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全国英语专业研究生入学考试凡涉及英国中古时期的文学知识都集中在如下作家、作品和文学流派上： Beowulf 《贝奥武甫》，epic（史诗），ballad（民谣），Robin Hood（罗宾汉），Medieval romance（中世纪罗曼史／骑士文学），Geoffrey Chaucer（乔叟／英国诗歌之父）， The Canterbury Tales 《坎特伯雷故事集》，heroic couplet（英雄对偶诗）等。对这些知识的出题形式为：名词解释、填空、选择、作品与作者匹配、简答题与论述题等。
1.（中山大学2017年硕士研究生入学考试试题） “It allegorizes the Christian struggle to achieve salvation as a journey from the City of Destruction,through such obstacles and distractions as the Slough of Despond and Vanity Fair,to the Celestial City.” The sentence above describes___.
A. Gulliver’s Travels B. Piers Plowman
C. The Fall of Hyperion D. The Pilgrim’s Progress
答案：D
2.（中山大学2017年硕士研究生入学考试试题） Questions1–4 are based on the following:
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
B.chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee. (1609)
(1) This poem was written in which of the following era?
A.Modern. B.Victorian. C.Romantic. D.Elizabethan.
(2) This poem is written in the form of___.
A.epic B.ballad C.sonnet D.elegy
答案：D.C
3.（国际关系学院2016年、天津外国语大学2015年硕士研究生入学考试试题：名词解释 ）Epic
参考答案： Anepic is a long narrative poem on a serious and exalted subject. They combine legend,oral history,and moral exemplum to inspire and guide future generations. John Milton’s Paradise Lost ,Homer’s Iliad and the anonymous Beowulf are examples of epics.
4.（北京第二外国语学院2016年硕士研究生入学考试试题：名词解释） Prose
参考答案： It’s a literary medium distinguished from poetry especially by its greater irregularity and variety of rhythm and its closer correspondence to the patterns of everyday speech. Although prose is distinguishable from poetry in that it does not treat a line as a formal unit,the signifi cant differences between prose and poetry are of tone,pace,and object of attention.
5.（北京第二外国语学院2016年硕士研究生入学考试试题） Chaucer died on the 25th of October 1400,and was buried in ____.
A.Flanders B.France
C.Italy D.Westminster Abbey
答案：D
6.（北京第二外国语学院2015年硕士研究生入学考试试题） ____ is one of the forerunners of modern socialist thought.
A.Phillip Sidney B.Edmund Spenser
C.Thomas More D.Walter Raleigh
答案：C
7.（天津外国语学院2015年硕士研究生入学考试试题） William Shakespeare is one of the most remarkable playwrights and poets the world has ever known. With his 37 plays,154____ and 2 long poems,he has established his giant position in world literature.
答案：sonnets
8.（首都师范大学2014年硕士研究生入学考试试题）
Death be not proud,though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful,for,thou art not so,
For,those,whom thou think’st,thou dost overthrow,
Die not,poore death,nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe,which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure,then from thee,much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones,and souls deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate,Chance,kings,and desperate men,
And dost with poyson,warre,and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie,or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake;why swell’st thou then;
One short sleepe past,wee wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more,death thou shalt die!
Name the author of this poem.
Which school of poetry is it?
参考答案： John Donne;Metaphysical school
9. （国际关系学院2014年硕士研究生入学考试试题 ） Julius ____ is the ____ of Shakespeare’s tragedies based on ancient ____ history.
参考答案： Caesar ;second;Roman
10. （国际关系学院2013年硕士研究生入学考试试题） “Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands,organs,dimensions,senses,affections? Fed with the same food,hurt with the same weapons,subject to the same diseases,healed by the same means,warmed and cooled by the same w inter and summer,as a Christian is?” The speaker is ____ .
参考答案： Shylock
11. （首都师范大学2013年硕士研究生入学考试试题） “One fatal Tree there stands of Know ledge call’d,/ Forbidden them to taste: know ledge forbidden?” is written by ____.
A.Shakespeare B.William Blake
C.John Milton D.Jane Austin
答案：C
12.（天津外国语大学2014年硕士研究生入学考试试题：名词解释） Dramatic irony
参考答案： Dramatic irony is an occasion in a play,film,or other work in which a character’s words or actions convey a meaning unperceived by the character but understood by the audience.
13.（天津外国语大学2013年硕士研究生入学考试试题） Heroic couplet is one of the traditional verse forms in English poetry.____ is believed to be the first English poet to have adopted this form in his poems.
参考答案： Geoffrey Chaucer
14.（北京交通大学2016年硕士研究生入学考试试题：作家作品）
To be or not to be: that is a question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrow s of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them.
参考答案： William Shakespeare; The Tragedy of Hamlet
15.（四川大学2003年硕士研究生入学考试试题：名词解释题） the Father of English Poetry
参考答案： (1) It usually refers to Geoffrey Chaucer whose masterpiece The Canterbury Tales ranks as one of the greatest poetic works in English literature. (2) Chaucer made a great contribution to English poetry by introducing from France the rhymed stanzas of various types to English poetry to replace the Old English alliterative verse. It was he who used for the first time in English the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter which was later called the “heroic couplet.” (3) Chaucer was the first to write in the current English language. Though draw ing infl uence from French,Italian and Latin models,he did much in making the dialect of London the foundation for modern English language. (4) In his works Chaucer developed his characterization to a higher artistic level by presenting characters with both typical qualities and individual dispositions. That is why John Dryden called him the Father of English Poetry.
16.（南开大学2003年、北航2003年硕士研究生入学考试试题：名词解释） heroic couplet
参考答案： It refers to a rhymed pair of iambic pentameter lines.
17.（中国人民大学2002年硕士研究生入学考试试题：作者与作品题） The Canterbury Tales
答案： Geoffrey Chaucer
18.（北京师范大学2001年硕士研究生入学考试试题：填空题） ____is regarded as the Father of English Poetry. His best-known work is____ .
答案： Geoffrey Chaucer; The Canterbury Tales
19.（复旦大学1998年硕士研究生入学考试试题：名词解释题） Medieval romance
参考答案： (1) Romance is a popular literary form in the medieval England. (2) It sings knightly adventures or other heroic deeds. (3) Chivalry (such as bravery,honor,generosity,and kindness to the weak and poor) is the spirit of romance.
20.（南京大学2018年硕士研究生入学考试试题：简答题）
Discuss the dramatic function of ghost in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
参考答案： The ghost of Hamlet’s late father is a character from William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. In the stage directions he is referred to as “Ghost.”His name is also Hamlet,and he is referred to as King Hamlet to distinguish him from the Prince. Ghost was a figment of Hamlet’s overwrought imagination. Ghost appears a number of times to others before appearing to Hamlet. Shakespeare makes clear that the apparition is not a mere illusion.
21.（中国人民大学2018年硕士研究生入学考试试题：简答题）
What do you think of Chaucer’s contribution to the English language?
参考答案： Chaucer’s language is vivid,exact,and easy to understand. His biggest contribution is that he introduced from France the “heroic couplet” to English poetry. In addition,he is the first important poet to write in the present English language. And Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the standard for the modern English speech.
22.（中山大学2017年硕士研究生入学考试试题：简答题）
Analyze the theme of Sonnet 18.
参考答案： Sonnet 18 is one of the best-known of the 154 sonnets written by the English playw right and poet William Shakespeare. In the sonnet,the speaker asks whether he should compare the young man to a summer’s day,but notes that the young man has qualities that surpass a summer’s day. He also notes the qualities of a summer’s day are subject to change and will eventually diminish. The speaker then states that the young man will live forever in the lines of the poem,as long as it can be read. There is an irony being expressed in this sonnet: It is not the actual young man who will be eternalized,but the description of him contained in the poem;and the poem contains scant or no description of the young man,but instead contains vivid and lasting descriptions of a summer’s day,which the young man is supposed to outlive.
