11.2　考研真题与典型题详解

I. Fill in the blanks.

1．Jonathan Swift’s A Tale of a Tub is a devastating attack on ______ and even on ______ itself. （国际关系学院2009研）

【答案】the three branches of the church; Christianity

【解析】《一只桶的故事》表面上讲的是三兄弟背弃父亲遗嘱的故事，实际上讽刺了罗马天主教、清教和英国国教，甚至是对整个基督教的嘲讽。

2．“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift is a sharp ______ against the social injustice in ______. （天津外国语学院2011研）

【答案】satire; Ireland

【解析】1729年斯威夫特发表的《一个温和的建议》是对英国政府对爱尔兰人民剥削压迫的极度讽刺。这一宣传册建议爱尔兰的穷人把刚满一周岁的孩子卖给富人，富人可将孩子做成美食，而穷人也将获得一笔收入。

3．Author: ______; Title: ______. （南京大学2007研）

At other times, the like battles have been fought between the Yahoos of several neighborhoods, without any visible cause: those of one district watching all opportunities to surprise the next, before they are prepared. But if they find their project has miscarried, they return home, and, for want of enemies, engage in what I call a civil war among themselves.

【答案】Author: Jonathan Swift. Title: Gulliver’s Travels

【解析】题中文段节选自乔纳森的《格列佛游记》。其通过幻想旅行中不可置信的奇遇和体验，极其尖锐地讽刺了英国统治者的腐败和愚行，无情地揭露了社会各领域的黑暗和罪恶。

II. Multiple Choices

1．Which of the following works is generally regarded as the best model of satire, not only of the 18th century but also in the whole English literary history? （四川大学2007研）

A. A Modest Proposal

B. The History of Tom Jones

C. An Essay on Criticism

D. Robinson Crusoe

【答案】A

【解析】题目考查下列哪部作品被公认为不但是18世纪，而且是整个英国文学史上反讽艺术的典范。Jonathan Swift（乔纳森·斯威夫特）的著名讽刺散文《一个温和的建议》为正确选项。

2．In 1704, Jonathan Swift published two works together, A Tale of a Tub and ______, which made him well-known as a satirist.

A. A Tale of a Tub

B. Bickerstaff Almanac

C. Gulliver’s Travels

D. The Battle of the Books

【答案】D

【解析】乔纳森·斯威夫特是英国十八世纪杰出的政论家和讽刺小说家。《书战》和《一只桶的故事》是他1704年同时发表的两部作品。《书战》是在蒲柏“崇古非今”思想的影响下完成的。《一只桶的故事》却是一部意义深远的杰出的讽刺作品。斯威夫特这次把矛头指向教会，同时对于当时贫乏的学术、浅薄的文学批评和社会恶习也予以抨击。

3．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

【答案】A

【解析】18世纪英国主要有托利党与辉格党两大政党。在其代表讽刺作品《格列佛游记》中，斯威夫特通过“高跟党”与“低跟党”的描述讽刺与批判了当时英国的两大政党。

Ⅲ. Explain the following terms.

1．A Modest Proposal （四川大学2008研）

Key: “A Modest Proposal” is a famous satire written by Jonathan Swift. Assuming the cool tone of an impartial outsider, the author suggests that children of the poor Irish people be sold at one year old as food for the English nobles. Written with much conciseness and terseness, the “proposal” is by far the most consummate artistic expression of Swift’s indignation toward the terrible oppression and exploitation of the Irish people by the English ruling class.

2．Satire（厦门大学2009研；西安交通大学2008研）

Key: ①Satire means a kind of writing that holds up to ridicule or contempt the weakness and wrongdoings of individuals, groups or humanity in general. ②The aim of satirists is to set a moral standard for society and they attempts to persuade the reader to see their point of view through the force of laughter. ③Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels is a great satire of the then English society from different aspects.

IV. Short answer question

What are Jonathan Swift’s writing features?

Key: (1) Jonathan Swift is one of the realist writers of the 18th century. All of Swift’s plots come from imagination, which is quite different from that of Daniel Defoe, whose stories are based upon the reality of human life.

(2) His satire is marked by outward gravity and an apparent earnestness. This makes his satire all the more powerful. He not only criticizes the evils of the English bourgeoisie but those of other bourgeois countries.

(3) Swift expresses democratic ideas in his works. This exerts a strong influence on later writers, such as George Gordon Byron and Bernard Shaw.

(4) Swift is one of the greatest masters of English prose. His language is simple, clear and vigorous. He said, “Proper words in proper place, makes the true definition of a style”. There are no ornaments in his writings. In simple, direct and precise prose, Swift is almost unsurpassed in English literature.

（此题可从斯威夫特小说写作特点和散文写作特点两方面作答。）

V. Essay questions

1．State the artistic features of Gulliver’s Travels.

Key: ①Gulliver’s travels, the acme of Swift’s achievement in literature, is a satire on the whole English society of the 18th century. Artistically, the novel is a fantasy and a realistic work of fiction. Though the story is invented and unrealistic, it is told in a very vivid and convincing way. In the four parts of the book, through direct descriptions and indirect references, through contrasts and comparisons, through subtle irony and downright attacks, the satirical effect is achieved with much force. ②The language in this novel, as is typical of all Swift’s works, is very simple, unadorned, straightforward and effective. An apparent innocence and honesty of the hero and his account, the direct, truthful, detailed presentation of people and things encountered set off the biting satire and a desperate indignation of the writer.③The narrative pattern of the book is also outstanding. On the one hand, the incident begins with a chance shipwreck, goes on to some man-made misfortunes and finally ends with intended mutinies. On the other hand, the hero’s attitude towards mankind changes from firm belief to doubt, further doubt, and finally to dislike. His early eagerness to return home eventually turns into complete reluctance.

2．Analyze Gulliver’s Travels to illustrate the use of satire in it.

Key: ①Gulliver’s Travels is a satire on the whole English society of the early 18th century, touching upon the political, religious, legal, military, scientific, philosophical as well as literary institutions, about almost every aspect of the society. The four parts of the book project the writer’s satire in different ways. ②The first part is full of references to current politics. Lilliput is a miniature of England. Through the two parties in the countries distinguished by the use of high and low heels, Swift satires the Tories and Whigs in England. The English religious dissensions are also laughed at in the description of the controversy on the question whether eggs should be broken at the big or the small end. ③In the second part, the satire of Western civilization and English lords and ladies is here developed more directly by statement of differences between Brobdingnag and the English society. ④In the third part, the satire is directed against British misgovernment of Ireland, as is reflected in the Flying Island Laputa. Obtuse scientific researches and philosophical discussions in the early 18th century are ridiculed via the description of the Academy of Projectors in Lagado, and false history is criticized in the episode about the Island of the Sorcerers. ⑤In the last part, Gulliver is in a country where horses are possessed of reason, and are the governing class, while Yahoos, though in the shape of men, are brute beasts with such vices as stealing and lying. This part involves the ruthless moral exposure of humanity and the bitter satire of the English society.