英语专业美国文学试题exercise-5.doc

(完整版)英语专业美国文学试题exercise 5
American Literature
Spring， 2005

Part I。 Choose the best answer （20 points)。
1。 What illuminates the second scaffold scene where Hester， Dimmesdale and Pearl are brought
together？
A。 A lantern。
B。 A meteor。
C。 A fire.
D. A torch.
2. Which of the following is NOT written by William Faulkner？
A. The Sound and the Fury
B。 Light in August
C. House of the Seven Gables
D. Absalom！ Absalom!
3。 What does Miss Emily do right after her father’s death？
A. She is sick for some time。
B. She invites her cousins to stay with her。
C. She proposes to Homer.
D。 She gives painting lessons。
4。 What does the scarlet letter “A” mean to people when Hester goes back to New England as an
older woman?
A。 Adultery
B。 Able
C。 Admission
D。 A good woman
5。 What does the Montresor family's coat of arms represent？
A. No one can punish me
B。 Give me freedom or give me death
C。 One should not bite the hand that feeds it
D。 I will punish the one who insults me
6. At the beginning, Montresor says that he smiled at Fortunato’s _______。
A. Drunkenness
B. Death
C. Joy
D. Age
7. Jim tells Huck that bees won’t sting _______.
A. Children
B. Liars
C。 Niggers
D. Idiots
8。 Which character is the best symbol of kind-hearted civilization？
A。 Aunt Sally
B. Miss Watson
C. Widow Douglas
D. Mrs。 Lofthus
9。 Which of the following is most sympathetic to Mrs. Wright at the beginning of the play in Trifles？
A. Mr。 Hale
B。 Mrs. Hale
C. Mr。 Peters
D。 Mrs。 Peters
10. What does Blanche say caused her family to lose Belle Reve？
A. Her ancestors’ “epic fornications”
B。 Her ancestors’ dependence on slave labor
C。 Her father’s death
D。 Her mother's “spendthrift ways”
11. Which of the following does not function as a symbol in A Streetcar Named Desire？
A。 Lamplight
B。 The Varsouviana polka tune
C. Beer
D. Meat
12. Which of the following works is NOT written by Tennessee Williams？
A. The Glass Menagerie
B。 A Streetcar Named Desire
C。 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
D。 A Moon for the Misbegotten
13。 The Imagist writers followed three principles except ______。
A。 Direct treatment
B. Economy of expression
C. Clear rhythm
D. Blank verse
14. Which statement about O。 Henry is not right?
A。 He wrote about people of the middle class。
B. His stories are usually short and humorous。
C. He ends of his stories are always surprising。
D. Many of his stories contain a great deal of slang and colloquial expressions。
15. The short poem “The Great Figure” is a typical poem written by _______.
A. Hilda Doolittle
B. William Carlos Williams
C. Amy Lowel
D。 Thomas Sterns Eliot
16。 Sandburg is a famous American poet who composed the following poems except _______.
A. Fog
B。 Window
C. Autumn
D. The Harbor
17。 won the Pulitzer Prizes for four times。
A。 Robert Frost
B. Longfellow
C. Carl Sandburg
D. Ezra pound
18. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is written in what meter？
A. iambic pentameter
B。 iambic tetrameter
C。 varied meter
D。 trochaic tetrameter
19。 Who is Santiago’s hero？
A。 Harry Truman
B。 Joe DiMaggio
C. Manolin
D。 Perico
20。 On the night before he promises Manolin to go “far out" to sea, of what does Santiago dream？
A. a great storm
B. a beautiful woman
C. lions on the beach
D. a wrestling match
Part II。 Fill in the blanks。 （20 points)
1。 In A Rose for Emily, Faulkner presented the conflict between _______and .
2. Hawthorne wrote about the New England past， especially _______, the dominant religion of that time.
3. Hester and Dimmesdale meet to discuss their escape plan in the _______where Hester takes off the scarlet letter and throws it away.
4. Huck knows it's his father’s footprint because there is a small _______ in the heel.
5。 The raft is hit by a _______.
6。 Fortunato leads Montresor into the ________ of the Montresor family.
7. Poe’s literary theory included the idea that a short story can be read _______。
8。 The literal meaning of the name， Blanche DuBois is ______.
9. Name two of the trifle images in the play which are symbolic ______， ______.
10. The epigraph of The Streetcar Named Desire is taken from ________'s poem named _______。
11. The woman who undergoes some changes in terms of her attitude toward the suspect in the play Trifles is ______
12。 William Disney Porter， whose pen name was O。 Henry, was the author of _______(1906)， with the well—known stories “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Furnished Room"。
13。 Fitzgerald summarized the experiences and attitudes of the 1920s decade in his masterpiece novel ________。
14。 An American woman writer named Gertrude Stein who had lived in Paris since 1903， welcomed the young expatriates to her literary salon， and gave them a name “_________".
15。 ________ was the leader of a new movement in the poetry which is called the Imagist movement。
16。 When The Old Man and the Sea opens, it has been days since Santiago last caught a fish。
17. The poem “A Psalm of Life” written by calls upon people to be optimistic and strong-minded。
18. Hemingway’s novel is the story of a group of morally irresponsible Americans and Britons living in France and Spain， members of the so—called lost generation.
19。 The economical writing style of Hemingway was termed by himself “ ”。

