全国2013年7月高等教育自学考试

英语国家概况试题
课程代码：00522

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 statement is NOT true?
A. Great Britain and England are geographical names.
B. The British Isles are made up of three large islands and hundreds of small ones.
C. At present there are 50 member countries within the Commonwealth (1991).
D. Wales is in the west of Great Britain.
2. ____ built the Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall to keep ____ out of the area they had conquered.
A. The Romans; the Picts                         B. The Beaker Folk; the Picts
C. The Anglo-Saxons; the Romans                 D. The Danes; the Anglo-Saxons
3. Who were the ancestors of the English and the founders of England?
A.The Anglo-Saxons                            B. The Normans
C.The Vikings                                D. The Romans
4. The spirit of ____ was the limitation of the powers of the king, keeping them within the bounds of the feudal law of the land.
A. the Provision of Oxford                       B. the Constitutions of Clarendon
C. Domesday Book                             D. Magna Carta
5. When Mary Tudor became Queen, at least 300 ____ were burnt as heretics.
A. Protestants                                  B. Catholics
C. Puritans                                    D. Muslims
6. The chief demand of the peasants during the Peasant Uprising of 1381 was ____.
A. the abolition of villeinage
B. the punishment of the King’s ministers
C. the increase of wages
D. the reform of the church
7. The significance of the Wars of the Roses was all the following EXCEPT that ____.
A. feudalism received its death blow
B. the great medieval nobility was much weakened
C. the king’s power now became supreme
D. it dealt a death blow to villeinage
8. ____ is one of the comedies of Shakespeare.
A. Othello                                     B. Richard III
C. The Tempest                                D. Julius Caesar
9. In the Glorious Revolution the Catholic king, ____ was driven out of England.
A. James I                                    B. James II
C. Charles I                                   D. Charles II
10. ____, excluding any Roman Catholic from the succession, confirmed the principle of parliamentary supremacy and guaranteed free speech within both the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
A. The Bill of Rights                            B. The Disabling Act
C. The Test Act                                D. Instrument of Government
11. As a result of the Industrial Revolution, Britain became the ____.
A. “shop of the world”                        B. “workshop of the world”
C. “centre of the world”                         D. “leader of the world”
12. Which of the following is NOT considered a characteristic of farming in the late 18th and the early 19th centuries?
A. Cultivation of fodder crops
B. Invention of seed drill
C. Selective breeding of domestic animals
D. “Open-field” system
13. In Britain, ____ abolished “rotten boroughs”.
A. the People’s Charter                          B. the Combination Acts
C. the New Power Law                          D. the Reform Act of 1832
14. The present British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in ____.
A. 1926                                     B. 1947
C. 1952                                     D. 1953
15. ____ has the ultimate authority for law-making in Britain.
A. The Monarch                                B. The Parliament
C. The Prime Minister                          D. The Cabinet
16. In the House of Commons, all speeches are addressed to ____ who is elected at the beginning of each new Parliament to preside over the House and enforce the rules of order.
A. the Prime Minister                           B. the Monarch
C. the Speaker                                 D. the Lord Chancellor
17. About ____ daily and Sunday newspapers are published nationwide in Britain.
A. 100                                       B. 110
C. 120                                       D. 130
18. In Britain, ____ is directly responsible for the NHS.
A. a local government                           B. the central government
C. a voluntary organization                       D. a certain society
19. The day following Christmas Day is known as ___, for on this day gifts are given to servants and tradesmen.
A. New Year’s Day                             B. Easter Day
C. Labor Day                                  D. Boxing Day
20. Of the following four sports, ____ has the longest history in Britain.
A. cricket                                     B. golf
C. football                                     D. rugby
21. The three states that have seen the fastest growth in population in the past 20 years are ____.
A. California, Arizona and New Mexico
B. California, Florida and Nevada
C. New York, Texas and Florida
D. Arizona, Nevada and Florida
22. In American history, ____ refer to those who came to Plymouth on board of Mayflower.
A. the English nobles                            B. the Puritans
C. the Pilgrims                                D. the English adventurers
23. After President Jefferson bought the ____ Territory from France, the territory owned by the United States almost doubled.
A. Arizona                                    B. Texas
C. Louisiana                                  D. California
24. President Abraham Lincoln issued the ____, because he realized that he could win support for the Union at home and abroad by making the war a just war against slavery.
A. Bill of Rights                               B. Emancipation of Proclamation
C. Declaration of Independence                   D. Civil Right Act
25. The features of the early colonists which have strong influence on the formation of American character are all the following EXCEPT ____.
A. religious intolerance
B. respect of individual rights
C. representative form of government
D. a strong spirit of individual enterprise
26. Rushed by the Progressive Movement, ____ put forward his program of New Freedom.
A. Woodrow Wilson                            B. Theodore Roosevelt
C. Franklin D.Roosevelt                         D. George Washington
27. The Paris Conference which began on Jan 18, 1919 was dominated by the Big Four including ____.
A. the United States, the Soviet Union, China and Britain
B. the United States, Britain, France, and Italy
C. the United States, Britain, Germany, and Japan
D. the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union