英国文艺复兴时期文学考点主要集中在：the Renaissance（文艺复兴），Edmund Spenser（斯宾塞）， The Faerie Queene 《仙后》， the Spenserian stanza（斯宾塞诗节），Thomas More（莫尔）, Utopia 《乌托邦》，University Wits（大学才子），Christopher Marlowe（马洛）， Dr. Faustus 《浮士德的悲剧》，William Shakespeare（莎士比亚）， Hamlet 《哈姆雷特》， Macbeth 《麦克白》， King Lear 《李尔王》， Othello 《奥赛罗》， The Merchant of Venice 《威尼斯商人》，Sonnet（十四行诗），Francis Bacon（培根）， Of Studies 《论读书》，the Metaphysical Poetry（玄学派诗歌），John Donne（邓恩），John Milton（弥尔顿）， Paradise Lost 《失乐园》，John Bunyan（班扬）， The Pilgrim’s Progress 《天路历程》等。对这些知识的出题形式为：名词解释、填空、选择、作品与作者匹配、简答题与论述题等。
ⅠDefine the Following Terms
1. Romance 2. Humanism 3. Renaissance 4. Spenserian stanza
5. Conceits 6. Metaphysical poetry 7. Epic
8. Ballad 9. Sonnet 10. Blank verse 11. Beowulf
12. Robin Hood 13. meter
Ⅱ Multiple Choice
Select from the four choices of each item the one that best answers the question or completes the statement. Mark your choice by blackening the corresponding letter A,B,C or D on the answer sheet.
1. Although ____ was essentially a medieval writer,he bore marks of humanism and anticipated a new era of literature to come.
A.William Langland B.John Gower
C.Geoffrey Chaucer D.Edmund Spenser
2. The religious reformation in the early 16th-century England was a reflection of the class struggle waged by the ____ .
A.rising bourgeoisie against the feudal class and its ideology
B.working class against the corruption of the bourgeoisie
C.landlord class against the rising bourgeoisie and its ideology
D.feudal class against the corruption of the Catholic Church
3. The statement that a man gained the whole world but lost his own soul makes a good summary of the main plot of ____.
A. Paradise Lost B. The Merchant of Venice
C. Hamlet D. The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus
4. The essence of humanism is to ____.
A.restore a medieval reverence for the church
B.avoid the circumstances of earthly life
C.explore the next world in which men could live after death
D.emphasize human qualities
5. The work that presented,for the first time in English literature,a comprehensive realistic picture of the medieval English society and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life is most likely ____.
A.William Langland’s Piers Plowman
B.Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales
C.John Gower’s Confessio Amantis
D. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
6. The tragedy of Dr. Faustus,the protagonist in Christopher Marlowe’s The Tragic History of Dr. Faustu s,is the very fact that____ .
A.man is confined to time
B.he tried to join Africa to Spain
C.he became a man without soul after he sold it
D.he conjured up Helen,the lady who was the very cause of the Trojan War
7. Here are two lines from a long poem: “Weapon a great adventure he was bond,/ That greatest Gloriana to him gave.” The poem must be___ .
A . Beowulf
B.John Milton’s Samson Agonistes
C.Thomas Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
D.Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene
8. In reading Shakespeare,you must have come across the line “To be or not to be — that is the question” by ____.
A.Iago in Othello B.Lear in King Lear
C.Shylock in The Merchant of Venice D.Hamlet in Hamlet
9. “Read not to contradict and confute,nor to believe and take for granted” is one of the epigrams found in ____.
A.Bacon’s Of Studies
B.Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress
C.Fielding’s Tom Jones
D.Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language
10. “To wage by force or guile eternal war,Irreconcilable to our grand Foe.” (Milton, Paradise Lost) Who is the “grand Foe” the speaker is referring to?
A.Satan. B.God. C.The Serpent. D.Adam.
11.____In the line “So long lives this,and this gives life to thee” of Sonnet 18 ,Shakespeare ____.
A.meditates on man’s mortality B.eulogizes the power of artistic creation
C.satirizes human vanity D.presents a dream vision
12. “Now that I have obtained what I desire I’ll live in speculation of this art / Till Mephistophilis return again.” (Christopher Marlowe, Dr. Faustus ) The “art” here refers to ____.
A.the art of pure poetry B.the power of religion
C.the art of verse drama D.the supernatural power
13. The sentence “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” is the beginning of one of Shakespeare’s ____.
A.comedies B.tragedies C.sonnets D.histories
14. “Not on thy sole but on thy soul,harsh Jew,/ Thou mak’st thy knife keen.”In the above quotation taken from The Merchant of Venice ,Shakespeare employs a(n) ____.
A.oxymoron B.pun C.simile D.synecdoche
15. “O prince,O chief of many throned powers.
That led th’ embattled seraphim to war
Under thy conduct,and in dreadful deeds
Fearless,endangered Heaven’s perpetual King.”
In the third line of the above passage quoted from Milton’s Paradise Lost ,the phrase “thy conduct”____refers to _____conduct.
A.Satan’s B.God’s C.Adam’s D.Eve’s
16. “If honest labor be unremunerative and difficult to endure;if it be the long,long road which never reaches beauty,but wearies the feet and the heart;if the drag to follow beauty be such that one abandons the admired way,taking rather the despised path leading to her dreams quickly,who shall cast the first stone ?”Where is the underlined phrase taken from?
A.The Bible. B.Milton. C.Shakespeare. D.Haw thorne.
17. “So long as men can breathe,or eyes can see,So long lives this,and this gives life to thee.” (Shakespeare, Sonnet 18 ) What does “this” refer to?
A.Lover. B.Summer. C.Poetry. D.Time.
18. Romance,which uses narrative verse or prose to tell stories of _____ adventures or other heroic deeds,is a popular literary form in the medieval period.
A.Christian B.knightly C.Greek D.primitive
19. Among the great Middle English poets,Geoffrey Chaucer is known for his production of _____.
A. Piers Plowman B. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
C. Confessio Amantis D. The Canterbury Tales
20. Which of the following historical events does NOT directly help to stimulate the rising of the Renaissance Movement?
A.The rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman culture.
B.The new discoveries in geography and astrology.
C.The Glorious Revolution.
D.The religious reformation and the economic expansion.
21. Which of the following statements best illustrates the theme of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18?
A.The speaker eulogizes the power of Nature.
B.The speaker satirizes human vanity.
C.The speaker praises the power of artistic creation.
D.The speaker meditates on man’s salvation.
22. “And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,
B.shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.”
The above lines are probably taken from ____.
A.Spenser’s The Faerie Queene
B.John Donne’s The Sun Rising
C.Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18
D.Marlowe’s The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
23. “Bassanio: Antonio,I am married to a wife
Which is as dear to me as life itself;
But life itself,my wife,and all the world,
Are not with me esteem above thy life;
I would lose all,ay,sacrifice them all,
Here to the devil,to deliver you.
Portia: Your wife would give you little thanks for that,
If she were by to hear you make the offer.”
The above is a quotation taken from Shakespeare’s comedy The Merchant of Venice.
The quoted part can be regarded as a good example to illustrate ____.
A.dramatic irony B.personification C.allegory D.symbolism
24. The true subject of John Donne’s poem, The Sun Rising ,is to ____.
A.attack the sun as an unruly servant
B.give compliments to the mistress and her power of beauty
C.criticize the sun’s intrusion into the lover’s private life
D.lecture the sun on where true royalty and riches lie
25. Novum Organum is a successful treatise written in Latin on methodology. The argument is for the use of ____.
A.the deductive reasoning B.the inductive reasoning
C.general reasoning D.particular reasoning
26. “Studies serve for delight,for ornament,and for ability. Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring;for ornament,is in discourse;and for ability,is in the judgment and disposition of business.”
Who wrote the above lines?
A.Ralph Waldo Emerson. B.Thomas Gray.
C.Alexander Pope. D.Francis Bacon.
27. According to Bacon,man’s understanding consists of three parts. Which of the following statements is NOT one of the three parts?
A.The reflection of current situation.
B.History to man’s memory.
C.Poetry to man’s imagination and creation.
D.Philosophy to man’s reason.
28.____ cares more about axioms under the guidance of which man thinks and acts than human nature or morality.
A.Francis Bacon B.John Bunyan C.Henry Fielding D.Samuel Johnson
29. Among the following plays which is NOT written by Christopher Marlowe?
A. Dr. Faustus. B. The Jew of Malta.
C. Edward Ⅱ. D. The School for Scandal.
30. ____ is NOT written by Francis Bacon.
