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1、广外美国文学期末考试样题美国文学期末考试样题 Part One： Short Answers Identify the author and the title of the work from which each of the following excerpts is taken. And then answer the question after each excerpt. Choose only FIVE items to do. 1. That it was therefore every ones Interest to be virtuous， who wishd to be
2、 happy even in this World. And I should from this Circumstance have endeavored to convince young Persons， that no Qualities were so likely to make a poor Mans Fortune as those of Probity and Integrity. Question： What advice does the author give to young people？ 2. In truth， his own antipathy to the
3、veil was known to be so great， that he never willingly passed before a mirror， nor stooped to drink at a still fountain， lest， in its peaceful bosom， he should be affrighted by himself. This was what gave plausibility to the whispers， that Mr. Hoopers conscience tortured him for some great crime， to
4、o horrible to be entirely concealed， or otherwise than so obscurely intimated. Question： Why is Mr. Hooper so afraid of his own reflection？ 3. Since then- tis Centuries-and yet Feels shorter than the Day I first surmised the Horses Heads Were toward Eternity Question： What is the surprise in this fi
5、nal stanza？ 4. When I， sitting， heard the astronomer， where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room， How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick； Till rising and gliding out I wanderd off by myself， In the mystical moist night-air， and from time to time， Lookd up in perfect silence at
6、the stars. Question： How is the narrators relationship with the stars different from the astronomers？ 5. At the door I met the sociable Wheeler returning， and he buttonholed me and recommended： Well， thish-yer Smiley had a yaller one-eyed cow that didnt have no tail， only jest a short stump like a b
7、annanner， and However， lacking both time and inclination， I did not wait to hear about the afflicted cow， but took my leave. Question： What is the narrators attitude toward Simon Wheeler and his story？ 6. I vill lock you oudt， he declared， in strongly accented English， while she tried to slip by him
8、 each time. I vill show you. Du sollst come yen I say， yet. Hear now. Now， Ill never speak to you any more， if thats the way youre going to do. My father dont allow me to kiss boys， anyhow， and then she would run， half ashamed， half smiling to herself as he would stare after her， or if she lingered，
9、 develop a kind of anger and even rage. Question： How does Theresas language differ from her fathers？ 7. Our nada who art in nada， nada be thy name thy kingdom nada thy will be nada in nada as it is in nada. Give us this nada our daily nada and nada us our nada as we nada our nadas and nada us not i
10、nto nada and nada us our nada as we nada our nadas and nada us not into nada but deliver us from nada； pues nada. Hail nothing full of nothing， nothing is with thee. Question： Why does the author replace some words in the prayer with nada？ 8. Something there is that doesnt love a wall， That sends th
11、e frozen-ground-swell under it， And spills the upper boulders in the sun， And makes gaps even two can pass abreast. Question： What does Something in the first line refer to？ Part Two： Short Essay Choose ONE of the following excerpts and write an essay of about 200 words on the questions after it. Yo
12、ur essay should be well-developed， consisting of your argument， supporting details， and a conclusion of your ideas. Excerpt 1. “I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids， and nobodys aroundnobody big， I meanexcept me. And Im s
13、tanding on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do， I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliffI mean if theyre running and they dont look where theyre going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. Thats all Id do all day. Id just be the catcher in the rye and all.
14、 I know its crazy， but thats the only thing Id really like to be. I know its crazy.” Question： What is Holdens ambition？ What does he see as a danger to the kids？ Excerpt 2. CABOT The farm needs a son. ABBIE I need a son. CABOT Ay-eh. Sometimes ye air the farm an sometimes the farm be yew. Thats why
15、 I clove t ye in my lonesomeness. Me an the farm has got t beget a son！ ABBIE Yed best go t sleep. Yere gittin thins all mixed. CABOT No， I haint. My minds clears a well. Ye dont know me， thats it. ABBIE Mebbe. ABBIE Ye shouldnt， Ebenye shouldntId make ye happy！ EBEN I dont want t be happyfrom yew！
16、ABBIE Ye do， Eben！ Ye do！ Why dye lie？ EBEN I dont take t ye， I tell ye！ I hate the sight o ye！ ABBIE Waal， I kissed ye anywaysan ye kissed backyer lips was burninye cant lie bout that！ If ye dont care， why did ye kiss me backwhy was yer lips burnin？ Question： The second conversation in the above ex
17、cerpt takes place immediately after the first one. What do you think is Abbies real intention of showing affection to Eben？ Part Three： Critical Reading Read the story The Use of Force by William Carlos Williams， and answer the following questions in a one-paragraph essay of about 100 words. Be sure
18、 to write a topic sentence and include evidence if possible. Questions： What conflict is presented in the story？ What does the story say about the use of force in civilized life？ The Use of Force William Carlos Williams They were new patients to me， all I had was the name， Olson. Please come down as
19、 soon as you can， my daughter is very sick. When I arrived I was met by the mother， a big startled looking woman， very clean and apologetic who merely said， Is this the doctor？ And let me in. In the back， she added. You must excuse us， doctor， we have her in the kitchen where it is warm. It is very
20、damp here sometimes. The child was fully dressed and sitting on her fathers lap near the kitchen table. He tried to get up， but I motioned for him not to bother， took off my overcoat and started to look things over. I could see that they were all very nervous， eyeing me up and down distrustfully. As
21、 often， in such cases， they werent telling me more than they had to， it was up to me to tell them； thats why they were spending three dollars on me. The child was fairly eating me up with her cold， steady eyes， and no expression to her face whatever. She did not move and seemed， inwardly， quiet； an
22、unusually attractive little thing， and as strong as a heifer in appearance. But her face was flushed， she was breathing rapidly， and I realized that she had a high fever. She had magnificent blonde hair， in profusion. One of those picture children often reproduced in advertising leaflets and the pho