Part III。 True or false questions。 （10 points）
1. Almost all the people in Jefferson including Miss Emily change their old views after the Civil War.
2。 Chillingworth knows that Dimmesdale is Pearl's father when Hester is questioned at the first scaffold scene。
3。 The name of the wrecked boat is the Walter Smith.
4. Montresor is part of the freemason society.
5. Trifles was written before women were given suffrage at the beginning of the 20th century America。
6。 New Orleans in The Streetcar Named Desire is an ethnically diversified, noisy lower—class environment。
7. Although short-lived, the Imagist movement had a tremendous influence on modern society。
8. Three American writers won the Nobel Prize for Literature during the years between the two world wars.
9. The major conflict of The Old Man and the Sea is the old man's struggle against the sharks.
10。 Santiago does not let his lines drift like the other fishermen because he believes it is imprecise, and he strives always to be exact.

Part IV。 Short questions。 (20 points)
1。 Who represent the past in “A Rose for Emily”? List at least two.
2. What is the most important theme of The Scarlet Letter？
3. What kind of revenge does Montresor want? （Not the actual thing he will do， but the quality of the revenge.）
4。 How does the use of the first person point of view in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn create irony？
5. Identify the climax in Trifles.
6. How is Mitch different from the other men in Stanley’s poker party in The Streetcar Named Desire? Can he be the chivalric hero that Blanche dreams of？
7. What is the author Fitzgerald’s attitude toward people as Tom and Daisy？
8。 What kind of love exists between Gatsby and Daisy？
9。 What is the symbolic meaning of the diverged roads in the poem “The Road not Taken”？
10。 How does Santiago exemplify the “Hemingway code of hero”?

Part V。 Answer the questions according to each passage. （30 points)
Passage 1
“Who is that man, Hester？" gasped Mr. Dimmesdale， overcome with terror。 “I shiver at him！ Dost thou know the man？ I hate him, Hester！”
She remembered her oath, and was silent。
“I tell thee， my soul shivers at him！” muttered the minister again。 “Who is he? Canst thou do nothing for me? I have a nameless horror of the man！”
“Minister, ” said little Pearl， “I can tell thee who he is!”
“Quickly， then, child！” said the minister， bending his ear close to her lips。 “Quickly！ -—- and as low as thou canst whisper.”
Peal mumbled something into his ear， that sounded, indeed like human language， but was only such gibberish as children may be heard amusing themselves with， by the hour together…the elfish child then laughed aloud。
“Dost thou mock me now?" said the minister.
“Thou wast not bold！ -—— Thou wast not true!" answered the child。 “Thou wouldst not promise to take my hand， and mother’s hand, tomorrow noontide！"
Questions:
1. Who is the man Dimmesdale shivers at？ （2 point)
2。 What is the oath that makes Hester keep silent? (2 point)
3. What do the last two paragraphs of the excerpt show about Pearl’s significant role in the story？ (2 points)

Passage 2
“Pass your hand,” I said， “over the wall; you cannot help feeling the nitre。 Indeed, it is very damp. Once more let me implore you to return. No? Then I must positively leave you。 But I must first render you all the little attentions in my power。"
“The Amontillado！” ejaculated my friend， not yet recovered from his astonishment。
“True，” I replied; “the Amontillado."
Questions:
1。 What just happened right before they say these lines？ （2 points）
2. Why is the friend astonished （surprised)? （2 points)
3. What is the irony in the reply？ (2 points)

Passage 3
Blanche: ［Singing blithely。] “Say， it’s only a paper moon, Sailing over a cardboard sea—But it wouldn't be make—believe if you believed in me!"
Stella: What about the—Flamingo？
Stanley： She stayed there, too。
Stella： My sister lived at Belle Reve.
Stanley: This is after the home—place had slipped through her lily—white fingers！ She moved to the Flamingo! A second—class hotel which has the advantage of not interfering in the private social life of the personalities there！ The flamingo is used to all kinds of goings—on. But even the management of the Flamingo was impressed by Dame Blanche！ In fact they was so impressed by Dame Blanche that they requested her to turn in her room key-for permanently! This happened a couple of weeks before she showed here。
Blanche： ［Singing。］ “It’s a Barnum and Bailey world。 Just as phony as it can be—But it wouldn’t be make believe if you believed in me!”
Stella： What—contemptible—lies!
Stanley: Sure, I can see how you would be upset by this。 She pulled he wool over your eyes as much as Mitch's!
Questions:
1。 What is the dramatic device that Williams adopts in the excerpt？ (1 point）
2。 What’s Blanche’s version of her story？ What has Stanley found out about Blanche？ (2 points)
3. What are the sources of animosity between Blanche and Stanley? （3 points）

Passage 4
FOG
The fog comes
On little cat feet.

