- 最新英语专业考研名校真题集：英美文学
- 吴中东 丁慧宇
- 3662字
- 2020-08-29 22:55:02
北京师范大学2008年硕士研究生入学考试试题
英语语言文学卷
Ⅰ.Identify the authors of the following works.（10 points）
1.The Importance of Being Earnest
2.My Last Duchess
3.Bleak House
4.The Turn of the Screw
5.The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock
6.Tom Jones
7.The Hairy Ape
8.Frankenstein
9.The Golden Notebook
10.Herzog
Ⅱ.Explain the following literary terms with reference to its genre，period of time，main features and representative writers.（6 points）
1.epistolary novels
2.stream of consciousness
Ⅲ.The following dialogue is from Plato’s Republic.Read it carefully and explain how Plato understands“representation”in relation to objects and“truth.”（8 points）
“We have seen that there are three sorts of bed.The first exists in nature，and we would say，I suppose，that it was made by god.No one else could have made it，could they？”
“I think not.”
“The second is made by the carpenter.”
“Yes.”
“And the third by the painter？”
“Granted.”
“So painter，carpenter，and god are each responsible for one kind of bed.”
“Yes.”
…
“So the tragic poet，if his art is representation，is by nature at third remove from the throne of truth；and the same is true of all other representative arts.”
“So it seems.”“We are agreed about representation，then.But，tell me，which does the painter try to represent？The thing-itself as it is in nature or the things the craftsman makes？”
“The things the craftsman makes？”
“As they are，or as they appear？There is still that distinction to make.”
“I don’t understand.”he said.
“What I mean is this.If you look at a bed，or anything else，sideways or endways or from some other angle，does it make any difference to the bed？Isn’t it merely that it looks different，without being different？And similarly with other things.”
“Yes，it’s the same bed，but it looks different.”
“Then consider—when the painter makes his representation，does he do so by reference to the object as it actually is or to its superficial appearance？Is his representation one of an apparition or of the truth？”
Ⅳ.Read the following poem by Robert Frost and answer questions according to the requirements.（16 points）
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood，
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler，long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth；
Then took the other，as just as fair，
And having perhaps the better claim，
Because it was grassy and wanted wear；
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh，I kept the first for another day！
Yet knowing how way leads to way，
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence：
Two roads diverged in a wood，and I—
I took the one less traveled by，
And that has made all the difference.
1.Please analyze the symbolic meanings of this poem with your understanding of the theme implied in it.（10 points）
2.Please point out one or two artistic features of the poem with the examples in the text.（6 points）
Ⅴ.Analytical Reading（30 points）：
This is a passage drawn from Chapter I of The Moon and Sixpence by Somerset Maugham.Please briefly answer the questions below it.
I confess that when first I made acquaintance with Charles Strickland I never for a moment discerned that there was in him anything out of the ordinary.Yet now few will be found to deny his greatness.I do not speak of that greatness which is achieved by the fortunate politician or the successful soldier；that is a quality which belongs to the place he occupies rather than to the man；and a change of circumstances reduces it to very discreet proportions.The Prime Minister out of office is seen，too often，to have been but a pompous rhetorician，and the General without an army is but the tame hero of a market town.The greatness of Charles Strickland was authentic.It may be that you do not like his art，but at all events you can hardly refuse it the tribute of your interest.He disturbs and arrests.The time has passed when he was an object of ridicule，and it is no longer a mark of eccentricity to defend or of perversity to extol him.His faults are accepted as the necessary complement to his merits.It is still possible to discuss his place in art，and the adulation of his admirers is perhaps no less capricious than the disparagement of his detractors；but one thing can never be doubtful，and that is that he had genius.To my mind the most interesting thing in art is the personality of the artist；and if that is singular，I am willing to excuse a thousand faults.I suppose Velasquez was a better painter than El Greco，but custom stales one’s admiration for him：the Cretan，sensual and tragic，proffers the mystery of his soul like a standing sacrifice.The artist，painter，poet，or musician，by his decoration，sublime or beautiful，satisfies the aesthetic sense；but that is akin to the sexual instinct，and shares its barbarity：he lays before you also the greater gift of himself.To pursue his secret has something of the fascination of a detective story.It is a riddle which shares with the universe the merit of having no answer.The most insignificant of Strickland’s works suggests a personality which is strange，tormented，and complex；and it is this surely which prevents even those who do not like his pictures from being indifferent to them；it is this which has excited so curious an interest in his life and character.
