Part Ⅲ: Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternative answers. Choose the one that would best complete the statement. (50%)
1. Which of the following cannot be said of American literature from the early 1800s to the beginning of the Civil War?( )
A. American type of characters speaking local dialects appeared in the fiction
B. There was a stress on law and reason in literary writings of the time
C. There was faith in the value of individualism and self-reliance
D. There was a desire for an escape from civilized society and a return to the ennobling nature
2. The main philosophical concern in the debate of Transcendentalism are generally about __________.( )
A. nature, man and the universe
B. the relationship between man and woman
C. the development of Romanticism in America
D. the cold, rigid rationalism of Unitarianism
3. Which of the following book was regarded as the first work that had won financial success on both sides of the Atlantic in the first half of the 19th century?( )
A. The Sketch Book B. Charles the Second
C. The Scarlet Letter D. Moby Dick
4. According to Emerson, which of the following is said of nature?( )
A. It is emblematic of the spiritual world, alive with God’s overwhelming presence.
B. It exercises a healthy and restorative influence on human mind
C. Without nature man can improve himself and become spiritually whole.
D. both A and B
5. As a man of literary craftsmanship, Hawthorne is good at __________.( )
A. exploring the complexity of human psychology, especially the power of blackness deep in people’s heart
B. exploring the goodness hidden deeply in people’s heart
C. exploring the complexity of human psychology, especially the puritans’ confusion before the real world
D. both A and C
6. As to the great novel Moby-Dick which of the following statements is right?( )
A. It is a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth and knowledge of the universe.
B. It’s a spiritual exploration into man’s deep reality and psychology
C. It is only a simple whaling tale or sea adventure
D. both A and B
7. The greatest realist Mark Twain has coined the term“ The Gilded Age”, which later usually refers to __________ in American history.( )
A. the Romantic Period B. the Realistic Period
C. the Modern Age D. the Postmodern Age
8. About the American Naturalism, which of the following statements is right?( )
A. They preferred to have their own region and people at the forefront of the stories.
B. Their characteristic setting is an isolated town.
C. Their characters were conceived more or less complex combinations of inherited attributes, their habits conditioned by social and economic forces.
D. none of the above
9. Mark Twain had gradually changed from __________ to __________ by the turn of the century, which could be felt in his books The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg and The Mysterious Stranger.( )
A. an almost despairing pessimist ...an optimist
B. an optimist ... an almost despairing pessimist
C. a local colorist ... a naturalist
D. a naturalist ... a local colorist
10. Which of the following is not written by Henry James?( )
A. The Portrait of A Lady and The Europeans
B. The Wings of the Dove and The Ambassadors
C. The Golden Bowl and The Gilded Age
D. What Maisie Knows and The Bostonians
