全国2015年10月高等教育自学考试
英语国家概况试题
课程代码:00522
全部题目用英文作答，请将答案填在答题纸相应位置上
I. Multiple Choice Questions. (50 points, 1 point for each)
Directions: In this part of the test, there are 50 unfinished statements or questions. For each of the unfinished statements or questions, four suggested answers, marked A. B, C and D are given. Choose the one that you think best completes the statement or answers the question. Write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space on your Answer Sheet.
 1. Which of the following is NOT a geographical name of Britain?
 A. The United Kingdom                                B. Great Britain
 C. England                                                   D. The British Isles
 2. The Romans remained in control of Britain for nearly _____ years.
 A. 600                                                         B. 500
 C. 400                                                         D. 200
 3. Which of the following statements is NOT true about Alfred?
 A. Alfred the Great started the English navy.
 B. Alfred the Great reorganized the Saxon army, making it more efficient.
 C. Alfred the Great established schools and formulated a legal system.
 D. Alfred the Great imposed a tax, called the Danegeld, on the Saxons.
 4. After the Glorious Revolution came the Age of the _____, a monarchy with powers limited by Parliament.
 A. Commonwealth                                        B. Constitutional Monarchy
 C. English colonial expansion                        D. Hereditary Monarchy
 5. According to Magna Carta no tax should be made without the approval of _____.
 A. the House of Lords                                  B. the King
 C. the Grand Council                                    D. the House of Commons
 6. _____, a dramatist and poet, is generally regarded as the greatest writer in the English language.
A. Charles Dickens                                          B. Christopher Marlowe
C. William Shakespeare                                  D. Charlotte Bronte
 7. After the Restoration, British Parliament passed a series of severe laws called the Clarendon Code against the _____, now known as Nonconformists.
A. Christians                                                   B. Protestants
 C. Puritans                                                   D. Catholics
8. Elizabeth I reigned England, Wales and Ireland for _____ years and remained single.
 A. 25                                                           B. 30
 C. 40                                                           D. 45
 9. After the Wars of the Roses the rule of _____ began.
 A. the Plantagenet                                         B. the Yorkists
 C. the Stuarts                                               D. the Tudors
10. _____ was the forerunner of the Conservative Party.
 A. The Liberal Party                                     B. The Whigs
 C. The Tories                                               D. The Labor Party
11. The First World War was fought between two European power blocs: the “Central Powers” and the “Allies”. The “Allies” include the following EXCEPT _____.
 A. Britain                                                      B. France
 C. Russia                                                      D. Austria-Hungary
 12. In 1982, the Falkland Islands War broke out between Britain and _____.
 A. Argentina                                                 B. Brazil
 C. Peru                                                        D. Chile
 13. Which of the following about UK’s monarchy is NOT true?
 A. The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy.
 B. There is no written constitution in the United Kingdom.
 C. Today the Queen holds the real power in UK.
 D. The continuity of the monarchy has been broken only once.
14. In the United Kingdom, the party which wins the second largest number of seat in the House of Commons becomes _____.
 A. the official Opposition                              B. the leading party
 C. the predominant party                              D. the “shadow cabinet”
 15. The Sovereign’s coronation takes place at _____ in London.
 A. Westminster Abbey                                 B. Canterbury Abbey
 C. York Abbey                                            D. Northanger Abbey
16. The _____ is made up of statute law, common law and conventions.
 A. British Constitution                                   B. American Constitution
 C. Commonwealth law                                 D. European Community law
17. There is no Ministry of Justice in the United Kingdom. General responsibility lies with the following EXCEPT _____.
 A. the Lord Chancellor                                 B. the Home Secretary
 C. the Attorney General                                D. the Prime Minister
18. _____ provides for every resident, regardless of income, a full range of medical services. It has become available in Britain since 1948.
 A. The Social Security Benefits                     B. The National Health Service
 C. The Civil Service                                      D. The National Insurance Fund
19. In summer there are open-air theatres, including one in London’s Regent’s Park, where _____ are performed.
 A. William Shakespeare’s plays                    B. Christopher Marlowe’s plays
 C. Ben Johnson’s plays                                 D. George Bernard Shaw’s plays
 20. Snooker is thought to have been invented by _____
 A. Sir Winston Churchill                               B. Sir Neville Chamberlain
 C. Sir Charlie Chamberlain                           D. Sir John Churchill
21. The largest of the racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S. is_____.
 A. the Indians                                               B. the Japanese
 C. the Chinese                                              D. the Blacks
22. The place where Christopher Columbus landed was _____ .
 A. India                                                        B. the islands in Asia
 C. the current territory of America                 D. the islands in the now West Indies
23. The great international influence of _____is that the colonies in Spanish America rose up one after another to overthrow Spanish colonial rule.
 A. the American Civil War
 B. the Vietnam War
 C. the American War of Independence
 D. the Korean War
 24.In the early 1850s with the Westward Movement, the _____ issue became a serious political issue because it might tip the balance of power in the Senate.
A. slavery                                                     B. immigration
 C. territory                                                   D. Indian
25. Which of the following is NOT the main cause for the American government to declare war on Germany in the World War I?
 A. Germany refused to give up its submarine warfare.
 B. Germany tried to get Mexico into the war against the United States.
 C. Germany promised Mexico the return of lost territory of Texas.
 D. Japan launched the bombing of the Pearl Harbor.
26. In 1932, in the depth of the depression, the American people chose _____as their next president who promised a “new deal” to get America out of the depression.