23、togravure sections of the Sunday papers. Shes had a fever for three days， began the father and we dont know what it comes from. My wife has given her things， you know， like people do， but it dont do no good. And theres been a lot of sickness around. So we thot youd better look her over and tell us w
24、hat is the matter. As doctors often do I took a trial shot at it as a point of departure. Has she had a sore throat？ Both parents answered me together， No No， she says her throat dont hurt her. Does your throat hurt you？ Added the mother to the child. But the little girls expression didnt change nor
25、 did she move her eyes from my face. Have you looked？ I tried to， said the mother， but I couldnt see. As it happens we had been having a number of cases of diphtheria in the school to which this child went during that month and we were all， quite apparently， thinking of that， though no one had as ye
26、t spoken of the thing. Well， I said， suppose we take a look at the throat first. I smiled in my best professional manner and asking for the childs first name I said， come on， Mathilda， open your mouth and lets take a look at your throat. Nothing doing. Aw， come on， I coaxed， just open your mouth wid
27、e and let me take a look. Look， I said opening both hands wide， I havent anything in my hands. Just open up and let me see. Such a nice man， put in the mother. Look how kind he is to you. Come on， do what he tells you to. He wont hurt you. At that I ground my teeth in disgust. If only they wouldnt u
28、se the word hurt I might be able to get somewhere. But I did not allow myself to be hurried or disturbed but speaking quietly and slowly I approached the child again. As I moved my chair a little nearer suddenly with one catlike movement both her hands clawed instinctively for my eyes and she almost
29、 reached them too. In fact she knocked my glasses flying and they fell， though unbroken， several feet away from me on the kitchen floor. Both the mother and father almost turned themselves inside out in embarrassment and apology. You bad girl， said the mother， taking her and shaking her by one arm.
30、Look what youve done. The nice man For heavens sake， I broke in. Dont call me a nice man to her. Im here to look at her throat on the chance that she might have diphtheria and possibly die of it. But thats nothing to her. Look here， I said to the child， were going to look at your throat. Youre old e
31、nough to understand what Im saying. Will you open it now by yourself or shall we have to open it for you？ Not a move. Even her expression hadnt changed. Her breaths however were coming faster and faster. Then the battle began. I had to do it. I had to have a throat culture for her own protection. Bu
32、t first I told the parents that it was entirely up to them. I explained the danger but said that I would not insist on a throat examination so long as they would take the responsibility. If you dont do what the doctor says youll have to go to the hospital， the mother admonished here severely. Oh yea
33、h？ I had to smile to myself. After all， I had already fallen in love with the savage brat， the parents were contemptible to me. In the ensuing struggle they grew more and more abject， crushed， exhausted while she surely rose to magnificent heights of insane fury of effort bred of her terror of me. T
34、he father tried his best， and he was a big man but the fact that she was his daughter， his shame at her behavior and his dread of hurting her made him release her just at the critical times when I had almost achieved success， till I wanted to kill him. But his dread also that she might have diphther
35、ia made him tell me to go on， go on though he himself was almost fainting， while the mother moved back and forth behind us raising and lowering her hands in an agony of apprehension. Put her in front of you on your lap， I ordered， and hold both her wrists. But as soon as he did the child let out a s
36、cream. Dont， youre hurting me. Let go of my hands. Let them go I tell you. Then she shrieked terrifyingly， hysterically. Stop it！ Stop it！ Youre killing me！ Do you think she can stand it， doctor！ said the mother. You get out， said the husband to his wife. Do you want her to die of diphtheria？ Come o
37、n now， hold her， I said. Then I grasped the childs head with my left hand and tried to get the wooden tongue depressor between her teeth. She fought， with clenched teeth， desperately！ But now I also had grown furiousat a child. I tried to hold myself down but I couldnt. I know how to expose a throat
38、 for inspection. And I did my best. When finally I got the wooden spatula behind the last teeth and just the point of it into the mouth cavity， she opened up for an instant but before I could see anything she came down again and gripped the wooden blade between her molars she reduced it to splinters
39、 before I could get it out again. Arent you ashamed， the mother yelled at her. Arent you ashamed to act like that in front of the doctor？ Get me a smooth-handled spoon of some sort， I told the mother. Were going through with this. The childs mouth was already bleeding. Her tongue was cut and she was
40、 screaming in wild hysterical shrieks. Perhaps I should have been better. But I have seen at least two children lying dead in bed of neglect in such cases， and feeling that I must get a diagnosis now or never I went at it again. But the worst of it was that too had got beyond reason. I could have to
41、rn the child apart in my own fury and enjoyed it. It was a pleasure to attack her. My face was burning with it. The damned little brat must be protected against her own idiocy， one says to ones self at such times. Others must be protected against her. It is a social necessity. And all these things a
42、re true. But a blind fury， a feeling of adult shame， bred of a longing for muscular release are the operatives. One goes on to the end. In the final unreasoning assault I overpowered the childs neck and jaws. I forced the heavy silver spoon back of her teeth and down her throat till she gagged. And
43、there it wasboth tonsils covered with membrane. She had fought valiantly to keep me from knowing her secret. She had been hiding that sore throat for three days at least and lying to her parents in order to escape just such an outcome as this. Now truly she was furious. She had been on the defensive
44、 before but now she attacked. Tried to get off her fathers lap and fly at me while tears of defeat blinded her eyes. Glossary： heifer： young cow； calf profusion： abundance； plenty photogravure： photography； photo-copying thot： thought trial shot： guess diphtheria： fatal illness throat culture： laboratory test of the throat apprehension： nervousness depressor： flat stick spatula： flat stick molars： rear teeth diagnosis： medical opinion membrane： infection
