四十九篇
The Beginning of American Literature
American has always been a land of beginnings. After Europeans‘discovered' America in the fifteenth century, the mysterious New World became for many people a genuine hope of a new life, an escape from poverty and persecution, a chance to start again. We can say that, as nation, America begins with that hope. When, however, does American literature begin?
American literature begins with American experiences. Long before the first colonists arrived, before Christopher Columbus1, before the Northmen who 'found' America about the year 1,000, Native Americans lived here. Each tribe's literature was tightly woven into the fabric of daily life and reflected the unmistakably American experience of lining with the land2. Another kind of experience, one filled with fear and excitement, found its expression in the reports that Columbus and other explorers sent home in Spain, French and English. In addition, the journals of the people who lived and died in the New England wilderness3 tell unforgettable tales of hard and sometimes heartbreaking experiences of those early years.
Experience, then, is the key to early American literature. The New World provided a great variety of experiences, and these experiences demanded a wide variety of expressions by an even wider variety of early American writers. These writers included John Smith, who spent only two-and-a-half years on the American continent. They included Jonathan Edwards and William Byrd, who thought of themselves as British subjects, never suspecting a revolution that would create a United States of America with a literature of its own. American Indians, explorers,
Puritan ministers, frontier wives, plantation owner - they are all the creators of the first American literature.
词汇：
colonist n. 殖民者
subject n.臣民
Puritan adj.清教徒的
注释：
1. Christopher Columbus 克里斯托弗·哥伦布，美洲新大陆的发现者
2. Each tribe's literature was tightly woven into the fabric of daily life and reflected the unmistakably American experience of lining with the land. 每个部落的文学都紧密地交织到日常生活的架构中去，反映了和土地密切相连的确凿无疑的美洲生活经历。
3. New England wilderness 新英格兰的荒原，新英格兰指如今美国东北部的几个州，为来自欧洲的殖民者最早定居的地区。
练习：
1. What does 'that hope' in the first paragraph refer to?
A) The hope that America would be discovered.
B) The hope to start a new life.
C) The hope to see the mysteries of the New World.
D) The hope to find poverty here.
2. When did American literature begin?
A) Before the American natives lived there.
B) When Columbus and other explorers sent reports back home
C) When the Northmen found America in about 1,000.
D) Long before the year 1,000.
3. What can we learn from the literature of the tribes of the native Americans?
A) About the everyday life of the native Americans.
B) About the arrival of Columbus.
C) About the experience of the first European settlers.
D) About the experience of those who died in the New England wilderness.
4. The main purpose of the last paragraph is to tell the readers that
A) in the early days most American writers were from Great Britain.
B) people with rich life experiences became writers.
C) there were many writers in the early days of American history.
D) early-day experience provided the foundation for American literature
5. According to the last paragraph, which of the following statements is true about American literature? ~
A) Some British writers started American literature.
B) Early-day American literature is a reflection of the boring life then.
C) Some British writers had doubts about the future of American literature.
D) Some British writers had great confidence in the future of American literature.
答案与题解：
1. B 这里的that hope 就是指上一句中的a genuine hope 0f a new life
2. D 答案在第二段的第二句。早在1000年前北欧人声称发现了美洲大陆之前，这块土地上就有美洲印第安人居住，每周文学早在那时就已经产生。
3. A 答案在第二段的第三句话。从美洲土著部落的文学中，我们可以找到他们日常生活的写照。
4. D 这一段的第一句是本段的主题句，而D则是该主题句的释义。
5. D 本题答案的依据是下面这句话：They included Jonathan Edwards and William Byrd,who thought of themselves as British subjects, never suspecting a revolution that would create a United States of America with a literature of its own.这两位自认为是大英帝国臣民的英国作家对一场将会创造出一个拥有自己文学的美利坚合众国的革命从来没有任何怀疑。