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