 A. Theodore Roosevelt                                 B. Franklin D. Roosevelt
 C. Woodrow Wilson                                    D. Herbert C. Hoover
27. In the Second World War American diplomacy largely was American diplomacy towards _____.
 A. Germany and Italy                                    B. Germany and Japan
 C. Britain and the Soviet Union                     D. Britain and France
28. The real purpose of the Marshal Plan is_____.
 A. to prevent Greece and Turkey from falling into the hands of the Soviet Union
 B. to support any country which said it was fighting against Communism
 C. to help Western Europe recover from the Great Depression
 D. to prevent Western Europe from possible Soviet expansion
29. _____ was a full-scale, anti-Communist hysteria in the United States in the1950s.
  A. Free Speech Movement                         B. The Progressive Movement
 C. The Civil Rights Movement                      D. McCarthyism
30. Which war turned out to be the longest war the U.S. fought?
 A. The Korean War                                     B. The World War II
 C. The World War I                                     D. The Vietnam War
31. After the Vietnam War, the contradiction between Congress and the Executive resulted in the passage of ______.
 A. the Smith Act                                           B. the War Power Act
C. the Civil Rights Act                                  D. the Voting Rights Act
32. On April 30 1789, George Washington took the oath of office in ______ which housed the first American government.
 A. New York                                               B. Washington
 C. Philadelphia                                             D. Boston
33. The American policy towards the Soviet Union after the Second World War was ______ .
 A. cooperation                                             B. neutrality
C. containment                                             D. impartiality
34. The writers of the Constitution worked out ______ in order to prevent the government from misusing its power.
 A. the Declaration of Independence              B. the Bill of Rights
 C. the “winner-take-all” system                     D. checks and balances
 35. The presidential term in the U.S. is four years beginning on ______.
 A. November 20                                          B. November 12
 C. January 12                                               D. January 20
36. On Independence Day, some people bring their children to visit the birth place of the
nation——________
 A. Washington D.C.                                      B. New York City
 C. Philadelphia                                             D. Boston
37. According to the U.S News & World Report and other journals’ evaluation, ______on
 the west coast are the best research universities.
 A. Harvard and Yale                                    B. Princeton and Columbia
 C. California and MIT                                  D. Stanford and Berkley
38. _____ is the largest single source of goods imported by the United States.
 A. Canada                                                    B. Australia
 C. Asia                                                         D. Latin America
39. Theodore Dreiser was the literary representative of American ______ .
 A. Romanticists                                            B. Transcendentalists
 C. Modernists                                              D. Naturalists
40. _____was the first American writer who gained international fame.
 A. Washington Irving                                    B. Benjamin Franklin
 C. Nathaniel Hawthorne                               D. Mark Twain
 41. The most significant feature of Irish landscape is ______.
 A. lakes                                                        B. bogs
 C. low ridges                                                D. rivers
42. Who was the first English king to bring all Ireland under English control?
 A. Henry II                                                   B. Henry III
 C. Henry VIII                                               D. James II
43. From east to west ten provinces and two territories in Canada can be divided into ______ geographical regions.
 A. four                                                         B. five
 C. six                                                           D. seven
 44. Which of the following is NOT one of the Prairie Provinces in Canada?
 A. Manitoba                                                 B. British Columbia
 C. Saskatchewan                                          D. Alberta
45. It was _____ who established the first French settlement in Quebec City in 1608.
 A. Henry Hudson                                         B. John Cabot
 C. Jacques Cartier                                        D. Samuel de Champlain
46. Although Australia has a large area, _____ of the continent is hot and dry.
 A. one third                                                  B. two thirds
 C. half                                                          D. more than half
47. _____ is famous for its art festival.
 A. Sydney                                                    B. Melbourne
 C. Adelaide                                                  D. Brisbane
48. Which of the following states in Australia is known as the garden state?
 A. Queensland                                              B. New South Wales
 C. Tasmania                                                 D. Victoria
 49. The first European to visit New Zealand was ______.
 A. Abel Tasman                                           B. Captain James Cook
 C. Christopher Columbus                             D. Amerigo Vespucci
50. The _______ is a national symbol in New Zealand.
A. kiwi                                                           B. native owl
 C. tuatara                                                     D. lizard

II. Answer the Questions. (30 points, 3 points for each)
Directions: Give a one-sentence answer to each of the following questions. Write your answers in the corresponding space on the Answer Sheet.
51. What is the difference between the ancestors of the English and Scots, Welsh and Irish?
52. What was the impact of the Wars of the Roses on feudalism in England?
53. What is the main function of the House of Lords?
54. What are the major racial and ethnic minorities in the United States?
55. What is Emerson’s view of man and nature?
56. What kind of system is the American economy based on?
57. Why did the population of Ireland decrease from the 1840s until about 1970?
 58. What are the two most important provinces in Canada?
59. Which is Australia’s largest lake?
60. What is partly the reason for New Zealand to have changeable weather and to
 be often windy?

III. Term Explanation. (20 points, 5 points for each)
Directions: Explain each of the following terms in English. Write your answers in the corresponding space on the Answer Sheet in around 40 words.
61. Domesday Book
62. Thatcherism
63. “Great Compromise” of 1787
64. Halloween