3.2　考研真题与典型题详解

I. Fill in the blanks.

1．The English great writer Geoffrey Chaucer was born in 1343 anddied in 1400. His most important work is ______, a long poem made up of ageneral introduction and 24 stories. （南开大学2007研）

【答案】 The Canterbury Tales

【解析】 乔叟的代表作是《坎特伯雷故事集》，是一首由一篇序言和24个故事组成的长诗。

2．______ is Chaucer’s longest complete poem(about 8,000 lines) and his greatest artistic achievement.

【答案】 Troilus and Criseyde

【解析】 《特洛伊罗斯与克瑞西达》是乔叟最长的一首完整诗篇，长达8000多行。

3．The CanterburyTales is Chaucer’s greatest work and the greater part of it was written in ______ couplets.

【答案】 heroic

【解析】 《坎特伯雷故事集》大部分采用的是英雄双韵体。

4．In the 14th century, the two most important writers are ______ and Langland.

【答案】 Geoffrey Chaucer

【解析】 乔叟和朗格兰是英国14世纪两位最重要的作家。

5．Chaucer’s work ______ gives us a picture of the conditionof English life of his day, such as its work and play, its deeds and dreams,its fun and sympathy.

【答案】 The Canterbury Tales

【解析】 在《坎特伯雷故事集》中，乔叟淋漓尽致地揭露了宗教的腐败，贵族的骄奢以及当时社会的其他丑恶现象，同时也表达了他的人文主义思想。

6．Critics tend to divide Chaucer’s literary career into threeperiods: the ______ period, the ______ period and the ______ period.

【答案】 French, Italian, English

【解析】 乔叟的诗歌创作分为三个时期：①法国影响时期（1359—1372）：主要翻译并仿效法国诗人的作品。②意大利影响时期（1372—1386）：诗人接触了资产阶级人文主义的进步思想。③英语时期（1386—1400）：乔叟在这最后15年里从事《坎特伯雷故事集》的创作。

7．When Chaucer died on the 25th of October 1400, he was the firstto be buried in ______.

【答案】 Westminster Abbey

【解析】 乔叟死后被葬在威斯敏特教堂，从此威斯敏特教堂的一角便成为大诗人安息的“诗人角”。

II. Explain thefollowing term.

heroic couplet （中国人民大学2006研；厦门大学2007研；北航2010研）

Key: A heroic couplet is a traditional form forEnglish poetry, commonly used for epic and narrative poetry; it refers to poemsconstructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines. Therhyme is always masculine. The use of the heroic couplet was first pioneered byGeoffrey Chaucer in The Legend of Good Women and The Canterbury Tales,and was perfected by John Dryden in the Restoration Age.

III. Read the following quotation and answer thequestions.

Questions 1 to 3 arebased on the following passage of The Canterbury Tales. （南开大学2009研）

1．What does the factthat the knight owns fine horses indicate?

2．What does theclothes he wears indicate?

3．What does GeoffreyChaucer want to show through these details?

Key: 1. The fact indicates that the knight representsa real knight and the ideal of a medieval Christian man-at-arms.

2．The knight wears a fustian tunic stained and dark withsmudges, which indicates that he has recently returned from an expedition.

3．Through these details, Chaucer wants to show that theknight is brave, experienced, devout and prudent. The Knight rides at the frontof the procession described in the “General Prologue”, and his story is thefirst in the sequence. The Host clearly admires the Knight, as does thenarrator.

IV. Short answerquestions

1．Why is the Knight first in the General Prologue to tell atale in The Canterbury Tales? （北京航空航天大学2009研）

Key: According to Chaucer’s words before he introducesthe pilgrims, he judges each one by whom they are, what is their degree andtheir arriving sequence. At that time, the upper class or nobility isrepresented chiefly by the Knight and his Squire, which means that the Knighthas the highest degree among the pilgrims. They are noble for their bravery inthe battles and their loyalty to the woman. The Knight tells his tragic lovestory which was treasured by people at that time. So the Knight is the first totell a tale. This shows the social class at that time.

Secondly,according to Chaucer’s description, the Knight is in the front of the otherentire persons.

2．What is Chaucer’s contribution to the English language?

Key: (1) Chaucer’s language is vivid and exact. Hiswords are easy to understand.

(2) He introduced from France the "heroiccouplet" to English poetry.

(3) Though influenced by French, and Italian literaturemodels, he is the first important poet to write in the current Englishlanguage. His production of so much excellent poetry was an important factor inestablishing English as the literary language of the country.

V. Essay question

How did Chaucer’s creative work reflect thechanges of the English society in the second half of the 14th century? How muchwas Chaucer influenced by foreign authors such as Dante or Boccaccio? What aresome of the significances of such influences? （中国人民大学2007研）

Key: At that time, the feudal system had alreadybegun to crumble. His work，for the first time in English literature，createda comprehensive realistic picture of the medieval English society and created awhole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life. For example, hismasterpiece The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories told by agroup of pilgrims from all walks of life when they were on their way toCanterbury. His characterization is very vivid and the true side of society atthat time is revealed.

Dante and Boccaccio not only had direct influence onChaucer’s poem in form and content, but also had determined effects on hisworld value. Since then, his literary activities turned into an active andcreative phase which is marked by his two long poems, The House of Fameand Troilus and Criseyde. Chaucer mainly wrote three longer poems usingthe heroic stanza of seven lines. From the perspective of newly citizen class,he held positive attitude towards love and individual happiness and rejectedfeudalism and religious abstinence.

Chaucer’s poetry traces out a path to the literature ofEnglish Renaissance. Chaucer’s poem marks a new step in the author’s progressto maturity and is distinguished for its profound delineation of characters andtruthful description of human relations. Chaucer chose the metrical poetrywhich laid the foundation of the English tonico-syllabic verse. He did much inmaking the dialect of London. nXLHmo7sj6LDOeejCRunBFZf3Rqu2h4gS9WMRbQEIwaFI3LGSKeXbIsJ4vcG4tZ0