Exercises of British Literature(Part One)
Exercises of British Literature
Part One
Choose the best answer for each statement.
1. In the 14th century, the most important writer (poet) is ________.
A. Langland
B. Wyclif
C. Gower
D. Chaucer
2. The prevailing form of Medieval English literature is the ________.
A. novel
B. drama
C. romance
D. essay
3. The story of ________ is the culmination of the Arthurian romances.
A. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
B. The story of Beowulf
C. Piers the Plowman
D. The Canterbury Tales
4. After the Norman Conquest, three languages existed in England at that time. The Normans spoke ________.
A. French
B. English
C. Latin
D. Swedish
5. The theme of ________ to king and lord was repeatedly emphasized in romances.
A. loyalty
B. revolt
C. obedience
D. mockery
6. The most famous cycle of English ballads centers on the stories about a legendary outlaw called ________.
A. Morte d’ Arthur
B. Robin Hood
C. The Canterbury Tales
D. Piers the Plowman
7. ________, the “father of English poetry” and one of the greatest narrative poets of England, was born in London about 1340.
A. Geoffrey Chaucer
B. Sir Gawain
C. Francis Bacon
D. John Dryden
8. ________ is the most common foot in English poetry.
A. The iamb
B. The anapest
C. The trochee
D. The dactyl
9. ________ was the first to be buried in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey.
A. Chaucer
B. Shakespeare
C. Marlow
D. Spenser
10. In his life-time Chaucer served in a great variety of occupations which had impact
on the wide range of his writings. Which one is not his career?
A. engineer
B. courtier
C. officer holder
D. soldier
E. ambassador
F. legislator
11. Generally speaking, Chaucer’s works fall into three main groups corresponding roughly to the three periods of his adult life. Which period is wrong?
A. The period of French influence (1359-1372)
B. the period of Italian influence (1372-1386)
C. the period of English influence (1386-1400)
D. the period of American influence (1371-1382)
12. In The Canterbury Tales, what tales together with the Prologue are generally regarded as the best of the whole collection?
A. the King’s tale
B. the Pardoner’s tale
C. the tale of Nun’s Priest
D. the Wife of Bath’s tale
13. Chaucer’s diplomatic missions to Italy enabled him to study the poems of ________, famous Italian writers of the Renaissance period, which were later to have profound influence upon his own writing.
A. Dante
B. Petrarch
C. Homer
D. Boccaccio
14. The progress in industry at home stimulated the commercial expansion abroad. ________ encouraged exploration and travel, which were compatible with the interests of the English merchants.
A. Henry V
B. Henry VII
C. Henry VIII
D. Queen Elizabeth
15. Except being a victory of England over ________, the rout of the fleet “Armada”(Invincible) was also the triumph of the rising young bourgeoisie over the declining of old feudalism.
A. Spain
B. France
C. America
D. Norway
16. At the beginning of the 16th century the outstanding humanist ________ wrote his Utopia in which he gave a profound and truthful picture of the people’s suffering and put forward his ideal of a future happy society.
A. Thomas More
B. Thomas Marlow
C. Francis Bacon
D. William Shakespeare
17. The hero in the romance is usually the ________.
A. king
B. knight
C. Christ
D. churchman
18. Absolute monarchy in England reached its summit during the reign of Queen ________.
A. Mary
B. Elizabeth
C. William
D. Victoria
19. English Renaissance Period was an age of ________.
A. prose and novel
B. poetry and drama
C. essay and journals
D. ballads and songs
20. From the following, choose the one which is not Francis Bacon’s work: ________.
A. The Advancement of Learning
B. The New Instrument
C. Essays
D. The New Atlantics
D. Venus and Adonis
21. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” This is the beginning line of one of Shakespeare’s ________.
A. songs
B. plays
C. comedies
D. sonnets
22. In English poetry, a four-line stanza is called ________.
A. heroic couplet
B. quatrain
C. Spenserian stanza
D. terza rima
23. Choose the “University Wits” from the following playwrights: ________.
A. John Lyly
B. Robert Greens
C. William Shakespeare
D. Christopher Marlow
E. Thomas Kyd
24. In 1593 and 1594, William Shakespeare published his two narrative poems, which are ________.
A. Venus and Adonis
B. Astrophel and Stella
C. The Rape of Lucrece
D. Volpone
25. The heroines of Shakespeare’s great comedies, ________ are the daughters of Renaissance, whose images and stories will remain a legacy to readers and audiences of all time.
