英语国家概况试题_全国2009年4月自考试卷

英语国家概况试题_全国2009年4月自考试卷

I. Read the following unfinished statements or questions carefully. For each unfinished statement or question, 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 the answer sheet. (50 points, 1 point for each)
1. Strictly speaking, “the British Isles” refers to_______.
A. Great Britain  B. Ireland
C. the United Kingdom  D. Great Britain and Ireland
2. Which of the following kings was responsible for the complete establishment of the feudal system in England?
A. Edward I  B. Henry II
C. Alfred the Great  D. William the Conqueror
3. The spirit of the Great Charter was ______.
A. a limitation of the powers of the king B. a guarantee of the freedom of the serfs
C. a limitation of the powers of the Church D. a declaration of equality among all people
4. Which of the following is NOT true about the result of the Black Death?
A. Much land was left untended.
B. There was a terrible shortage of labour.
C. The surviving peasants had lost their power of bargaining.
D. Landowners tended to change from arable to sheep-farming.
5. The War of Roses that took place from 1455 to 1485 was fought between ______.
A. Britain and France B. the Parliament and the Crown
C. the working people and the aristocrats D. two branches of the Plantagenet family
6. The English Renaissance was largely literary, and it achieved its finest expression in the so-called ______.
A. Romantic poetry  B. Romantic fiction
C. Elizabethan poetry  D. Elizabethan drama
7. British constitutional monarchy is a system under which the powers of the ______ are limited by Parliament or the constitution.
A. church  B. king or queen
C. government ministers  D. Bishop’s court
8. The Tories in Britain were the forerunners of ______, which still bears this nickname today.
A. the Labor Party  B. the Liberal Party
C. the Conservative Party  D. the Social Democratic Party
9. Which of the following was NOT included in the six-point demand of the Chartist Movement?
A. Equal electoral districts  B. Voting by secret ballot
C. The vote for all adult males  D. The vote for all adult females
10. During the First World War, Britain was allied with ______.
A. Turkey  B. the Central Powers
C. France and Russia  D. Germany and Austria-Hungary
11. Who was the man that led Britain in the crisis of the Second World War?
A. George VI  B. Theodore Roosevelt
C. Neville Chamberlain  D. Sir Winston Churchill
12. The new policies adopted by Mrs. Thatcher and Conservative Government after the 1979 election was known as ______.
A. Thatcherism  B. the New Deal
C. New Frontier  D. Keynesianism
13. Over the past one thousand years, the British ______ has been broken only once between 1649 and 1660.
A. Cabinet  B. Parliament
C. Monarchy  D. Privy Council
14. Who has the power to appoint the Prime Minister in Britain?
A. The Queen  B. The Parliament
C. The House of Lords  D. The Church of England
15. In Britain, a full meeting of ______ is called only when a Sovereign dies or announces his or her intention to marry.
A. the Privy Council  B. the Parliament
C. the House of Commons  D. the House of Lords
16. Which of the following is NOT involved in the British judicial responsibilities?
A. Attorney General  B. Ministry of Justice
C. The Lord Chancellor  D. The Home Secretary
17. Bank holidays in Britain refer to ______.
A. official public holidays B. holidays for the banks only
C. public holidays except for the banks  D. holidays for the financial institutions only
18. Which statement about the British universities is NOT true?
A. They enjoy academic freedom.
B. They cannot appoint their own staff.
C. They are governed by royal charters.
D. They provide their own courses and award their own degrees.
19. ______, the most popular sport in England as well as in Europe, has its traditional home in England where it was developed in the 19th century.
A. Basketball  B. Tennis
C. Football  D. Baseball
20. London’s Metropolitan Police Force is directly under the control of _______.
A. the Prime Minister  B. the Lord Chancellor
C. the Home Secretary  D. the Attorney General
21. Which statement about the Puritans is NOT true?
A. The Puritans did not allow religious dissent.
B. The Puritans were poor artisans and unskilled peasants.
C. They were dissatisfied with the political corruption in England.
D. They went to the United States to establish what they considered the true church.
22. The largest racial and ethnic minority in the U.S. is the ______, which accounts over 12.1% of the population.
A. blacks  B. Asians
C. Indians  D. Hispanics
23. The three well-known authors who penned the Federalist Papers are ______.
A. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and John Jay
B. George Washington, James Madison and John Jay
C. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay
D. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Adams
24. When Abraham Lincoln was elected president, the southern states broke away and formed a new nation called ______.
A. the Southern States of America B. the Federalist States of America
C. the Confederate States of America D. the Anti-confederate States of America
25. With the development of industry and extension of railroad network in the early 20th century in the U.S.A., there appeared ______.
A. a rapid growth of cities B. an influx of foreign goods
C. an increase of urban ghettos D. a great increase in the number of farms
26. In the early 19th century, ______ actively used the Sherman Antitrust Act to stop monopolistic business mergers in the United States.
A. J.P. Morgan  B. Woodrow Wilson
C. Henry Rockefeller  D. Theodore Roosevelt
27. The Red Scare in 1919 and 1920 was a typical example of American ______.
A. religious intolerance  B. intolerant nationalism
C. Progressive Movement  D. deregulation of big trusts
28. In the early 1930s, the American foreign policy was isolationist, but the ______ suddenly changed the whole situation, which propelled the U.S. into the Second World War.
A. Pearl Harbor attack B. bombing of Guam island
C. seizing of American merchant ships D. sinking of American passenger ships
29. In 1962, President ______ finally decided on the use of naval force to prevent military material and arms from entering Cuba and demanded Soviet removal of the missiles there.
A. Nixon  B. Truman
C. Johnson  D. Kennedy
30. In 1853, in the ______, another 30,000 square miles of Mexican land were added to the territory of the U.S.A.
A. Atlantic Purchase  B. Mexican Purchase
C. Gadsden Purchase  D. Louisiana Purchase
31. The four problems that face the economy of the United States are______.
A. unemployment, inflation, financial crisis and trade deficit
B. unemployment, inflation, financial deficit and trade deficit
C. mortgage losses, inflation, financial deficit and trade deficit
D. unemployment, market failures, financial deficit and trade deficit
32. Which statement about the U.S. Constitution is NOT true?
A. It is the supreme law of the land.
B. It is the oldest written constitution in the world.
C. It was adopted in 1781 at the Second Continental Congress.
D. It provides the basis for political stability, economic growth and social progress.
33. The America