1.Please paraphrase the following sentences briefly.
a....that is a quality which belongs to the place he occupies rather than to the man；and a change of circumstances reduces it to very discreet proportions.（5 points）
b.He disturbs and arrests.（3 points）
2.Could you please describe Charles Strickland in less than 100 words of your own？（10 points）
3.Can you find out the author’s attitude to the art？What’s the author’s review to Charles Strickland？（12 points）
参考答案与解析
Ⅰ.Identify the authors of the following works.（10 points）
1.【答案】Oscar Wilde
【详解】《认真的重要性》（The Importance of Being Earnest）的是奥斯卡·王尔德（Oscar Wilde）的名剧。
2.【答案】Robert Browning
【详解】《我已故的公爵夫人》（My Last Duchess）是罗伯特·布朗宁（Robert Browning）的名诗，诗中成功地运用了戏剧独白这一艺术手法。
3.【答案】Charles Dickens
【详解】《荒凉山庄》（Bleak House）是查尔斯·狄更斯（Charles Dickens）的作品。
【拓展】Bleak House attacks the legal system and practices that aim at devouring every penny of the clients.
4.【答案】Henry James
【详解】《螺丝在拧紧》（The Turn of the Screw）是亨利·詹姆斯（Henry James）的作品。这部中篇小说乍读是一个令人心惊的鬼怪故事，它以精湛的艺术手法预示着20世纪心理小说的产生。
5.【答案】T.S.Eliot
【详解】《J.阿尔弗雷德·普鲁弗洛克的情歌》（The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock）是T.S.艾略特（T.S.Eliot）的名诗。
6.【答案】Henry Fielding
【详解】《汤姆·琼斯》（Tom Jones）是亨利·菲尔丁（Henry Fielding）的代表作品。
7.【答案】Eugene O’Neill
【详解】《毛猿》（The Hairy Ape）是尤金·奥尼尔（Eugene O’Neill）的代表作品之一。
8.【答案】Mary Shelley
【详解】《弗兰肯斯坦》（Frankenstein）是波西·比希·雪莱（Percy Bysshe Shelly）的妻子玛莉·雪莱（Mary Shelley）的作品。
【拓展】Frankenstein is infused with some elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic Movement.
9.【答案】Doris Lessing
【详解】《金色笔记》（The Golden Notebook）是多丽斯·莱辛（Doris Lessing）的代表作品之一。
10.【答案】Saul Bellow
【详解】《赫尔索格》（Herzog）是索尔·贝娄（Saul Bellow）的作品。
Ⅱ.Explain the following literary terms with reference to its genre，period of time，main features and representative writers.（6 points）
1.epistolary novels
（1）An epistolary novel is a novel told through the medium of letters written by one or more of the characters.The usual form is the letter，but diary entries，newspaper clipping and other documents are sometimes used.
（2）The epistolary novel’s reliance on subjective points of view makes it the forerunner of the modern psychological novel.Samuel Richardson’s Pamela is a case in point.
2.stream of consciousness
（1）Stream of consciousness has something to do with a method of storytelling in which the author tells the story through the freely flowing thoughts and associations of one of the characters.It is used to depict the mental and emotional reactions of characters to external events，rather than the events themselves.Here，the traditional chronological narrative is replaced by a seemingly jumbled collection of things through the mind，forcing the reader to piece together the“plot”of an incident.
（2）Among English writers，James Joyce and Virginia Woolf are two major advocates of this technique.
Ⅲ.The following dialogue is from Plato’s Republic.Read it carefully and explain how Plato understands“representation”in relation to objects and“truth.”（8 points）
【解题点津】
该对话选自柏拉图的《理想国》。题目要求解释影像与客体及真理的关系。对于三者之间的联系，柏拉图认为在现实世界之外，还有一个“理念”的世界存在着，并以三种床为喻：第一种床是神造的、自然的床，即自然中本有的理念的床（idea or truth）；第二种床是木匠根据第一种床制造出来的，是物质的床（object）；第三种床是画家对第二种现实之床的模仿，是影像的床（representation）。由此，柏拉图认为只有理念是真实存在的真理，它构成其他所有事物的原型，个别客体便是对理念的模仿，是理念的影像，而艺术或文艺的本质就成为模仿的模仿，影子的影子，不具有真理性。
Keys for Reference
（1）In Republic，Plato used three kinds of bed to illustrate his point on the relation among truth，object and representation：the concept of a bed originating from God，an actual bed imitated on the concept by a carpenter（object）and an imitation of an actual bed painted by an artist（representation）.
（2）In this sense，there are three kinds of creator or artist：God，the craftsman（carpenter）and the artist（a painter）.According to this system，God would be“creating from nothing，”the craftsman is“creating from God’s concept”and the third artist is the painter who，as a mere imitator of the imitation，is not classified as a true creator.In Plato’s opinion，artist is one who is thrice removed from truth.God or its idea is principle and truth itself，the creation of carpenter（object）is most close to truth and the creation of an artist（representation）is far from truth.