A . Of Studies B. Novum Organum
C. The Advancement of Learning D. The History of the Reign of Henry Ⅶ
31. “All is not lost: the unconquerable will,and study of revenge,immortal hate,and courage never to subm it or yield: And what is else not to be overcome?”
The above lines come from ____.
A. Dr. Faustus B. Paradise Regained C. Paradise Lost D. Tamburlaine
32. “Man shall find grace.” But he must lay hold of it by an act of free will. The freedom of the will is the keystone of ____’s creed.
A.Jonathan Swift B.John Milton C.Henry Fielding D.Samuel Johnson
33. Generally,the Renaissance refers to the period between ____ and ____ centuries.
A.16th / mid-19th B.14th / m id-18th C.14th / m id-17th D.16th / m id-17th
34.____Which of the following is NOT composed by John Milton?
A. Gulliver’s Travels. B. Paradise Lost.
C. Paradise Regained. D. Areopagitica.
35. ____ and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of the English humanism.
A.Thomas More,Christopher Marlowe B.John Milton,Thomas More
C.Edmund Spenser,Christopher Marlowe D.John Donne,Edmund Spenser
36. In his life, ____ shows himself a real revolutionary,a master poet and a great prose writer. He fought for freedom in all aspects as a Christian humanist,while his achievements in literature make him tower over all other English writers of his time and exert a great infl uence over later ones.
A.Edmund Spenser B.John Milton
C.John Donne D.William Shakespeare
37. ____ frequently applied conceits in his poems.
A.John Donne B.John Milton C.Edmund Spenser D.Thomas Gray
38. In the fol lowing writings,____ has been recognized as an important landmark in the development of English prose.
A. Of Studies by Francis Bacon B. The Advancement of Learning
C. Essays by Francis Bacon D. Novum Organum
39. Lycidas is a work of John Milton written for____.
A.his fellow undergraduate B.his brother
C.his sister D.his teacher
40.____ used w isdom in saving Antonio from being cut a pound of flesh by Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.
A.Judge B.Portia C.Bassanio D.Duke
41. “Busy old fool,unruly sun,/ Why dost thou thus,/ Through windows and through curtains call on us? / Must to thy motions lovers seasons run?”
The above lines are taken from____’s work.
A.John Bunyan B.John Donne C.John Milton D.John Dryden
42. “Metaphysical poetry” refers to the works of the 17th-century writers who wrote under the infl uence of____.
A.John Milton B.Christopher Marlowe
C.John Donne D.John Bunyan
43. Spenser’s masterpiece____ is a great poem of its time.
A. The Faerie Queene B. The Shepherd’s Calender
C. The Canterbury Tales D. Metamorphoses
44. “And better than thy stroke;why swell’st thou then? One short sleep past,we wake eternally.” In the above lines,the word “sleep” refers to____.
A.a sound dream B.rest
C.death D.unconsciousness
45. “And better than thy stroke;why swell’st thou then? One short sleep past,we wake eternally.” In the above lines,the phrase “wake eternally” means____.
A.lack of sleep B.eternal happiness after death
C.sleeplessness D.insomnia
46. Which of the following is NOT among the literary giants of English Renaissance?
A.Edmund Spenser. B.John Donne. C.Samuel Johnson. D.Francis Bacon.
47. Shakespeare’s plays are written in a beautiful English language. He created to express his characters.
A.free verse B.short verse C.blank verse D.regular verse
48. John Milton’s literary achievements can be divided into three groups;which division is NOT true?
A.Early poetic works. B.Early prose works.
C.The middle prose pamphlets. D.The last great poems.
49.____ is known as the “poet of poets.”
A.Edmund Spenser B.John Milton
C.Christopher Marlowe D.Robert Frost
50.____show s how mankind,in the person of Christ,withstands the tempter and is established once more in the divine favor.
A. Paradise Regained B. Paradise Lost
C. Samson Agonistes D. Beowulf
51. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A.In some sense,Samson is Milton.
B.The end of Samson Agonistes is a fitting close to the life work of the poet himself.
C.In Samson Agonistes,Milton borrows his story from the Bible.
D.Samson Agonistes dies a coward.
52. The masterpiece of Francis Bacon which opened a new genre in English literature is ____.
A.philosophy B.essays C.science D.poems
53. Which of the following writings is the most perfect example of the verse drama after the Greek style in English?
A. Paradise Lost. B. Paradise Regained.
C. Samson Agonistes. D. Beowulf.
54. Generally,the Renaissance refers to the period between the 14th and m id-17th
centuries;its essence is____.
A.science B.philosophy C.arts D.humanism
55. Which of the following is NOT true about Renaissance?
A.Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance.
B.Attitudes and feelings which had been characteristic of the 14th and 15th centuries persisted well down into the era of Humanism and Reformation.
C.It was Chaucer who initiated the Reformation.
D.The Elizabethan drama,in its totality,is the real mainstream of the English Renaissance.
56.____ was the first person who introduced printing into England.
A.William Caxton B.Homer C.Petrarch D.Wyatt
57. Which of the following is NOT the reason for that Edmund Spenser is credited with “the poet of poets’ ”?
A.Spenser’s idealism. B.His exquisite melody.
C.His love of beauty. D.His struggle for fl attery.
58. Christopher Marlowe gave new vigor to____ with his “mighty lines.”
A.the Petrarchan sonnet B.sestina
C.blank verse D.terza rima
59. A ll of the following are the most famous dramatists in the Renaissance England EXCEPT____.
A.William Shakespeare B.Christopher Marlowe
C.Francis Bacon D.Ben Jonson
60. The first and second parts of Henry Ⅳ are undoubtedly the most widely read among Shakespeare’s history plays. Shakespeare presents the____ spirit in it.
A.patriotic B.pessimistic C.optim istic D.ironic
61. The Merchant of Venice takes a step forward in its realistic presentation of human nature and human conflict. A ll the following characters are all from the play EXCEPT____.
A.Nick Adams B.Portia C.Bassanio D.Antonio
62. Crafty men contem pt studies,simple men admire them,and wise men them.
A.make B.use C.respect D.hate
63. The lines “Death,be not proud,though some have called thee / Mighty and dreadful,for thou art not so” are found in____.
A.William Wordsworth’s writings B.John Keats’ writings
C.John Donne’s writings D.Percy Bysshe Shelley’s writings
64. The following comments on Shakespeare’s great works are true EXCEPT____.
A.The successful romantic comedy is Romeo and Juliet ,which eulogizes the faithfulness of love and the spirit of pursuing happiness.
B. Hamlet ,the first of the great tragedies,is generally regarded as Shakespeare’s most popular play on the stage.
C. The Merchant of Venice takes a step forward in its realistic presentation of human nature and human confl ict.
D.The three history plays on the reign of Henry Ⅵ are the beginning of Shakespeare’s epic treatment of English history.
65. “To fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline,” best describes____ principal intention.
A.Edmund Spenser’s B.Daniel Defoe’s
C.William Shakespeare’s D.John Milton’s
66. Which of the following statements about Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies is NOT true?
A.Macbeth’s lust for power stirs up his ambition and leads him to incessant crimes.
B.The Old King Lear who is willing to totally give up his power makes himself suffer from treachery and infi delity.
C.Hamlet,the melancholic scholar-prince,faces the dilemma between action and mind.
D.Othello’s inner weakness is made use of by the outside evil force.
67. Which of the following statements is true?
A.Samuel Johnson’s letter To the Right Honorable the Earl of Chesterfield was written to ask for the favor of the Earl.
B.“Metaphysical poetry” is commonly used to name the work of the 17th-century writers who wrote under the infl uence of John Donne.
C. The Solitary Reaper is one of the Lucy Poems written by Wordsworth.
D.Fitzgerald is thought to be only an insider of the Jazz Age.
68.____states that literary works which have truly ref l ected nature and reality can reach immortality.
A.William Shakespeare B.John Milton
C.Francis Bacon D.John Donne
69. In The Shepherd’s Calendar ,Edmund Spenser tried to express____.
A.his meeting Sir Philip Sidney and starting a friendship with him
B.his laments over the loss of Elizabeth
C.his laments over the loss of Rosalind
D.his meeting Leicester
70. In Beowulf ,____ fought against the monster Grendel and a fire-breathing dragon.
A.Beowulf B.the Anglo-Saxon
C.the Scandinavian D.the Winter Dragon
71. In Spenser’s masterpiece The Faerie Queene ,he speaks of____ virtues of the private gentleman.
A.10 B.12 C.15 D.11
72. The literary form of Spenser’s The Faerie Queene is____.
A.narrative poem B.allegorical poem C.lyric poem D.ironic poem
73. Which of the following statements does NOT describe Spenser’s poetry?
A.A perfect melody. B.Realism.