A. Portia
B. Rosaland
C. Viola
D. Beatrice
26. Choose the four great tragedies of Shakespeare from the following: ________.
A. Hamlet
B. Othello
C. Macbeth
D. King Lear
E. Timon of Athens
27. With the performance of ________ in 1613, which caused the burning of the Global Theatre by firing of the cannon at the end of Act I, ended Shakespeare’s dramatic career.
A. Measure for Measure
B. Antony and Cleopatra
C. Coriolanus
D. Henry VIII
28. Which play is not a comedy? ________.
A. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
B. The Merchant of Venice
C. Twelfth Night
D. Romeo and Juliet
E. As You Like It
29. Which historical plays were written by Shakespeare? ________.
A. Henry VI
B. Henry IV
C. Richard III
D. Henry V
E. Richard II
F. Charles I
G. Otto the Great
30. “Denmark is a prison”. In which play does the hero summarize his observation of his world into such a bitter sentence? ________.
A. Charles I
B. Othello
C. Henry VIII
D. Hamlet
31. The works of ________ and the Authorized Version of the English Bible are the two great treasuries of the English language.
A. Geoffrey Chaucer
B. Edmund Spenser
C. William Shakespeare
D. Ben Johnson
32. In which play does the hero show his profound reverence for man through the sentence: “What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty!” ________.
A. Romeo and Juliet
B. Hamlet
C. Othello
D. The Merchant of Venice
33. In 1649, ________ was beheaded. England became a commonwealth.
A. James I
B. James II
C. Charles I
D. Charles II
34. The revolution of 1688 meant three of the following things: ________.
A. the supremacy of Parliament
B. the beginning of modern England
C. the triumph of the principle of political liberty
D. the Restoration of monarchy
35. Who of the following were the important metaphysical poets?
A. John Donne
B. George Herbert
C. John Milton
D. Richard Lovelace
36. John Milton wrote a number of pamphlets defending the English people. Choose them from the following. ________.
A. Defence of the English People
B. Second Defence of the English People
C. L’ Allegro
D. Il Penseroso
37. Which works were written by John Milton?
A. Paradise Lost
B. Paradise Regained
C. Samson Agonistes
D. Volpone
38. Which was not written by John Milton?
A. Arepagitica
B. Lycidas
C. L’ Allegro
D. Song to Celia
39. Paradise Lost is ________.
A. John Milton’s masterpiece
B. a great epic in 12 books
C. written in blank verse
D. about the heroic revolt of Satan against God’s authority
40. John Milton is ________.
A. a great revolutionary poet of the 17th century
B. an outstanding political pamphleteer
C. a great stylist
D. a great master of blank verse
41. John Milton wrote his best-known prose work, ________, in the form of a speech addressed to the House of Parliament, in which he appealed for the freedom of the press.
A. Of Reformation in England
B. Lycidas
C. Areopagitica
D. L’ Allegro
42. From the Old Testament, John Milton took his stories of Paradise Lost, i.e. ________.
A. the creation
B. the rebellion in Heaven of Satan and his fellow-angels
C. their defeat and expulsion from Heaven
D. the creation of the earth and of Adam and Eve
E. the fallen angels in hell plotting against God
F. Satan’s temptation of Eve
G. the departure of Adam and Eve from Eden
43. The finest thing in Paradise Lost is the description of hell, and ________ is often regarded as the real hero of the poem.
A. God
B. Satan
C. Adam
D. Raphael
44. John Milton was ________.
A. one of the giants of English literature in the 17th century
B. blind in his later life
C. a distinguished Revolutionary writer
D. the greatest poet and pamphleteer in his age
E. the author of Samson Agonistes
45. Which were not written by John Milton? ________.
A. Song to Celia
B. Il Penseroso
C. Defence of the English People
D. Lycidas
D. As You Like It
46. In his blindness, Milton wrote his most important poetic works, such as ________.
A. Paradise Lost
B. Samson Agonistes
C. Paradise Regained
D. The Pilgrim’s Progress
C. L’ Allegro
47. The main literary form of the seventeenth century was poetry. Among the poets, John Milton was the greatest. Besides him, there were two groups of poets. They were ________.