It sits looking
Over harbor and city
On silent haunches
And then, moves on.
Questions:
1。 In what way does the short poem represent typical Imagist poems？ （3 points）
2。 How does a cat resemble the fog？ （3 points)

Passage 5
“I have never seen or heard of such a fish. But I must kill him。 I am glad we do not have to try to kill the stars。”
Imagine if each day a man must try to kill the moon, he thought。 The moon runs away. But imagine if a man each day should have to try to kill the sun？ We were born lucky, he thought。
Then he was sorry for the great fish that had nothing to eat and his determination to kill him never relaxed in his sorrow for him. How many people will he feed, he thought。 But are they worthy to eat him? There is no one worthy of eating him from the manner of his behavior and his great dignity.
I do not understand these things， he thought. But it is good that we do not have to try to kill the sun or the moon or the stars。 It is enough to live on the sea and kill our true brothers.
Questions：
1. How is the relationship between the old man and the marlin revealed in this passage？ (3 points）
2。 Why does Santiago feel lucky that he does not have to try to kill the sun， the moon， or the stars？ (3 points）
Keys to Final Examination Paper for
Selected Readings of American Literature
Date: Spring, 2005

Part I. Choose the best answer （20 points).
1. B 2。 C 3. A 4。 B 5. D 6. B 7. D 8. C 9。 B 10。 A
11。 C 12。 D 13. D 14. A 15。 B 16。 C 17。 A 18。 B 19. B 20. C

Part II. Fill in the blanks (20 points）.
1。 Emily； the town/townspeople
2. Puritanism
3。 forest
4。 Cross
5。 Steamboat
6. Catabombs
7。 at one sitting
8. white woods。
9。 dead bird， quilt， incomplete work, towels, knots， bread set （students should name at least two of them。)
10. Hart Crane，
11。 The Broken Tower Mrs。 Peters
12。 The Four Millon
13. The Great Gatsby
14. The Lost Generation
15. Ezra Pound
16。 84
17。 Longfellow
18. The Sun Also Rises
19. the iceberg principle

Part III. True or false questions （10 points)。
1。 F 2. F 3. F 4。 F 5。 T 6。 T 7。 T 8. F 9. F 10。 T

Part IV. Short questions (20 points）.
1。 Emily, Colonel Sartoris， the old Negro servant， the old Confederate soldiers， and the Board of Alderman who accepted the Colonel’s attitude toward Emily and rescinded her taxes。
2。 Unconfessed sin destroyed the soul。
3. They must mention the main idea of these two things in their answer： 1。 Punish without getting myself in danger/being punished in return and 2。 Make sure that Fortunato knows that I am punishing him
4. They should give at least one of these answers： 1. Huck doesn’t think things are funny and doesn’t have the mental ability to discern certain things, but we as readers know they are funny, sad, etc。 Thus, what the reader sees is different from what Huck sees, so it creates irony。 OR 2。 Because Huck has completely accepted the values of that society, he has also come to believe that helping a slave would be sinful and wrong。 Yet， we know that this is the exact opposite of the truth – slavery is what is really wrong. Thus, there is irony between what he feels is wrong and what is truly wrong。 He actually does the right thing, but he feels bad about it!
5. The climatic part of the play is when the strangled canary's body is found by the two women wrapped in a silk。 It is the part where the evidence is discovered about the motive of the murder.
6。 Mitch is more sensitive， gentlemanly, and compassionate than the other men in Stanley’s poker party。 But he fails to be the chivalric hero that Blanche dreams of， because he is to clumsy， sweaty， lacking the romantic perspectives and understanding of literature that Blanche has.
7. selfish, careless, and hypocritical
8. to Gatsby it is his life dream， to Daisy it is a romance and excitement
9. They represent any important decisions in one’s life. His choice of road is a “symbol for any choice in life between alternatives that appear almost equally attractive but will result through the years in a large difference in the kind of experience one knows。”
10。 According to the “Hemingway Code", a man is defined by will, pride， and endurance. Santiago， indeed, despite his age and poverty, is a "man" in the fullest sense of the word. Although his strength is gone his endurance and willed courage permit him to conquer the marlin。 Even faced with defeat， he does not quit。 “A man may be destroyed, but not defeated，” says Santiag