C.A splendid imagination. D.A rare sense of beauty.
74. The lines “A Gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine,Ycladd in m ightie armes and silver shielde” are taken from____.
A.Bacon’s The Advancement of Learning B.Spenser’s The Shepherd’s Calendar
C.Spenser’s The Faerie Queene D.Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound
75. “It is not so express’d;but what of that? ’Twere good you do so much for charity.”
“What of that” in the quoted line means____.
A.this is not important B.this is very important C.this is true D.this is not true
76. “To be or not to be—that is the question;whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer.
The slings and arrow s of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?”
Who is the speaker?
A.King Lear. B.Hamlet. C.Macbeth. D.Othello.
77. The Advancement of Learning is a great tract on____.
A.education B.literature C.history D.policy
78. Among the works by John Milton,which is indeed the only generally acknow ledged epic in English literature since Beowulf ?
A. Paradise Regained. B. Paradise Lost.
C. Areopagitica. D. Samson Agonistes.
79. Which writing is a typical example of Shakespeare’s pessim istic view towards human life and society in his late years?
A. The Tempest. B. King Lear. C. Hamlet. D. Othello.
80.____ lays the foundation for modern science with his insistence on scientific way of thinking and fresh observation rather than authority as a basis for obtaining know ledge.
A.Francis Bacon B.Thomas Hardy
C.Charles Dickens D.William Blake
81. Which of the following comments about Christopher Marlowe is NOT true?
A.Marlowe is so strong in dramatic construction that he is superior to Shakespeare.
B.Marlowe’s greatest achievement lies in that he perfected the blank verse and made it the principal medium of English drama.
C.Marlowe composed 6 plays within his short lifetime.
D.Marlowe’s second achievement is his creation of the Renaissance hero for English drama.
82. Twelfth Night by Shakespeare is a____.
A.history play B.comedy C.tragedy D.poem
83. Francis Bacon’s achievements mainly lie in the following fields EXCEPT____.
A.poem writing B.science C.essay writing D.philosophy
84. The theme of The Faerie Queene by Spenser is____.
A.arms and the man B.virtues and vices
C.evils and temptations D.fi erce wars and faithful love
85. A.the most gifted of the University Wits,Marlowe composed six plays within his short life. Which of the following writings does NOT belong to them?
A. Dr. Faustus. B. The Jew of Malta.
C. The Faerie Queene. D. Tamburlaine.
86.____ is a product of characteristically Renaissance imagination,fascinated by the earthly magnifi cence available to men of imagination power who have the energy of their convictions.
A. Tamburlaine B. Dr. Faustus C. Hamlet D. King Lear
87. The lines “Come live with me and be my love,/ and we will all the pleasures prove / That valleys,groves,hills,and fields,/ Woods,or steepy mountain yields” are found in____.
A. The Faerie Queene by Spenser
B. Paradise Lost by John Milton
C. The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe
D. A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
88.____’s dominant moral is human rather than religions;it celebrates the human passion for know ledge,power and happiness;it also reveals man’s frustration in realizing the high aspirations in a hostile moral order.
A. Tamburlaine B. The Jew of Malta C. Dr. Faustus D. Paradise Lost
89. The greatest masterpiece of Marlowe’s plays is____.
A. Tamburlaine B. Dr. Faustus
C. The Jew of Malta D. The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
90. “Forward and backward anagrammatized,
The breviated names of holy saints,
Figures of every adjunct to the heavens,
And characters of Signs and erring stars,”
The above lines are taken from____.
A.Shakespeare’s Hamlet B.Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus
C.Bacon’s Novum Organum D.Donne’s The Songs and Sonnets
91.____ is a play based on the German legend of a magician aspiring for know ledge and finally meeting his tragic end as a result of selling his soul to the Devil.
A. Tamburlaine B. Hero and Leander C. Dr. Faustus D. Amores
92. According to your know ledge,which of the following sentences is NOT true?
A.Marlowe is masterful in handling blank verse and creating dramatic effects;he is as strong as Shakespeare in dramatic construction.
B.Marlowe’s second achievement is his creation of the Renaissance hero for English drama.
C.Shakespeare worked both as actor and playwright.
D.Bacon’s essays are famous for their brevity,compactness and powerfulness.
93. Paradise Lost is actually a story taken from____.
A. The Renaissance B. The Old Testament
C. Greek Mythology D. The New Testament
94. In the second period,Shakespeare’s style and approach became highly individualized.
He wrote six comedies. Which one doesn’t belong to them?
A. Titus Andronicus. B. A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
C. The Merchant of Venice. D. Twelfth Night.
95. Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies are____.
A. Romeo and Juliet,Hamlet,Othello,and King Lear
B. Hamlet,Othello,Macbeth,and The Merchant of Venice
C. Hamlet,Othello,King Lear,and Macbeth
D. Romeo and Juliet,The Merchant of Venice,and Othello,Hamlet
96. In the following statements,which is NOT true?
A.Milton wrote his three major poetical works: Paradise Lost,Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes after the Restoration in 1660.
B.Thomas Gray,though he was a famous poet,did not write much.
C.Walt Whitman created free verse in his Leaves of Grass ,which won him the name of a great American poet.
D.Pope made his name as a great poet with the publication of The Rape of the Lock.
97.’s history plays are mainly written under the principle that national unity under a m ighty and just sovereign is a necessity.
A.Edmund Spenser B.Christopher Marlowe
C.William Shakespeare D.John Donne
98. Which writing is regarded today as the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons?
A . Beowulf. B. Blackness.
C. The Seafarer. D. The Wife’s Complaint.
99. Shakespeare claims through the mouth of Hamlet that the end of dramatic creation is to give____ of the social realities of the time.
A.allegorical description B.instructive representation C.faithful reflection D.imaginative narration
100.____,a typical example of Old English poetry,is regarded today as the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons.
A. Beowulf B. The Wife’s Complaint
C. The Dream of the Rood D. The Seafarer
101. In The Legend of Good Women, Chaucer used for the first time in English the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter,which is to be called later____.
A.the free verse B.the heroic couplet
C.the Spenserian stanza D.the blank verse
102. The Elizabethan____,in its totality,is the real mainstream of the English Renaissance.
A.poetry B.novel C.drama D.humanism
103. Dr. Faustus is a play based on the____ legend of a magician aspiring for know ledge and finally meeting his tragic end as a result of selling his soul to the Devil.
A.American B.German C.French D.British
104. Christopher Marlowe’s second achievement is his creation of____ for the English drama.
A.the Romantic hero B.the Byronic hero
C.the Renaissance hero D.the Realistic hero
105. Humanists of the Renaissance turned to the spirit of____culture for inspiration.
A.Greek and Roman B.Anglo-Saxon
C.Celtic D.Medieval
106. Donne’s famous analogy of parting lovers to a draw ing compass provides a prime example of____.
A.conceit B.dramatic monologue
C.exaggeration D.paradox
107.____ is the leading figure of the metaphysical school.
A.John Milton B.John Donne C.John Bunyan D.John Keats
108.____ Essays is the first example of that genre in English literature.
A.John Milton’s B.Thomas Gray’s C.John Bunyan’s D.Francis Bacon’s
109.____ is a study of the lust for wealth,which centers on Barabas the Jew,a terrible old money lender.
A. The Jew of Malta B. The Merchant of Venice
C. The Tempest D. Tamburlaine
110. In The Faerie Queene ,the Redcross Knight,who stands for true religion of____,sets out on the orders of the Glorious Queen of Faerie,who represents____.
A.humanism / divine truth B.Christianity / Christ
C.the Anglican Church / Queen Elizabeth D.the Roman Catholic / Pope
111.____ is based on a w idespread legend in northern Europe.
A. The Jew of Malta B.Tamburlaine C. Hamlet D. The Winter’s Tale
112.____,the first of the great tragedies,is generally regarded as Shakespeare’s most popular play on the stage.
