The Beginning of American Literature American has always been a land of beginnings. 1 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 2 and persecution, a chance to start again. We can say that, as nation, America begins with that hope. When, 3 , does American literature begin American literature begins with American experiences. Long before the first colonists arrived, before Christopher Columbus, before the Northmen who "found" America about the year 1,000, 4 Americans lived here. Each tribe’s literature was 5 woven into the fabric of daily life and reflected the unmistakably American experience of lining with the land. 6 kind of experience, one filled with fear and excitement, found its expression in the reports that Columbus and other explorers 7 home in Spain, French and English. In addition, the journals of the people who lived and died in the New England wilderness tell unforgettable tales of hard and sometimes 8 experiences of those 9 years. Experience, then, is the key to early American literature. The New World 10 a great variety of experiences, and these experiences 11 a wide variety of expressions by an even wider variety of early American writers. These writers included John Smith, 12 spent only two-and-a-half years on the American continent. They included Jonathan Edwards and William Byrd, who 13 of themselves as British subjects, never 14 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 15 of the first American literature. 51. A. Before B. After C. If D. Unless 52. A. happiness B. prosperity C. wealth D. poverty 53. A. but B. however C. and D. so 54. A. naughty B. natural C. national D. native 55. A. loosely B. densely C. tightly D. heavily 56. A. Another B. Other C. The other D. Others 57. A. gave B. sent C. brought D. took 58. A. favourable B. unforgettable C. heartbreaking D. significant 59. A. early B. later C. final D. late 60. A. improved B. promoted C. developed D. provided 61. A. destroyed B. demanded C. disrupted D. disputed 62. A. whose B. that C. which D. who 63. A. imagined B. wondered C. thought D. expected 64. A. to suspect B. suspecting C. suspect D. suspected 65. A. creators B. conductors C. contributors D. conqueror