A. the lake poets
B. the university wits
C. the Metaphysical poets
D. the Cavalier poets
E. the Active Romantic poets
48. Who is the greatest of the Metaphysical school of poetry? ________.
A. John Donne
B. George Herbert
C. Andrew Marvell
D. Henry Vaughan
49. ________ was a progressive intellectual movement throughout Western Europe in the 18th century.
A. The Renaissance
B. The Enlightenment
C. The Religious Reformation
D. The Chartist Movement
50. Most of the English writers in the 18th century were enlighteners. They fell into two groups, one is ________, and the other is ________.
A. the moderate group; the radical group
B. the passive Romantic poets; the active Romantic poets
C. the Metaphysical poets; the Cavalier poets
D. the lakers; the sentimentalists
51. In the 18th century, satire was much used in writing, English literature of this age produced some excellent satirists, such as ________.
A. Alexander Pope
B. Jonathan Swift
C. Henry Fielding C. Daniel Defoe
E. William Blake
52. The main literary stream of the 18th century was ________. What the writers described in their works were mainly social realities.
A. naturalism
B. romanticism
C. classicism
D. realism
E. sentimentalism
53. The eighteenth century was the golden age of the English _________. The novel of this period spoke the truth about life with an uncompromising courage.
A. drama
B. poetry
C. essay
D. novel
54. In 1704, Jonathan Swift published two works together, ________ and ________, which made his well-known as a satirist.
A. A Tale of a Tub
B. Bickerstaff Almana
C. Gulliver’s Travels
D. The Battle of the Books
55. Which of the following place does Gulliver visit first in Gulliver’s Travels? ________.
A. Lilliput
B. Brobdingnag
C. Laputa
D. Houyhnhnms
56. In a series of pamphlets Jonathan Swift denounced the cruel and unjust treatment of Ireland by the English government. Two of the most famous ones are ________.
A. Gulliver’s Travels
B. The Drapier’s Letters
C. The Battle of the Books
D. A Modest Proposal
57. “Proper words in proper places, makes the true definition of a style.”This sentence is said by ________, one of the greatest masters of English prose.
A. Alexander Pope
B. Henry Fielding
C. Daniel Defoe
D. Jonathan Swift
58. Which of the following works are written by Daniel Defoe? ________.
A. The Shortest Way with the Dissenters
B. Hymn to the Pillory
C. The Truborn Englishman---A Satire
D. Captain Singleton
E. Robinson Crusoe
F. Pamela
59. As a journalist, ________ had learned how to make his reporting vivid and credible by a skillful use of circumstantial detail. This power to make his characters alive and his stories credible is an inimitable gift.
A. Joseph Addison
B. Daniel Defoe
C. Samuel Richardson
D. Tobias Smollett
60. The sentence of “The plowman homeward plods his weary way, / And leaves the world to darkness and to me” is written by ________.
A. William Cowper
B. George Crabbe
C. Thomas Gray
D. William Blake
61. ________ are written by William Blake.
A. Poetical Sketches
B. Songs of Innocence
C. Songs of Experience
D. Auld Lang Syne
E. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
F. Prophecies
62. “In seed time learn, in heaven teach, in winter enjoy.” This proverb is cited from William Blake’s ________.
A. Songs of Experience
B. Songs of Innocence
C. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
D. Poetical Sketches
63. Which of the following works are written by Robert Burns? ________.
A. A Red, Red Rose
B. Bruce at Bannockburn
C. The Jolly Beggars
D. The Slave’s Lament
E. Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect
64. In the 18th century English literature, the representative poets of pre-romanticism were ________.
A. Alexander Pope
B. William Blake
C. Robert Burns
D. Jonathan Swift
65. The 18th century witnessed that in England there appeared two political parties, ________, which were satirized by Jonathan Swift in his Gulliver’s Travels.