A. Julius Caesar B. Hamlet C. King Lear D. Othello
113. “Saucy pedantic wretch,go chide / Late school-boys,and sour prentices.” In this quoted line the tone of the poet is____.
A.sarcastic B.humorous C.critical D.understated
114. The sonnet Death B.Not Proud is written in the strict Petrarchan pattern. It reveals the poet’s belief that____.
A.death is only a sleep,after which we live eternally
B.death is like a long sleep that offers fi nal peace for the soul
C.death is not as strong as people think he is
D.death is but momentary while happiness after death is eternal
115. In the line “And every fair from fair sometimes declines” (Shakespeare,Sonnet 18),what does the first and second “fair” mean?
A.The beautiful person or thing / beauty. B.Sound reason / justice.
C.Loveliness / beautiful women. D.Light complexion / beauty.
116. The most important and popular comedy written by Shakespeare is____.
A. A.You Like it B. Twelfth Night
C. Romeo and Juliet D. The Merchant of Venice
117. The first and second parts of____ are undoubtedly the most widely read among Shakespeare’s history plays.
A. Henry Ⅴ B. Henry Ⅳ C. Richard Ⅱ D. Richard Ⅲ
118. In his “To be or not to be” soliloquy,Hamlet gives the reasons why he wants to comm it suicide. Apart from his personal revenge,that he____ is another reason.
A.cannot bear the social injustice and grievances
B.is mentally tormented by his father’s ghost
C.is unable to restore his earlier idealized image of his mother
D.thinks the next world is far better than the harsh reality
119. The central figure of Tamburlaine represents the Renaissance desire for infinite ____.
A.know ledge and happiness B.power and authority
C.success and adventure D.ambition and conquest
120. In King Lear ,Shakespeare has not only made a profound analysis of the social crisis in which the evils can be seen everywhere,but also criticized____.
A.the bourgeois egoism B.tyranny
C.anarchy and rebellion D.supernatural forces
121. Marlowe’s short lyric The Passionate Shepherd to His Love derives from the ____ tradition,in which the shepherd enjoys an ideal country life,cherishing a pure affection for his love.
A.pastoral B.rustic C.sonnet D.ornate
122. What is the relationship between Claudius and Hamlet?
A.Father-in-law and son-in-law. B.Uncle and nephew. C.Cousins. D.Father and son.
123. Una in The Faerie Queene is a symbol of____.
A.truth B.holiness C.error D.chastity
124.____ first made blank verse the principal instrument of English drama.
A.Marlowe B.Shakespeare C.Sidney D.Wyatt
125. “The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” is an example of____.
A.simile B.irony C.allegory D.metaphor
126. Paradise Lost by Milton took its material from____.
A.Greek mythology B.The Bible
C.Roman mythology D.French romance
127. “In a dream vision,A rthur w itnessed the loveliness of Gloriana,and upon awakening resolves to seek her.” The two above literary figures “A rthur” and “Gloriana” are from____.
A. Paradise Lost B. Romeo and Juliet
C. The Faerie Queene D. Paradise Regained
128. Which of the following does NOT describe metaphysical poetry best represented by
John Donne’s works?
A.Elegant language. B.Conceit.
C.Argument. D.Common speech.
129. Which of the following comments on the Elizabethan Age is NOT true?
A.It is the age of translation.
B.It is the age of bourgeois revolution.
C.It is the age of the protestant reformation.
D.It is the age of exploration.
130. “To bow and sue for grace
With suppliant knee,and deify his power
... that were low indeed,
That were an ignominy,and shame beneath
This downfall;...”
The above lines are from Milton’s Paradise Lost .
Which of the following statements is true of these lines?
A.To beg God for mercy and w orship his power w ere more shameful and disgraceful than this downfall.
B.To beg God for mercy is more shameful than worship his power.
C.To beg God for mercy and worship his power were as low as this downfall.
D.To fi ght against God is as low as to worship Satan.
131. “For herein Fortune show s herself more kind
Than in her custom;it is still her use
To let the wretched man outlive his wealth,
To view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow
A.age of poverty;from which ling ring penance
Of such misery doth she cut off.”
The above lines are from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice . Which of the following comments on these lines is NOT true?
A.Lady Fortuna is not always kind towards the fallen man.
B.Antonio thinks she is more kind towards him because she is taking away both his wealth and life.
C.It is her usual habit to take away the fallen man’s wealth and let him live in poverty.
D.She is kind to Antonio because she does not take his life away though she destroys his ships.
132. English Renaissance Period was an age of____.
A.ballads and songs B.poetry and drama
C.prose and novels D.essays and journals
133. The four Greatest Tragedies of Shakespeare’s do NOT include____.
A. Othello B. King Lear C. Romeo and Juliet D. Macbeth
134. A stanza of nine lines,with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter and the last line in iambic hexameter,rhyming ababbcbcc is called____.
A.Shakespearean Sonnet B.Petrarchan Sonnet
C.Spenserian Stanza D.Blank Verse
135. The English Renaissance began during the reign of____.
A.Henry Ⅷ B.Charles Ⅱ C.Elizabeth Ⅰ D.JamesⅠ
136. The following comments on the characteristics of Renaissance are all wrong EXCEPT ____.
A.Praise of man’s efforts in having his soul delivered
B.Tolerance of human foibles
C.Cultivation of the genuine fl avor of ancient culture
D.Exaltation of man’s pursuit of happiness in this life
137. In “So long as men can breathe,or eyes can see / So long lives this,and this gives life to thee,” “this” refers to ____.（2015年首都师范大学）
A.this free verse B.this heroic couplet
C.this blank verse D.this sonnet
138. The prevailing form of Medieval English literature is ____.（2015年第二外国语学院）
A.novel B.drama C.romance D.essay
139. Robin Hood was written in the form of ___.（2014年第二外国语学院）
A.free verse B.ballad C.sonnet D.blank verse
140. The Faerie Queene written by Edmund Spenser is a(n) ____.（2014年首都师范大学）
A.blank verse B.sonnet C.free verse D.epic
141. Tragedy describes the____of a great individual because he has transgressed against the great moral principles which govern the universe.（2013年首都师范大学）
A.fall B.rise C.life D.development
Ⅲ Reading Comprehension
Read the quoted parts carefully and answer the questions in English. Write your answers in the corresponding space on the answer sheet.
1. “Busy old fool,unruly sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows and through curtains call on us?”
A.Identify the poem and the poet.
B.What does the word “fool” refer to?
C.What idea does the quotation express?
2. “Had I as many souls as there be stars
I give them all for Mephistophilis!
B.him I’ll be great emperor of the world,
And make a bridge through the moving air
To pass the ocean with a band of men;
I’ll join the hills that bind the Afric shore
And make that country continent to Spain,
And both contributory to my crown;
The Emperor shall not live but by my leave,
Nor any potentate of Germany.
Now that I have obtained what I desire
I live in speculation of this art
Till Mephistophilis return again.”
A.Name the playwright and the title of the work from which the passage is taken.
B.Name the speaker of the passage quoted above.
C.Use the above passage as a guide and write down in one or two sentences the theme of the play.
3. “And the native hue of resolution / Is sicklied or with the pale cast of thought. / And enterprises of great pith and moment,/ With this regard,their currents turn awry,/ And lose the name of action.” (Shakespeare,Hamlet)
A.What does the “native hue of resolution” mean?
B.What does the “pale cast thought” stand for?
C.What does the word “name” mean?
D.What idea do the two lines express?
4. “A Gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine,
Ycladd in m ightie armes and silver shielde,
Wherein old dints of deepe wounds did remaine,
The cruell markes of many a bloudy fielde;
Yet armea till that time did he never w ield:
His angry steede did chide his fom ing bitt,
A.much disdaining to the curbe to yield:
Full jolly knight he seemed,and faire did sitt,
A.one for knightly giusts and fi erce encounters fi tt.”
A.Identify the poet and the poem.
B.What does the knight in the passage stand for?
C.What idea does the quotation express?
5. “A lovely Ladie rode him faire beside,
Upon a lowly Asse more white then snow,
Yet she much whiter,but the same did hide
Under a vale,that wimpled was full low,
And over all a blacke stole she did throw,
A.one that inly mournd: so was she sad,
And heavie sat upon her palfrey slow:
Seemed in heart some hidden care she had,
And by her in line a m ilke white lambe she lad.”