28. In his inaugural speech, ____ said that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
A. Abraham Lincoln                           B. Theodore Roosevelt
C. Franklin D.Roosevelt                         D. George Washington
29. As a result of American economic aid under the Marshall Plan, ____ recovered and began to show signs of development.
A. Turkey                                    B. Greece
C. Western Europe                             D. Eastern Europe
30. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the two superpowers stared at each other, with the possibility of ____ looming large.
A. a nuclear war                               B. a chemical war
C. the Vietnam War                           D. the Korean War
31. ____ visit to China ended twenty-three years of hostility and led to the establishment of diplomatic relations in January ____.
A. President Nixon’s; 1972                      B. Jimmy Carter’s; 1978
C. President Nixon’s; 1979                       D. George Bush’s; 1989
32. After long and difficult negotiations in Paris, the U. S. and ____ signed a cease-fire agreement on January 27, 1973.
A. South Vietnam                              B. North Vietnam
C. the Soviet Union                            D. Korea
33. Which of the following is NOT true of U.S. foreign trade?
A. Canada is the largest single source of goods imported by the United States.
B. Outside of North America, Asia is the largest source of imports.
C. The U.S. share of world trade has decreased in recent years.
D. Whenever the American economy is in trouble, the economy of other countries is affected.
34. When the delegates met at Philadelphia in 1787, their task was ____.
A. to write a new constitution
B. to adopt the Articles of Confederation
C. to establish a new form of government
D. to revise the Articles of Confederation
35. Abraham Lincoln was elected President as the candidate of ____ in 1860.
A. the Democratic Party                         B. the Republican Party
C. the Whig Party                             D. the Conservative Party
36. According to the U.S. Constitution, education is mainly a function of ____.
A. the federal government                        B. the city government
C. the county government                        D. the state government
37. Which of the following is NOT true about the reasons for the rapid growth of community colleges?
A. Their open admission policies                  B. Their cheap tuition and fees
C. Their fixed curriculum structures               D. Their convenient locations
38. The Waste Land, written by ____, is considered the manifesto of the “Lost Generation”.
A. T. S. Eliot                                  B. Walt Whitman
C. Emily Dickinson                            D. Theodore Dreiser
39. In the 1920s, Black literature developed into an upsurge, which has come to be known as ____.
A. the Literature Renaissance
B. the Harlem Renaissance
C. the Literature Revival
D. the “knickerbockers era” of American literature
40. Easter Sunday is the most important religious holiday for commemorating ____.
A. the death of Jesus Christ                       B. the birth of Jesus Christ
C. the crucifixion of Jesus Christ                  D. the resurrection of Jesus Christ
41. The Republic of Ireland is bounded by all the following EXCEPT ____.
A. the English Channel                          B. the Irish Sea
C. St. George Channel                          D. the Atlantic Ocean
42. Ireland is one of the most ____ countries of Europe.
A. Protestant                                  B. Catholic
C. Puritan                                      D. Christian
43. In Canada, nearly ____ of the land has no permanent population.
A. 87%                                             B. 88%
C. 89%                                      D. 90%
44. Who founded the first permanent settlements at Quebec and Montreal on the St. Lawrence River?
A. John Cabot                                  B. Jacques Cartier
C. Samuel de Champlain                         D. Henry Hudson
45. All services provided by the Canadian federal government are available in ____.
A. French and Spanish                           B. English and Italian
C. Spanish and English                          D. French and English
46. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people constitute ____ of Australia’s population.
A. 1%                                       B. 1.5%
C. 2%                                              D. 2.5%
47. Why has Australia always been a continent with few people?
A. Because Australia is too far away from Europe.
B. Because Australia is the least mountainous and most level of the world’s continents.
C. Because Australia is separated from the rest of the world by seas.
D. Because most of the continent is hot and dry.
48. As far as Australian culture is concerned, the history of Australia can be divided into the following phases EXCEPT ____.
A. the period of Australia’s original culture
B. the period of the dominant British culture
C. the period of Asian culture
D. the period of a multicultural society
49. In New Zealand, the highest peak is in the centre of the mountain range, which is called ____.
A. the Southern Alps                           B. the Northern Alps
C. the New Zealand Alps                         D. the South Island Alps
50. ____ is described as a “living fossil”.
A. Moa                                      B. Kiwi
C. Tuatara                                    D. Bellbird

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. How many political divisions are there in Britain? What are they?
52. What questions did Elizabeth I treat as personal and private?
53. What were the two events in the world which most alarmed the British ruling classes in the closing decades of the 18th century?
54. Which are the five biggest cities in terms of population in the United States?
55. What are the three branches of the American government?
56. What does Mark Twain want to put across in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?
57. When was the name of the country officially changed to Ireland?
58. Who are easy to immigrate to Canada now?
59. In terms of land area and population, which is the biggest state and which is the smallest state in Australia?
60. What are the two active volcanoes in New Zealand?

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. the Chartist Movement
62. Constitutional Monarchy
63. the Bill of Rights of America
64. the Federal System of America