A. The Whigs and the Tories
B. the senate and the House of Representatives
C. the upper House and Lower House
D. the House of Lords and the House of Commons
66. ________ found its representative writers in the field of poetry, such as Edward Young and Thomas Gray, but it manifested itself chiefly in the novels of Laurence Sterne and Oliver Goldsmith.
A. Pre-romanticism
B. Romanticism
C. Sentimentalism
D. Naturalism
67. Choose the representative poets of the 18th century pre-romanticism and the forerunners of romanticism. ________.
A. Thomas Gray
B. Edward Young
C. James Thomson
D. William Blake
E. Robert Burns
68. Sentimentalism in the 18th century English literature found its fine expression in poetry and novels. Which poems or novels belong to sentimentalism? ________.
A. Night Thoughts
B. Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
C. Tristram Shandy
D. A Sentimental Journey
E. The Vicar of Wakefield
F. A Modest Proposal
G. A Tale of a Tub
H. A Red, Red Rose
69. In the last twenty years of the 18th century, England produced two great romantic poets. They are ________.
A. Samuel Johnson and William Blake
B. Thomas Gray and Edward Young
C. Alexander Pope and Oliver Goldsmith
D. William Blake and Robert Burns
70. Choose the works written by Jonathan Swift. ________.
A. The Battle of Books
B. A Tale of a Tub
C. A Modest Proposal
D. The Drapier’s Letters
E. Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift
F. The Rape of the Lock
G. Ode on Solitude H. The Vanity of Human Wishes
71. Choose the works which are not written by Jonathan Swift. ________.
A. The Two Dogs
B. The Tree of Liberty
C. Robinson Crusoe
D. Gulliver’s Travels
E. A Modest Proposal
72. Which play is regarded as the best English comedy since Shakespeare?
A. She Stops to Conquer
B. The Rivals
C. The School of Scandal
D. The Conscious Lovers
73. The Romantic Age began with the publication of The Lyrical Ballads which was written by ________.
A. William Wordsworth
B. Samuel Johnson
C. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
D. Wordsworth and Coleridge
74. The Romantic Age came to an end with the death of the last well-known romantic writer ________.
A. Jane Austen
B. Walter Scott
C. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
D. William Wordsworth
75. The publication of ________ marked the beginning of Romantic Age.
A. Don Juan
B. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
C. The Lyrical Ballads
D. Queen Mab
76. The glory of the Romantic Age lies in the poetry of ________.
A. William Wordsworth
B. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
C. George Gordon Byron
D. Percy Bysshe Shelley
E. John Keats
77. The English Romantic Age produced two major novelists. They are ________.
A. George Gordon Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley
B. William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge
C. Walter Scott and Jane Austen
D. Charles Lamb and William Hazlitt
78. Which poets belong to the Active Romantic group? ________.
A. George Gordon Byron
B. William Wordsworth
C. Percy Bysshe Shelley
D. John Keats
E. John Milton
79. Which poets belong to the Lakers? ________.
A. William Wordsworth
B. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
C. John Keats
D. Robert Southey
E. Walter Scott
80. Which of the following were written by Wordsworth only? ________.
A. To the Cuckoo
B. The Lyrical Ballads
C. Lucy Poems
D. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
E. The Solitary Reaper
81. Choose the poems written by Wordsworth with the theme on Nature and country life. ________.
A. To the Cuckoo
B. We Are Seven
C. Lucy Poems
D. The Solitary Reaper
E. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
82. The publication of ________ marked the break with the conventional poetical tradition of the 18th century, i.e., with classicism, and the beginning of the Romantic revival in England.
A. The Lyrical Ballads
B. The Prelude
C. Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage
D. Don Juan
83. As contrasted with the classicists who made reason, order and the old, classical traditions the criteria in their poetical creations, ________ based his own poetical principle on the premise that “all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling.”
A. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
B. George Gordon Byron
C. Percy Bysshe Shelley
D. William Wordsworth
84. Which of the following poems written by Wordsworth is called his “lyrical hymn of thanks to nature”? ________.
A. Lines Written in Early Spring
B. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
C. Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey
D. To the Cuckoo
85. ________ was the first critic of the Romantic school.
A. William Wordsworth
B. Samuel Johnson
C. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
D. Wordsworth and Coleridge