A.Identify the poem and the poet.
B.Who does “A lovely Ladie” refer to?
C.What does the word “palfrey” mean?
6. “Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys,groves,hills and fields,
Woods,or steepy mountain yields.”
A.Identify the poem and the poet.
B.What kind of literary tradition can be found in this stanza?
C.What idea does this stanza express?
7. “But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st:
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
So long as men can breathe,or eyes can see,
So long lives this,and this gives life the thee.”
A.Identify the poem and the poet.
B.What does the word “this” refer to?
C.What idea does this stanza express?
8. “You may as well go stand upon the beach
And bid the main flood bate his usual height:
You may as well use question with the wolf,
Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb;
You may as well forbid the mountain pines
To wag their high tops and to make no noise
When they are fretten with the gusts of heaven;
You may as well do any thing most hard
A.seek to soften that—than which what’s harder?—
His Jew ish heart.”
A.Identify the author and the work.
B.Who is here implied to be more cruel than the wolf?
C.What idea does the passage express?
9. “To be,or not to be—that is the question:
Whether is nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrow s of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them...”
A.Identify the author and the work.
B.What figure of speech is employed in this passage?
C.What idea does this quotation express?
10. “Reading maketh a full man,conference a ready man,and writing an exact man.”
A.Identify the author and the work.
B.What kind of language can be found in this quotation?
C.What idea does this quotation express?
11. “One short sleep past,we wake eternally
And death shall be no more;Death,thou shalt die.”
A.Identify the poet and the poem.
B.What does the phrase “One short sleep” mean?
C.What idea do these two lines express?
12. “Though changed in outward luster,that fi xed mind
And high disdain,from sense of injured merit,
That with the Mightiest raised me to contend
And to the fierce contention brought along
Innumerable force of spirits armed,
That durst dislike his reign,and me preferring,
His utmost power with adverse power opposed
In dubious battle on the plains of Heaven,
And shook his throne...”
A.Identify the poet and the poem.
B.Who does “the Mightiest” refer to in the passage?
C.What idea does this passage express?
13. “If he be not apt to beat over matters,let him study the lawyer’s cases. So every defect of the mind may have a special receipt.”
A.What does “beat over matters” mean?
B.What does “receipt” refer to?
C.Identify the work from which this quotation is taken from and summarize the main idea of the work.
14. “And ever as he rode,his hart did earne,
To prove his puissance in battell brave / Upon his foe,...”
A.Identify the poem and the poet.
B.What does the word “puissance” mean?
C.What is the theme of the work?
15. “Here in the heart of hell to work in fire,
Or do his errands in the gloomy deep.”
A.Identify the poet and the poem.
B.What’s the meaning of “in the gloomy deep”?
C.What does the poem try to express?
16. “That was the cause,but yet per accidents,
For when we hear one rack the name of God,
Abjure the Scriptures and his Saviour Christ,
We fl y in hope to get his glorious soul.
A.Identify the author and the work.
B.What does “rack” mean?
C.What is the play based on? Can you give a brief introduction to it?
17. “So pure and innocent,as that same lambe,
She was in life and every virtuous lore,
And by descent from royall lynage came
Of ancient Kings and Queenes,that had of yore
Their scepters stretcht from east to westerne shore,
And all the world in their subjection held;
Till that infernall feend with foule uprore
Forwasted all their land,and them expeld:
Whom to avenge,she had this knight from far compeld.”
A.Identify the poet and the poem.
B.What does “this knight” refer to?
C.What idea does the quotation express?
18. “If her eyes have not blinded thine,
Look,and tomorrow late,tell me,
Whether both th’s Indias of spice and m ine
B.where thou left’st them,or lie here with me.
Ask for those kings whom thou saw’st yesterday,
And thou shalt hear,all here in one bed lay.”
A.Identify the poem and the poet.
B.What does the word “thou” in the last line refer to?
C.What idea does the quoted passage express?
19. “Within this circle is Jehovah’s name
Forward and backward anagrammatized,
The breviated names of holy saints,
Figures of every adjunct to the heavens
And characters of signs and erring stars,
B.which the spirits are enforced to rise.”
A.Identify the author and the work.
B.Who does “Jehovah” refer to?
C.What idea does the quotation express?
ⅣQuestions and Answers
Give brief answers to each of the following questions in English.
1. “For herein Fortune shows herself more kind
Than in her custom;it is still her use
To let the wretched man outlive his wealth,
To view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow
A.age of poverty;from which linging penance
Of such misery doth she cut me off.”
The above lines are taken from a speech made by Antonio,a major character in
Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice . Why does Antonio say that Fortune is more kind to him than in her custom?
2. Novum Organum (“New Instrument”),along with other works,won the author the honor “Father of modern science.” Who is the author? What is the main concern of the work? Why is the work so important for the development of modern science?
3. What are the characteristics of Humanism?
4. Edmund Spenser is known as “the poet of poets.’” What are the qualities of his poetry?
5. What are the main themes in Shakespeare’s plays?
6. What is the theme of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 ?
7. Discuss briefly John Donne’s view of love.
8. Give a brief analysis of John Donne’s poem The Sun Rising .
9. Give a brief analysis of John Donne’s Death,B.Not Proud .
10. Comment briefly on the features of “metaphysical poetry.”
ⅤTopic Discussion
Write no less than 150 words on each of the following topics in English.
1. What are the reasons for Chaucer’s being honored as the “Father of English Poetry”?
2. List three distinctive features of English Renaissance movement in literature and then illustrate each with proofs from either the concerned chapter in your textbook or your own reading.
3. Briefly discuss why Hamlet is so impressive in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
4. William Shakespeare is one of the most remarkable playwrights and poets the world has ever known. Try to discuss his art of creations.
5. According to the setting of the poem Paradise Lost,discuss the theme,the author’s intention to create it and the implication that the poem expresses.
6. Give a brief analysis of Shylock,a character in Shakespeare’s play, The Merchant of Venice.
7. Discuss briefly Hamlet’s hesitation in taking revenge.
8. Discuss briefly the main tragic heroes in Shakespeare’s four greatest tragedies.
9. Comment briefly on Marlowe’s literary contribution to English literature.
ⅠDefine the Following Terms（每题5分）
1. ① Romance is a popular literary form in the medieval England.（1.5分）
② It sings knightly adventures or other heroic deeds.（1.5分）
③Chivalry (such as bravery,honor,generosity,and kindness to the weak and poor) is the spirit of romance.（2分）
2. ① Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance.（1.5分）
②It emphasizes the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life. Humanists voiced their beliefs that man was the center of the universe and man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of the present life,but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders.（3.5分）
3. ①The word,meaning rebirth,is commonly applied to the movement or period which marks the transition from the medieval to the modern world in Western Europe.（2.5分）
②It is best to regard the Renaissance as the result of a new emphasis upon and a new combination of tendencies and attitudes already exiting,stimulated by a series of historical events.（2.5分）
4.Spenserian stanza,i.e.,a stanza (诗的一节) of nine lines,with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter and the last line in iambic hexameter (六音步),rhyming ababbcbcc.（5分）
5. ① Conceits,from the Italian concetto,“concept” or “idea,” are used in Renaissance poetry to mean a precise and detailed comparison of something more remote or abstract with something more present or concrete,and often detailed through a chain of metaphors or similes.（2.5分）
② Conceits were closely linked to emblem s,to the degree that the verbal connection between the emblem picture and its meaning was detailed in an interpretative conceit.（2.5分）
6. ① Metaphysical poetry is commonly used to name the work of the 17th-century writers who wrote under the infl uence of John Donne.（1.5分）
② With a rebellious spirit,the metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry.（2分）
③The diction is simple as compared with that of the Elizabethan or the Neoclassical periods,and echoes the words and cadences of common speech. The imagery is drawn from actual life.（1.5分）
7. Epic refers to a long narrative poem in elevated style,presenting characters of high position in series of adventures which form an organic whole through their relation to a central figure of heroic proportions,and through their development of episodes important to the history of a nation or race.（5分）
8. Ballad is a form of verse to be sung or recited and characterized by its presentation of a dramatic or exciting episode in simple narrative form.（5分）
9. ① Sonnet is one of the most conventional and influential forms of poetry in Europe.
