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  3. The mid-and-late 19th century is generally known as the Victorian age, controlled by the rule of Queen Victoria. This is a perio

The mid-and-late 19th century is generally known as the Victorian age, controlled by the rule of Queen Victoria. This is a perio

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问题    The mid-and-late 19th century is generally known as the Victorian age, controlled by the rule of Queen Victoria. This is a period of dramatic change that led England to the summit of development as a powerful nation. The rising bourgeoisie were getting political importance as well as wealth. England became the world’s workshop and London the world’s bank. London became the center of Western civilization. Literacy increased as the masses started to be educated and started to think for themselves. This stage has got ready for the coming of the Golden Age of the English novel.

   The Early Period of Victorian Age
   With the rapid economic development, the early years of the Victorian age was a stage of serious social problem. Social issues especially about industrialization and urbanization were reflected and dealt with mostly in literature.
   English critical realism of the 19th century flourished in the forties which described with much vividness and great artistic skill and criticized the capitalist system.
   The greatest of the entire Victorian age was Charles Dickens. Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, which were written by the Bronte Sisters, emerged in 1847 as women novels. Jane Eyre represents women’s fights for their equal rights and independence. Wuthering Heights caught the emotional needs of human beings in a time of rapid industrialization. William Makepeace Thackeray is best known for his Vanity Fair. While Dickens criticized the inhuman social institutions and the corrupted government in a direct way, Thackeray leveled his criticism at the moral standard that made up the money-minded society.
   The Mid-Victorian Age
   The Mid-Victorian Age was a stage of economic development. The English critical realists not only gave a satirical portrayal of the bourgeoisie and the ruling classes, but also showed sympathy for the common people. There is a great deal of the use of humor and satire in the English realistic novels, which is marked by intensifying pessimism. David Copperfield(1849—1850)is most autobiographical of all Dickens’ works. The Great Expectations of Dickens is the greatest and most sophisticated novel which is written in a semi-autobiographical style about a young man who learns through rise and fall to discard his own snobbishness. Hard Times(1854)has an ironic title, as the main characters are rich factory owners and it is just their workers who have to suffer the " hard times".
   The Late Victorian Age
   The Late Victorian Age was not a simple development of mid-Victorian confidence and prosperity. The establishment of the British Empire was claimed when Queen Victoria became Empress of India in 1876, but a sharp decline had already come in the beginning from the 1870s.
   The last quarter of the 19th century witnessed not only the decline of the British Empire but also the breakdown of Victorian value standards. Thomas Hardy was the main novelist of this period, and his novels show readers the losing struggle of individuals against the obscure power. But the critical realists did not find a way to eradicate social evils and a good solution to the social contradictions.
Questions 56 to 60
Complete the table using no more than three words for each blank.

选项
答案decline
解析 (由表格中的The Late Victorian Age定位到第三个小标题下段落，由第二段首句The last quarter of the 19th century witnessed not only the decline of the British Empire but also the breakdown of Victorian value standards可知，19世纪晚期大英帝国逐渐衰落。)
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B类竞赛（英语专业本科专科）

大学生英语竞赛（NECCS）

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