全国考办在组织全国考委外语类专业委员会研究论证后，决定对高等教育自学考试英语语言文学专业“英美文学选读”（课程代码：0604）和“英语国家概况”（课程代码：0522）两门课程的自学考试大纲的部分内容进行调整。调整后的《英美文学选读自学考试大纲》和《英语国家概况自学考试大纲》将于2009年4月考试试行。

　　具体调整如下：

　　《英美文学选读自学考试大纲》的考核知识点与考核要求

　　（一）关于考核知识点的调整

　　考核知识点中的各章概述内容仍为考核内容；对知识点中的作家只保留对如下主要作家的考核。

　　英国文学：

　　Chapter 1 III. William Shakespeare

　　John Milton

　　Chapter 2 III. Daniel Defoe

　　　　　　IV. Jonathan Swift

　　　　　　V. Henry Fielding

　　Chapter 3 I. William Blake

　　　　　　II. William Wordsworth

　　　　　　V. Percy Bysshe Shelley

　　　　　　VII. Jane Austen

　　Chapter 4 I. Charles Dickens

　　　　　　II. Charlotte Bronte

　　　　　　VI. Thomas Hardy

　　Chapter 5 I. George Bernard Shaw

　　　　　　IV. T. S. Eliot

　　　　　　V. D. H. Lawrence

　　美国文学：

　　Chapter 1 III. Nathaniel Hawthorne

　　　　　　IV. Walt Whitman

　　　　　　V. Herman Melville

　　Chapter 2 I. Mark Twain

　　　　　　II. Henry James

　　　　　　III. Emily Dickinson

　　　　　　IV. Theodore Dreiser

　　Chapter 3 II. Robert Lee Frost

　　　　　　IV. F. Scott Fitzgerald

　　　　　　V. Ernest Hemingway

　　　　　　VI. William Faulkner

　　（二）关于考核要求的调整

　　考核要求中每章概述内容不作调整：“该时期的重要作家”只包含对考核知识点中保留的重要作家的相关内容的考核。

　　《英语国家概况自学考试大纲》的考核目标

　　Part One The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

　　Chapter 1 Land and People

　　I. Different Names for Britain and its Parts

　　Chapter 2 The Origins of a Nation

　　I.Early Settlers

　　3.The Celts

　　II.Roman Britain

　　III.The Anglo-Saxons

　　Ⅳ.The Viking and Danish Invasions

　　V.The Norman Conquest

　　Chapter 3 The Shaping of the Nation

　　Ⅰ. Norman Rule

　　1. William's Rule

　　Ⅱ.The Great Charter and the Beginning of Parliament

　　1. The Great Charter

　　Ⅲ.The Hundred Years'War with France

　　Ⅳ.The Black Death and the Peasant Uprising

　　Chapter 4 Transition to the Modern Age

　　Ⅰ.Transition to the Modern Age

　　Ⅱ.The English Reformation

　　Ⅲ.Elizabeth I

　　1. Elizabeth and Parliament

　　2. Elizabeth's Religious Reform

　　3. Elizabeth's Foreign Policy

　　Ⅳ.The English Renaissance

　　VII. The Civil Wars

　　VIII. The Commonwealth

　　IX. The Restoration and the Glorious Revolution of 1688

　　Chapter 5 The Rise and Fall of the British Empire

　　Ⅰ.Whigs and Tories

　　Ⅱ.Agricultural Changes in the Late 18th Century

　　Ⅲ.The Industrial Revolution

　　Ⅳ.The Chartist Movement

　　VII.Twentieth Century

　　1. Britain and the First World War

　　3. Britain and the Second World War

　　4. Postwar Britain

　　Chapter 7 Government and Administration

　　Ⅰ.The Monarchy

　　Ⅱ.Parliament

　　1. The House of Lords

　　2. The House of Commons

　　Ⅲ.The Cabinet and Ministry

　　Ⅳ.The Privy Council

　　Chapter 8 Justice and the Law

　　IV.The Judiciary

　　V.Police

　　Chapter 9 Social Affairs

　　Ⅰ.Health and Social Services

　　1.The National Health Service

　　Ⅲ.Religion

　　1.Established churches

　　Ⅳ.Festivals and Public Holidays

　　1.Christian festivals

　　2.Other festivals

　　3.Public holidays

　　Chapter 10 Cultural Affairs

　　Ⅰ.Education

　　3.Higher education

　　Ⅱ.The Media

　　1.Newspapers

　　Ⅲ.Sports

　　Ⅳ.The Arts

　　3.Drama

　　Part Two The Republic of Ireland

　　Chapter 11 Geography and History

　　I. Geographical Features

　　II. Climate and Weather

　　III. Population and Religion

　　IV. Historical background

　　Part Three The United States of America

　　Chapter 14 Population， Race and Ethnic Groups