② A sonnet is a lyric consisting of 14 lines,usually in iambic pentameter,restricted to a definite rhyme scheme.
③ Shakespeare’s sonnets are well-known.
10. Blank verse is unrhymed poetry,typically in iambic pentameter,and as such,the dominant verse form of English dramatic and narrative poetry since the mid-16th century.（5分）
11.① Beowulf ,a typical example of Old English poetry,is regarded as the greatest national epic of the Anglo-Saxons.（2分）
②The epic describes the exploits of a Scandinavian hero,Beowulf,in fighting against the monster Grendel,his revengeful mother,and a fire-breathing dragon in his declining years. While fighting against the dragon,Beowulf was mortally wounded. However,he killed the dragon at the cost of his life. Beowulf is shown not only as a glorious hero but also as a protector of the people.（3分）
12.① Robin Hood is a legendary hero of a series of English ballads,some of which date from at least the 14th century.（1分）
② The character of Robin Hood is many-sided. Strong,brave and intelligent,he is at the same time tender-hearted and affectionate.（1.5分）
③ The dominant key in his character is his hatred for the cruel oppression and his love for the poor and downtrodden.（1分）
④ Another feature of Robin’s view is his reverence for the king. Robin Hood was a people’s hero as King Arthur was a noble’s hero.（1.5分）
13. Meter is the recurring pattern of sounds that give poem s written in distinctive rhythms. The distinguishing feature of poetic meter is that such units recur in sustained and regular patterns.
ⅡMultiple Choice（每题1分）
ⅢReading Comprehension（每题10分）
1.A.John Donne: The Sun Rising.（3分）
B.(The) Sun.（3分）
C.The sun is scolded for behaving like a peeping Tom,disturbing the lovers’ private life. For in the lovers’ kingdom,the sun has no right to dictate the time of day or the passing of seasons. His presence in their bedchamber is an intrusion on their privacy.（4分）
2.A.Dr. Faustus,a play by Christopher Marlowe.（3分）
B.Dr. Faustus.（3分）
C.The play deals with themes including man’s aspiration,bounding achievements,and inevitable failure. This humanism tragedy lies in Faustus’s character,which indicates an insatiable thirst for know ledge.（4分）
3.A.Determ ination (determ inedness,action,activity,etc.).（2.5分）
B.Consideration (indecision,inactivity,hesitation,etc.).（2.5分）
C.Importance / signifi cance.（2.5分）
D.Too much thinking (consideration,) made (makes) activity (action) impossible. （2.5分）
4.A.The passage is taken from The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser.（3分）
B.The knight (Redcrosse Knight) stands for the Anglican Church.（3分）
C.Redcrosse Knight is on his way to accomplish the task of protecting Una and freeing her parents from the power of the Devil. He is hopeful and ready to fi ght. （4分）
5.A.The stanza is taken from The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser.（4分）
B.Una.（3分）
C.Una’s ass.（3分）
6. A.The stanza is taken from The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe.（3分）
B.Pastoral tradition.（3分）
C.Here the shepherd is courting the girl he loves and show ing her the great happiness they can enjoy in nature.（4分）
7. A.It is taken from Sonnet 18 by Shakespeare.（3分）
B.This refers to poem.（3分）
C.It shows Shakespeare’s faith in the permanence of poetry.（4分）
8.A.The passage is taken from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice .（3分）
B.Shylock.（2分）
C.B.saying so Antonio is trying to convince his friends that it is no use appealing to Shylock,the money-lender,for mercy,for nothing in the world is harder than Shylock’s heart. Even if many impossible things become possible,Shylock will not give up his demand for one-pound flesh from Antonio’s chest.（5分）
9.A.It is taken from Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy Hamlet .（3分）
B.Metaphor.（3分）
C.In this famous monologue,Hamlet,facing the dilemma of action and mind,is hesitating whether he should revenge for his father,which may bring him death,or he should suffer and hide his hatred for his uncle in his deep heart,which may secure his life.（4分）
10.A.It is taken from Francis Bacon’s Of Studies .（3分）
B.The language is of maxim.（3分）
C.It shows that different ways of studies may exert different influence over human character.（4 分）
11.A.It is from John Donne’s Death,B.Not Proud .（3分）
B.It means death.（3分）
C.It means that shortly after we die we will wake up (as from sleep) and live eternally. It reveals the poet’s belief in life after death: death is but momentary while happiness after death is eternal.（4分）
12.A.It is taken from John Milton’s Paradise Lo st.（3分）
B.God.（3分）
C.B.saying so Satan means that though he and his followers are driven out of heaven,he is not going to admit failure. After all,they have built up strength to fi ght again against God,the symbol of tyranny,and shaken God’s ruling position. （4分）
13.A.The phrase means taking thorough examinations of things.（3分）
B.It means cure or prescription.（3分）
C.It is taken from Bacon’s Of Studies . It analyzes what studies chiefl y serve for,the different ways adopted by different people to pursue studies,and how studies exert infl uence over human character.（4分）
14.A.It is taken from Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene .（3分）
B.It means power / prowess.（3分）
C.The theme is about fi erce wars and faithful love.（4分）
15.A.It is taken from John Milton’s Paradise Lost .（3分）
B.The phrase means chaos.（3分）
C.The poem tries to convince us that the unquestionable truth of Biblical revelation means that an all-know ing God was just in allowing Adam and Eve to be tempted and,of their free will to choose sin and its inevitable punishment.（4分）
16.A.It is taken from Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus .（3分）
B.It means torment.（3分）
C.It is based on the German legend of a magician aspiring for know ledge and finally meeting his tragic end as a result of selling his soul to the Devil.（4分）
17.A.It is taken from Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene .（3分）
B.“This knight” refers to The Redcrosse Knight.（3分）
C.It is a description of Virgin Una,who stands for the divine truth and accompanies the Redcrosse Knight on his adventures. She is as pure and innocent in life and all moral know ledge as the Lamb of God (Jesus Christ). She is descended of a royal line,which in old days governed the land from east to west until the dragon devastated all their land. She has summoned the Knight from a remote place to avenge her imprisoned parents.（4分）
18.A.It is taken from John Donne’s The Sun Rising .（3分）
B.The Sun.（3分）
C.The speaker says that his lover’s eyes are more blinding than the sun’s m ighty rays. If the sun would look closely he would see that even the wealth of all the earth lies in their bed. In this part of the poem,the king-image is a happy one. The lovers are as happy as the queen and the king. The poet brings spice,gold and kings into one bed in order to show that their love is as fragrant as spice,as pure as gold and as happy as kings.（4分）
19.A.It is taken from Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus .（3分）
B.God.（3分）
C.This is a description of Dr. Faustus practicing black magic in order to seek know ledge and power over the kingdom of this world. Faustus’s conjuring techniques show his denial and rejection of religion. B.portraying Faustus trying through the exercise of forbidden know ledge to transcend the bounds of his nature,Marlowe celebrates the Renaissance hero’s endless aspiration for know ledge,power and happiness.（4分）
ⅣQuestions and Answers（每题10分）
1.① Generally Fortune’s habit is to take away the fallen man’s wealth and let him live and suffer in poverty.（4分）
② This time,however,she is taking away both Antonio’s wealth and life. (Here Antonio assumes that his ships have been lost.) So he thinks she is more kind to him than in her custom.（6分）
2.① Francis Bacon.（3分）
② The work is an argument for the inductive reasoning in place of the Aristotelian deductive reasoning.（3分）
③ The Aristotelian reasoning only states the fact,not capable of discovery while the inductive reasoning,although starting with a hypothesis and developing with experiments,may lead to the discovery of true know ledge.（4分）
3.① Humanism is the essence of Renaissance.（3分）
② Humanists see that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfection,and that the world they inhabited was theirs not to despise but to question,explore,and enjoy.（3分）
③ They also believe that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of this life,but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders.（4分）
4.① A perfect melody.（1分）
② A rare sense of beauty.（1分）
③ A splendid imagination.（1分）
④ A lofty moral purity and seriousness.（2分）
⑤ A dedicated idealism.（2分）
⑥ In order to increase the rustic effect,he uses strange form s of speech and obsolete words.（3 分）
5. ① Shakespeare’s plays mainly have three categories: comedies,tragedies and history plays.（2 分）
② His history plays are mainly written with the theme that national unity under a m ighty and just sovereign is a necessity.（3分）
③ In his romantic comedies,Shakespeare takes an optimistic attitude towards love and youth.（2分）
④ His tragedies often portray some noble hero who faces the injustice of human life and is caught in a difficult situation whose fate is closely connected with the fate of the whole nation. The heroes have some weaknesses in their characters,which finally lead to their tragic falls.（3分）
