2.2　考研真题与典型题详解

I. Fill in the blanks.

1．______ conquered England on October 14, 1066. From then on began the medieval period. （南开大学2008研）

【答案】Duke of Normandy

【解析】公元1066年，诺曼底公爵，或者叫William the Conqueror（征服者威廉），占领英格兰，从此开始了中世纪时期。

2．The most magnificent prose work of the 15th century is Le Morte D’ Arthur concerning with ______ legend.

【答案】Arthurian

【解析】15世纪左右公认的集大成作品为《亚瑟王之死》，是关于亚瑟王的传奇故事。

3．The only important prose writer in the 15th century is Sir ______.

【答案】Thomas Malory

【解析】15世纪最著名的散文家是托马斯·马洛里爵士，他将众多的关于亚瑟王的传奇故事收录为集大成之作《亚瑟王之死》，是英国第一部重要的散文。

4．In 55 B.C., Britain was invaded by ______, the Roman conqueror. Along with the invasion came the ______ into Britain.

【答案】Julius Caesar, Roman mode of life

【解析】公元前凯撒大帝率军征服不列颠。在罗马统治期间，罗马生活方式传入不列颠。

5．In the year 1066, the Normans defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the battle of ______.

【答案】Hastings

【解析】1066年黑斯廷斯战役，盎格鲁-撒克逊人溃败，诺曼征服开始。

6．After the ______ Conquest, feudal system was established in English society.

【答案】Norman

【解析】诺曼征服后英国封建主义制度建立。

7．The year of ______ witnessed a famous peasant uprising led by Wat Tyler and John Ball.

【答案】1381

【解析】Wat Tyler和John Ball领导了1381年著名的农民暴动。

II. Multiple Choices

1．In English poetry, a quatrain is ______. （北京第二外国语学院2008研）

A. a four-line stanza

B. a couplet

C. a fourteen-line stanza

D. a terza rima

【答案】A

【解析】quatrain即四行诗；a couplet是对句；a fourteen-line stanza是十四行诗，也就是sonnet；a terza rima是三韵句。

2．Knights of the Round Table are characters serving ______ in legends, which depict chivalry in early literature. （北京第二外国语学院2007研）

A. Sir Lancelot

B. Sir Godwin

C. King Arthur

D. King Henry VIII

【答案】C

【解析】圆桌骑士是中世纪传说中亚瑟王宫廷里最高等的骑士，因聚会的桌子是圆桌而得名。

3．Romance was a type of literature that was very popular in the ______. （四川大学2008研）

A. Renaissance period

B. seventeenth century

C. Middle Ages

D. eighteenth century

【答案】C

【解析】Romance是富有浪漫色彩的恋爱故事或冒险故事，是中世纪在欧洲非常流行的一种文学体裁，著名作品如《亚瑟王之死》等。

4．______ was the greatest of English religious reformers and the first translator of the Bible.

A. Langland

B. Gower

C. Wycliffe

D. Chaucer

【答案】C

【解析】威克里夫是一位宗教改革家，同时也是把《圣经》翻译成英文的第一人。

5．The story of ______ is the culmination of the Arthurian romances.

A. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

B. The Song of Beowulf

C. Piers the Plowman

D. The Canterbury Tales

【答案】A

【解析】亚瑟王传奇由多套诗组成，《高文爵士与绿衣骑士》可谓是巅峰之作；《贝奥武甫》是一首史诗，它主要记述了英雄贝奥武甫与格伦德尔，女妖和火龙战斗的英勇事迹；《农夫皮尔斯》是朗格兰的代表作，作者通过一系列的梦境，对14世纪英国的社会状况进行了生动形象的描述：《坎特伯雷故事集》是乔叟的代表作，在此作品中作者把各种各样的人聚集在一起，让处于每个社会阶层的人讲自己最喜欢的故事，以此来描述当时英国社会的生活。

6．After the Norman Conquest, three languages existed in England at that time. The Normans spoke ______.

A. French

B. English

C. Latin

D. Swedish

【答案】A

【解析】诺曼征服后英国出现了三种语言鼎立的局面。国王和日耳曼的宫廷贵族使用法语；拉丁语成为教会和学校的主要语言；平民百姓使用英语。

III. Explain the following terms.

1．Middle English period

Key: The four and a half centuries between the Norman Conquest in 1066, which effected radical changes in the language, life, and culture of England, and about 1500, when the standard literary language had become recognizably “modern English”, that is, similar to the language we speak and write today.

2．Arthurian legend

Key: It is a group of tales (in several languages) that developed in the Middle Ages concerning Arthur, semi-historical king of the Britons and his knights. The legend is a complex weaving of ancient Celtic mythology with later traditions around a core of possible historical authenticity.

IV. Short answer questions

1．What is the influence of the Norman Conquest upon English language and literature?

Key: (1) During the period of the Norman Conquest, English and Norman-French existed side by side in England, together with Latin. French for quite a long time prevailed among the nobles; Latin was at bigger schools and it was also used in the churches and monasteries; and the lower ranks made use of English.

(2) In this period, English language had experienced gradual but radical and extensive changes. Thousands of words were borrowed from French and through French from Latin and also Greek, but many English words disappeared at the same time. The English language in this transitional stage from Old English to Modern English has generally been known as Middle English.

(3) The literature was varied in interest and extensive in range. The Normans began to write histories or chronicles. Most of them were written in Latin or French. The prevailing form of literature in the feudal England was the Romance.

（此题主要从诺曼征服时期英语语言的变化和这一时期出现的文学形式两个方面回答。）

2．What are the essential features of romance in the medieval English literature?

Key: The romance was a prevailing form of literature in the Middle Ages. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, used to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds. Its essential features are:

(1) The central character of the romance is the knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons. He is commonly described as riding forth to accomplish some missions--to protect the church, to attack infidelity, to rescue a maiden, to meet a challenge or to obey a knightly command.

(2) Romantic love is an important part of the plot in the romance.

(3) It lacks general resemblance to truth or reality.

(4) The structure is loose and episodic, and the language is simple and straight forward.

V. Essay question

Make comments on the romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Key: (1) The story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the culmination of the Arthurian romances. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, used to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds.

(2) This romance is an interesting combination of French and Saxon element. It is written in an elaborate stanza combining meter and alliteration. At the end of each stanza, there is a rimed refrain.

(3) Its theme is a series of tests on faith, courage, purity and human weakness for self-preservation.

(4) Besides, the romance gives the reader an engrossing tale well told, vested in beautiful poetry and containing many artistic merits. With a preference for irony, suggestion and implication, the author tries to make his romance the vehicle of a wise morality in which the humorous grotesque merges with the morally serious. Its language is simple and straightforward. That is why the poem has shared great popularity over and above most other romances of the period.

（此题主要从《高文爵士与绿衣骑士》的写作风格和主题两方面来作答。）