Ⅳ.Read the following poem by Robert Frost and answer questions according to the requirements.（16 points）
【解题点津】
本题考查美国诗人弗洛斯特的代表诗歌《未选之路》。题目要求分析诗歌的主题（人生道路中面对选择时的困惑以及接受自身选择的勇气和责任感）、象征意义（岔路的象征）以及艺术特色（韵律、修辞和语言风格）。这首哲理诗中，“我”面临林中岔路口的选择，最后决定不步前人后尘，选择一条少有人走的路。这揭示了关于人生的一个重要局面：做出选择或决定以及其中的难处。从某种意义上说，生活本身就是选择，世人多数都会在生活的十字路口做出抉择；因为选择不同，人生境况也会大相径庭。
1.Please analyze the symbolic meanings of this poem with your understanding of the theme implied in it.（10 points）
（1）As Robert Frost’s most widely anthologized poem，“The Road Not Taken”tells how the course of his life was determined when he came upon two roads that diverged in a wood on an autumn day.The poet，after much hesitation and reflection，challenged himself by choosing the one less traveled and since then his life was different.
（2）Symbolically，the roads mentioned in the poem are roads that man has to choose in life.The poet tells us that one has to give up something desirable so as to reap what seems better and each choice runs the risk of losing something beautiful.Man has to choose and must be responsible for what he has chosen.Whatever the outcome，one must accept the consequences of one’s choice for it is impossible to go back and have another chance to choose differently.The poet seems to say that it is of great importance to make a wise choice in life.
2.Please point one or two artistic features of the poem with the examples in the text.（6 points）
（1）The poem is very regularly structured with four classic five-line stanzas，with the rhyme scheme“abaab”in conversational and familiar rhythm.
（2）The poem uses many figures of speech such as assonance（the repetition of similar vowels in the stressed syllables of successive words）and metaphor.For example，in the line“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood，”the words“road”and“yellow”provide an example for assonance.In the poem，the road is also a metaphor for the difficulty of choice in life.
Ⅴ.Analytical Reading.（30 points）
【解题点津】
该选段选自英国著名作家威廉·萨默赛特·毛姆的三大长篇力作之一《月亮与六便士》的第一章。题目主要从对选段画线句的理解、主人公形象、作者对艺术和主人公的态度等方面来进行考查。在小说中，毛姆用第一人称的叙述手法，借“我”之口，讲述了主人公思特里克兰德原来是位成功的证券经纪人，人届中年后突然舍弃稳固的职业、美满的家庭，响应内心的呼唤独自前往巴黎学习绘画，后来又离开文明世界，远遁到与世隔绝的南太平洋的塔希提岛与土著人一起生活，创作出很多艺术杰作，最终客死他乡。通过刻画这样一个一心追求艺术、不通人情世故的怪才，毛姆在小说中对生活与艺术两者的矛盾和相互作用以及人生的真正意义进行了深入的思考和探讨。
1.Please paraphrase the following sentences briefly.
a....that is a quality which belongs to the place he occupies rather than to the man；and a change of circumstances reduces it to very discreet proportions.（5 points）
The greatness is a quality which is considered according to the status that he rests on than to the man himself；and any change of his professional position will make his greatness decline.
b.He disturbs and arrests.（3 points）
His works inspire and interest us.
2.Could you please describe Charles Strickland in less than 100 words of your own？（10 points）
Charles Strickland was once a successful stock broker，while his wife describes him chiefly as the dull，uninteresting husband.At his middle age，Strickland is suddenly crazy at his uncontrollable desire to paint.He is so repulsive that he leaves London and goes to Paris without telling his wife and other people，which makes the others misunderstand him.He is a genius indeed，yet a strange man as well.But to some extent，he is so selfish that he only cares about his desire and himself without social responsibility.
3.Can you find out the author’s attitude to the art？What’s the author’s review to Charles Strickland？（12 points）
（1）Maugham announces early on his view of art：“…art is a manifestation of emotion，and emotion speaks a language that all may understand.”By the description of the character，Strickland，the author demonstrates that art is the most important thing in the world and all other common pleasures in life seem unimportant.
（2）There is undeniably something heroic about Strickland’s risk taking and something awesome about his sureness of self.As the spokesman of the author，the narrator once thought that“the greatness of Charles Strickland was authentic.”The author is totally understanding and has pity on Charles Strickland and believes that he is a real genius，though he looks ordinary.