6. In his Sonnet 18 Shakespeare expresses a very bold idea: beautiful things can rely on the force of literature to reach their eternity;and literature is created by man,thus declaring man’s eternity. The poem carries the spark of the European Renaissance movement.（10分）
7. John Donne thinks that the nature of love is a perfect union of body and soul. In his love poetry,Donne attempts to understand how the intellectual side of love can be related to its physical side,and to reflect the complex emotion the poetry seeks to reproduce.（10分）
8.① The Sun Rising is a poem typical of Donne’s interest in dramatizing and illustrating the state of being in love. First,the poet adopts the conventional form at the beginning of the poem to address to the sun,but only in its irreverence. The sun,taken as a busy old fool,is gradually turned into a servant the poet can appeal to in warm ing us.（4分）
② Secondly,the poem,in revealing its theme of the satisfi ed love,focuses on the world of couple,which is taken as the center of the universe.（3分）
③ Thirdly,the poet likes to use geographical terms such as Indias and States to describe his love,which runs consistent with the notion of his universe.（3分）
9. Death,B.Not Proud reads like a bold challenge to the “Proud” “Death.” Under Donne’s pen,Death is neither “Mighty” nor “dreadful,” for men may derive “Much pleasure” from death,and “Death” is a “Slave” to many things. The poem ends with the claim “Death,thou shalt die.” Written in a specifi c sonnet form,the poem presents an argument with its forcefulness,wit and dramatic comparisons.（10分）
10. ① The term “metaphysical poetry” is commonly used to name the work of the 17thcentury writers who wrote under the infl uence of John Donne.（2分）
② The main themes of the metaphysical poets are love,death and religion.（1分）
③ The diction is simple as compared with that of the Elizabethan or the Neoclassical Period,and echoes the words and cadences of common speech. （2分）
④The logic argument and conceits are frequently applied in metaphysical poetry. （1分）
⑤The imagery is drawn from the commonplace or the remote,actual life.（1分）
⑥The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet’s beloved,with God or with himself.（2分）
⑦The leading figure of this school was John Donne.（1分）
ⅤTopic Discussion（每题15分）
1.① It usually refers to Geoffrey Chaucer whose masterpiece The Canterbury Tales ranks as one of the greatest poetic works in English literature.（3分）
② Chaucer made a great contribution to English poetry by introducing from France the rhymed stanzas of various types to English poetry to replace the Old English alliterative verse. It was he who used for the first time in English the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter which was later called the “heroic couplet.” （4分）
③ Chaucer was the first to write in the current English language. Though draw ing influence from French,Italian and Latin models,he did much in making the dialect of London the foundation for modern English language.（4分）
④ In his works Chaucer developed his characterization to a higher artistic level by presenting characters with both typical qualities and individual dispositions. That is why John Dryden called him the Father of English Poetry.（4分）
2.① High aspiration for new know ledge / learning / thought: Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus sells his soul to the Devil for know ledge and power;Francis Bacon encourages learning in his aphoristic essays such as Of Studies. （5分）
② Exaltation of human nature and capacity: Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene celebrates the splendor during the reign of Elizabeth the Queene in the disguise of Gloriana and human virtues embodied by A rthur and other characters;Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus is a Renaissance man seeking happiness through his own effort;Shakespeare explores human nature through Hamlet and other characters in his plays.（5分）
③ Im portance of this life: John Donne’s love poems concentrate earthly on physical love;Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus tries,though fails,to fulfi ll his w ish for happiness not in heaven but on earth.（5分）
3. ① The hero Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is noted for his hesitation to take his revenge,his melancholy nature of action only to deny possibilities to do anything.（5分）
② He came to know that his father was murdered by his uncle who became king. He hated him so deeply that he wanted to kill him. But he loved his w idowed mother who later married his uncle. This made him deep in trouble.（5分）
③ When he planned to kill his uncle,he was afraid to hurt his mother. And also,when everything was ready for him to kill his uncle,he forgave him for his uncle was praying to God for his crime. Thus he lost the good chance. Hamlet represented humanism of his time.（5分）
4. ① Shakespeare’s major characters are neither merely individual ones nor type ones. They are individuals representing certain types. Each character has his or her own personalities;meanwhile,they may share features with others.（3分）
② B.applying a psycho-analytical approach,Shakespeare succeeds in exploring the characters’ inner mind.（3分）
③ Shakespeare seldom invents his own plots;instead,he borrows them from some old plays or storybooks,or from ancient Greek and Roman sources.（3分）
④ In his writing,disguise is also an important device to create dramatic irony,usually with woman as man.（3分）
⑤ He often wrote skillfully in different poetic forms,like sonnet,the blank verse,and the rhymed couplet.（3分）
5. ① The theme of the poem Paradise Lost is the fall of man,i. e. man’s disobedience and the loss of paradise,with its prime cause—Satan.（4分）
② “Man shall fi nd grace.” But he must lay hold of it by an act of free will. The freedom of the will is the keystone of Milton’s creed.（4分）
③ Milton explained the source of misfortune in man by the poem.（3分）
④ The poet,through depicting incurrence of character in the poem,implied that the British Bourgeois Revolution is doomed to end in failure.（4分）
6. Shylock is a Jew ish usurer,and he is a tragic-com ic character in the play.
① He is comic because he finally becomes the one punished by his own evil deed. He is a typical merchant to be made fun of. He is avaricious. He accumulates as much wealth as he can and he even equates his lost daughter with his lost money. He is also cruel. In order to revenge,he would rather claim a pound of flesh from his enemy Antonio than get back his loan.（7分）
② On the other hand,Shylock is also a tragic figure. He is the victim of the society. He is a Jew. A.a minor nationality,he is not treated equally by the society. The law is harsh to him. He has to make as much money as he can in order to protect himself. He is abused by Antonio,and therefore,he wants to get revenge. （8分）
7.① Hamlet has none of the single-minded blood lust of the earlier revengers. It is not because he is incapable of action,but because the cast of his mind is so speculative,so questioning,and so contemplative that action,when it finally comes,seems almost like defeat,diminishing rather than adding to the stature of the hero.（5分）
② Trapped in a nightmare world of spying,testing and plotting,and apparently bearing the intolerable burden of the duty to revenge his father’s death,Hamlet is obliged to inhabit a shadow world,to live suspended between fact and fiction,language and action. His life is one of constant role-playing,examining the nature of action only to deny its possibility for he is too sophisticated to degrade his nature to the conventional role of a stage revenger.（5分）
③ For such a figure,soliloquy is a natural medium,a necessary release of his anguish;and some of his questioning monologues possess surpassing power and insight,which have survived centuries of being torn from their context.（5分）
8.①Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies are: Hamlet,Othello,King Lear ,and Macbeth. They have some characteristics in common. Each portrays a noble hero,who faces the injustice of human life and is caught in a difficult situation and whose fate is closely connected with the fate of the whole nation.（5分）
② Each hero has his weakness of nature: Hamlet,the melancholic scholar-prince,faces the dilemma between action and mind;Othello’s inner weakness is taken advantage of by the outside evil force;the old King Lear,unwilling to totally give up his power,makes himself suffer from treachery and infidelity;and Macbeth’s lust for power stirs up his ambition and leads him to crimes.（5分）
③ With the concentration on the tragic hero,Shakespeare dramatizes the whole world around the hero. Along with the portrayal of the weakness of the hero,we see the sharp conflicts between the individual and the evil force in the society.（5分）
9.① Christopher Marlowe is one of the greatest Renaissance writers. He wrote six plays and some other works, Dr. Faustus being his masterpiece.（5分）
② Marlowe’s greatest achievement lies in that he perfected the blank verse and made it the principal medium of English drama. His second achievement is his creation of the Renaissance hero for English drama. Such a hero is always individualistic and full of ambition,facing bravely the challenge from both gods and men.（5分）
③ He embodies Marlowe’s humanistic idea of human dignity and capacity.（5分）