专八人文知识

1. Thomas Jefferson drew up The Declaration of Independence.

2. As a philosophical and literary movement, transcendentalism flourished in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War.

3. Transcendentalists recognized intuition as the “highest power of the soul” .

4. Emerson, the chief spokesman of New England Transcendentalism, wrote Nature, Essays, The American Scholar,

Self-reliance, and Over-soul.

5. Emerson wrote the Nature has been called “the manifesto of American transcendentalism”.

6. The American Scholar is regarded as the “Declaration of Intellectual Independence.”

7. Thoreau wrote Walden. In this book, he urged people to simplify their lives and look to nature for meaning.

8. Washington Irving wrote The Sketch Book which includes the famous story “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleep

Hollow”. He is the first man of letters from the United States to win an international reputation.

英语专八人文知识汇总

（2008-11-16 13:41）

.美国概况

练习题 1：

1 The traditional dividing line in America between “east” and “west” is_____.

2 The earliest part in America to be found and taken over by early settlers is ____.

3 The largest racial group in the whole population of U.S.A is____.

4 Before 2000, the largest minority group in the United States is____.

5 ____has the world’s oldest written constitution and political party.

6 The economic problem caused by the depression in 1929 was eventually solved

by____.

7 In the United States, primary education requires____years.

8 Most college students in the United States are in____institutions.

9 The three main levels of courts of the federal judicial system in America

are____________.

10 _____(which state )is not governed by the common law.

练习题答案及题解:

1. The Mississippi River, 密西西比河是美国传统的东方和西方的分界线。

英语专八人文知识考试总结

1 专八考试人文知识考试内容总结

其中英美文学包括英国文学和美国文学。英国文学主要分为六个时期：

1. Old and Medieval English Literature（中古英国文学）。

2. The Renaissance Period（文艺复兴时期）。

3. The Neoclassical Period（新古典主义时期）。

4. The Romantic Period（维多利亚时期）。

5. The Victorian Period（维多利亚时期）。

6. The Modern Period（现代时期）。

美国文学主要分为四个时期：

1. The Literature Around the Revolution of Independence（独立革命前后的文学）。

2. American Romanticism（美国浪漫主义文学）。

3. American Realism（美国现实主义文学）。

4. American Modernism（美国现代主义文学）。

语言学，考生不光要知道语言的本质还要掌握语音学，音位学，形态学，句法学，语义学和语言学的知识。

关于英语国家概况，英语专业的学生都会开设英美概况这门课程，但是专八考试的中需要考生了解的是英语国家概况，不光包括英国和美国，还有其他一些说英语的地区，包括爱尔兰概况，加拿大概况，澳大利亚概况和新西兰概况。

2专八人文知识:英国地理概况

the english channel: the channel is a narrow sea passage which separates england and france

and connects the atlantic ocean and north sea.

英吉利海峡：英吉利海峡是一道狭长的海峡，分割英法两国，连接大西洋和北海。

专业人文知识—语言学

1 第一章 概述

一、 什么是语言？

1. Definition of language （语言的定义）

Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.

（语言是人类用来交流的一套具有任意性的声音符号系统。） 2. Design/distinctive feature of language（语言的定义/本质特征）

1) Arbitrariness（任意性）

The forms of linguistic signs bear no natural relationship to their meaning.

（任意性指语言符号的形式和意义之间没有内在的、必然的联系）

例如：水在英语中叫water，在汉语中叫水，名称与水这种物质之间并没有必然联系。

2) Duality（二重性）

The property of having two levels of structures, such that units of the primary level are

composed of elements of the second level.

（二重性指语言有两层结构这种特性，底层结构是上层结构的组成部分，每层都有自身

的组合规则。语言的底层结构式自身不传达意义的语音，但这些语音可以组合成有意义

的单位，即上层结构。）

例如：sounds>syllables（音节）>words>phrases>clauses>sentences>texts/discourses（论

文）

3) Productivity/Creativity（能产性/创造性）

Language can be used to create new meaning because of its duality.

（能产性，也叫创造性，指语言具有构成无穷的句子的潜力，而且人们可以用语言创造