专八人文知识从命题来看并不是很难。大多都是英语专业本科阶段应该了解的常识性问题，但涉及的范围很宽泛，备考时面对英美文学﹑文化﹑及语言学众多资料无从下手，这就要求考生对每一章的基本概念都要清楚，善于高度提炼，把书看薄。
1、In Britain, ___ has the ultimate authority of legislation. A the Queen B the House of Commons C the House of Lords D the Prime Minister 2、The three largest cities in Canada do NOT include. A Toronto B Quebec C Ottawa D Vancouver 3、Aboriginal culture in Australia is said to be more than ___ years old. A 20,000 B 30,000 C 40,000 D 50,000 4、 It is known that Irish landscape in featured by ___. A bogs B mountains C grassland D rivers 5、The following plays are comedies by Shakespeare EXCEPT ___. A A Midsummer Night’s Dream B As You Like It C The Merchant of Venice D Romeo and Juliet 6、 “The novel is structured around the discovery of the hero’s origin.” Probably this refers to the novel ___. A Wuthering Heights B The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling C David Copperfield D Gulliver’s Travels 7、___ was considered to be the greatest dramatist in the 18th century. A Henry Fielding B Laurence Sterne C Oliver Goldsmith D Richard B. Sheridan 8、The branch of linguistics that studies how context influences the way speakers interpret sentences is called ___. A pragmatics B semantics C sociolinguistics D psycholinguistics 9、Which of the following words can connect two clauses in a coordinate sentence? A Through B When C But D If 10、Which of the following is NOT considered part of semantic change? A Semantic broadening B Compounding C Semantic narrowing D Semantic shift 参考答案： 1. 选B.在英国，下院拥有最高立法权.本题术语发展现状类问题. 2. 选C.加拿大三大城市不包括渥太华.本题术语发展现状类问题. 3. 选C.据说澳大利亚的土著文化拥有四千多年的历史.本题属于文化传统类问题. 4. 选A.众所周知，爱尔兰地貌特点是沼泽地.本题属于地理类问题. 5. 选D.除了《罗密欧与朱丽叶》之外，其他下列戏剧皆为莎士比亚的喜剧作品.本题属于英国文学类问题. 6. 选B.“小说结构是围绕主人公的身世发现来安排的”这句话可能是指小说《弃儿汤姆.琼斯的来历》.本题属于英国文学类问题. 7. 选D.理查德.B.谢立丹被认为是18世纪最伟大的剧作家.本题属于英国文学类问题. 8. 选A.这道题检查考生是否知晓语用学的含义. 9. 选C.这套题检查考生对别列举的了解. 10.选B.这道题检查考生对语义变化内容的了解.