chaucer?
A.The Canterbury Tales.
B.Beowulf.
C.King Lear.
D.Morte D’Arthur.
2. Which literary form flourished in Elizabethan age more than any other form of literature?
A. Novel.
B. Essay.
C. Drama.
D. Poetry.
3. Among the following writers, who was NOT one of the great trio?
A. Ben Johnson.
B. William Shakespeare.
C. Thomas Malory.
D. Christopher Marlowe.
4. Which of the following did NOT belong to Romanticism?
A. Keats.
B. Shelley.
C. Wordsworth.
D. Defoe.
5. Which of the following is a tragedy written by Shakespeare?
A. Doctor Faustus.
B. Macbeth.
C. Frankenstein.
D. The Tempest.
6. Which of the following writers was the most famous Scottish novelist?
A.D.H. Lawrence.
B. Charles Dickens.
C. Jonathan Swift.
D. Sir Walter Scott.
7. Several gifted women played a significant part in the 19th-century literature. Which of the following is an exception?
A. Virginia Woolf.
B. Emily Bronte.
C. Jane Austen.
D. Charlotte Bronte
8. Which of the following writers was NOT associated with Modernism?
A. D.H. Lawrence.
B. E.M. Forster.
C. Charles Dickens.
D. Virginia Woolf.
9. Which of the following is generally considered to be the masterpiece by Joseph Conrad?
A. Oliver Twist.
B.The Heart of Darkness.
C.Howard’s End.
D.Wuthering Heights.
10. Which of the following writers wrote the book 1984 that began “Postmodernism” in British literature?
A. George Orwell.
B. Robert L. Stevenson.
C. D.H. Lawrence.
D. Virginia Woolf.
III. Fill in the blanks:
1. One of the oldest of the early “Old English” literary work is a long poem from Anglo Saxon times called ______.
【答案】 Beowulf
2. ______ written by Geoffrey Chaucer is often studied by middle school and college students today.
【答案】 The Canterbury Tales
3. Shakespeare's plays fall into three categories. They are ______, ______ and history plays.
【答案】 tragedies, comedies
4. Name two of the tragedies written by Shakespeare: ______ and ______.
【答案】 Hamlet,Romeo and Juliet(orOthello;King Lear,Macbeth)
5. Charlotte Bronte and Emily Bronte are noted for their respective novel ______ and ______ which are largely the love stories of a woman for a man.
【答案】 Jane Eyre,Wuthering Heights
6. Charles Dickens and Elizabeth Gaskell are regarded not only as ______ but also as social ______ in the 19th century.
【答案】 novelists, critics
7. The author of Ivanhoe was ______; Charles Dickens's novel ______ tells the story of an orphan child drawn into crime in the London underworld.
【答案】 Sir Walter Scott, Oliver Twist
8. 20th-century literature can be broadly divided into two stylistic periods: ______ and ______.
【答案】 Modernism, Postmodernism
9. Virginia Woolf was one of the most famous writers of the 20th century. Her work was ______ concerned with the individual consciousness, especially the consciousness. She sometimes used the technique of ______ in her writing.【答案】female, the stream of consciousness
10.The Heart of Darknesswas written by ______; the author of the book1984was ______.
【答案】 Joseph Conrad, George Orwell
11. The best-known novel by William Golding is titled ______.
【答案】 Lord of Flies
12. In popular fiction, Ian Fleming's fantastic ______ stories are well-known, especially for their numerous film versions.
【答案】 James Bond
IV. Tell what you know about the following in your own words:
1. Elizabethan Drama
Key: The general flowering of cultural and intellectual life in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries is known as the Renaissance. In British culture, one of the most successful and long-lasting expressions of this development lay in drama. That was the period of the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558 — 1603). The first professional theatre in London opened in 1576, and others followed, performing the plays of many notable playwrights, including Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare.
2.The Canterbury Tales
Key: The Canterbury Taleswritten by Geoffrey Chaucer is the most important work in Middle English literature. It is made up of a series of stories told by 31 pilgrims to entertain each other on their way to the Christian Church at Canterbury in southeast England. It's quite noticeable for its diversity, not only in the range of social status among the pilgrims, but also in style or the stories they tell.
3. The King James Bible
Key: King James I ordered the translation of the Holy Scriptures, which came to be known as the King James Bible. It appeared in 1611. Although it was not the first English translation and there have been many translations since, the King James Version will probably never be matched for majesty of language. For many generations it has had a greater influence on style and standards of taste than any other single work in English literature.
4. Romanticism
Key: Roughly the first third of the 19th century makes up English literature's romantic period. Writers of romantic literature are more concerned with imagination and feeling than with the power of reason. A volume of poems calledLyrical Balladswritten by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge is regarded as the romantic poetry's
“Declaration of Independence.” Keats, Byron and Shelley, the three great poets, brought the Romantic Movement to its height. The spirit of Romanticism also occurred in the novel.
5. The Bronte sisters
Key: Perhaps the most famous literary family in British history are the Bronte sisters, who were influenced by the Romantic Movement. Charlotte, Emily and Ann were daughters of the vicar of a village church in Yorkshire. Although they were poor, they were educated and respectable. In their short lives, they didn't produce much, but their works are among the best-loved novels in English: Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Emily'sWuthering Heights.
6. Modernism
Key: Modernism refers to a form of literature mainly written before WWII. It is characterized by a high degree of experimentation. It can be seen as a reaction against the 19th century forms of Realism. Modernist writers express the difficulty they see in understanding and communicating how the world works. Often, Modernist writing seems disorganized, hard to understand. It often portrays the action from the viewpoint of a single confused individual, rather than from the viewpoint of an all-knowing impersonal narrator outside the action. One of the most famous English Modernist writers is Virginia Woolf.