　　I. Introduction

　　IV. Racial and Ethnic Minorities

　　1.Blacks

　　Chapter 15 American History （I）

　　Ⅰ.Discovery of the New World

　　Ⅱ.The Colonial Period

　　Ⅲ.The War of Independence

　　Ⅳ.A New Form of Government

　　Ⅵ.Territorial Expansion and Westward Movement

　　Ⅶ.The Civil War

　　Ⅷ.Rapid Growth of Capitalism after the Civil War

　　Chapter 16 American History （II）

　　Ⅰ.Economic Development

　　Ⅱ.Progressivism

　　Ⅲ.World War I and the United States

　　Ⅳ.The United States in the 1920s

　　Ⅴ.The Great Depression and the New Deal

　　Ⅵ.World War II and the United States

　　Chapter 17 American History （III）

　　Ⅰ.The Origins of the Cold War

　　Ⅱ.The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan

　　V.McCarthyism

　　VII.American Society During the Postwar Boom： 1945-1960s

　　VIII.The Cuban Missile Crisis

　　IX.The Vietnam War

　　X.United States'Relations with China

　　XII.Watergate Scandal

　　Chapter 18 The Economy

　　（Two paragraphs）

　　Ⅰ.The Economic System of the United States

　　V.Foreign Trade

　　VI.Problems in the U.S. Economy

　　Chapter 19 Political Institutions

　　Ⅰ.The U.S. Constitution

　　1.The Federal system

　　2.Separation of powers： checks and balances

　　3.Provisions for amendment

　　Ⅱ.The Executive Branch

　　1.The Presidency

　　2.Presidential Powers

　　Ⅲ.The Legislative Branch

　　2. Powers of the House and Senate

　　3. Officers of the Congress

　　4. Functions of the Congress

　　Ⅴ.Political Parties （two-party system）

　　Chapter 20 Education

　　Ⅰ.Characteristics of American Education

　　Ⅱ.Elementary and Secondary Education

　　Ⅲ.Higher Education

　　Ⅴ.Education Reforms

　　Chapter 21 Literature， Architecture and Music

　　Ⅰ.American Literature

　　1.Washington Irving

　　2.Emerson and Hawthorne

　　3.Mark Twain

　　4.Whitman and Dickinson

　　5.Theodore Dreiser

　　6.T. S. Eliot

　　7.Ernest Hemingway

　　8.Hughes and Wright

　　Chapter 22 Holidays and Festivals

　　Ⅰ。New Year's Day

　　IV.Valentine's Day

　　VI.Easter Day

　　VIII.Independence Day

　　IX.Halloween

　　XI.Thanksgiving Day

　　ⅩII.Christmas Day

　　Part Four Canada

　　Chapter 23 Geography and History

　　Ⅰ.Geographic Features

　　4. Geographic regions

　　Ⅱ.The making of Canada

　　1.The European discovery

　　3.Self-government and Confederation

　　4.The Canadian nation

　　Chapter 26 Society and Culture

　　I.Canadian Society

　　1.Population

　　2.Immigration

　　3.Bilingualism

　　4.Multiculturalism

　　Part Five Australia

　　Chapter 27 Land and people

　　Ⅰ.The Geographical Structure

　　1.The Great Western Plateau

　　2.The Eastern Highlands

　　3.The Central Eastern Lowlands

　　Ⅱ.Climate

　　3. Causes and effects of the hot and dry climate

　　Ⅳ.People

　　1.Population

　　2.Population density and distribution

　　Ⅴ.Australia's Built Environment

　　1.Sprawling cities

　　2.Rural areas

　　Ⅵ.Political Divisions

　　1.New South Wales

　　2.Victoria

　　3.Queensland

　　4.South Australia

　　5.West Australia

　　6.Tasmania

　　Chapter 32 Society and Culture

　　IV.Australian Culture

　　1.Aboriginal culture

　　2.Modern Australian culture

　　Part Six New Zealand

　　Chapter 33 The Making of New Zealand

　　Ⅰ.Geography

　　Ⅱ.Climate

　　Ⅲ.Plants and Animals

　　Ⅳ.Historical Background

　　2.The Treaty of Waitangi 1840

　　VI. Maoritanga

　　5. Race relations