单选题 It seems incredible to me that Latin is not taught in schools as a matter of course, especially in a country that is forever lamenting its own (undeniable) mediocrity when it comes to speaking foreign languages. As a 13-year-old, I hardly approached my own Latin lessons with anything resembling enthusiasm—I might have been keener if Aeneas went to the shops occasionally—but I am terrifically grateful I had them, all the same.
The benefits are many. Having a basic grounding in Latin makes learning Romance languages a doddle(轻而易举的事): the fact that I speak English plus three others has less to do with any genetic predisposition—I was hopeless at learning Russian—than with an understanding of the root and provenance of Latin-derived words.
It would be impossible to have a smattering of Latin and find oneself stuck in Italy, provided one managed to persuade the speaker to slow down a bit. And the reason I can (arguably) just about string a sentence together in English—which isn"t my first language—has a great deal to do with understanding, through Latin, the way sentences and grammar work.
Latin also has its own pleasing internal logic: you follow the rules and you get the answer. And I really believe that if you know Latin, you half-speak French already. The British used not to be appalling at languages: my theory is that they only became so during the past century, when Latin stopped being widely taught.
Detractors (恶意批评者) might point out that there is little use in learning a dead language. But Latin is not dead: it"s everywhere. It makes the kind of people who never use two short words when six big ones will do intelligible . It demystifies jargon and legalese. It helps with crosswords. It even forces those of us who are pathologically illogical to think logically every once in a while: I remember the pleasure I felt at school, during Latin translation, when I realized I could create order and sense out of apparent chaos.
Really, Latin"s useful applications are manifold. Watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? a few weeks ago, I noticed that the question which felled the contestant would almost certainly not have stumped him had he had some Latin. Of all the possible answers, only one had a Latin root that echoed the question. From Cicero to Chris Tarrant in a few easy steps, you can"t say more modern or less dusty than that.

单选题 The word "lamenting" underlined in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ______.

单选题 As a teenager, the author ______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 根据文中第一段的内容“As a 13-year-old, I hardly approached my own Latin lessons with anything resembling enthusiasm—I might have been keener if Aeneas went to the shops occasionally—but I am terrifically grateful I had them，all the same.”可知，作者开始时对拉丁语没有热情，但是后来非常感激上了拉丁语的课程，所以D项“对他/她的拉丁语课程非常满意”符合题意。A项“对拉丁语有强烈的兴趣”，B项“对拉丁语从没有显示过兴趣”，从文中内容可以看出作者开始对拉丁语没有兴趣，后来应该是有兴趣了，所以A、B两项都不正确；C项“上拉丁语课程不久就放弃了”，这个在文中没有提到。

单选题 The word "provenance" underlined in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ______.

单选题 In paragraph 3, the author believes that knowing a little about Latin helps one ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 根据文中第三段的内容“It would be impossible to have a smattering of Latin and find oneself stuck in Italy, provided one managed to persuade the speaker to slow down a bit.”可知，一个居住意大利的人对拉丁语只是略懂一点，如果他设法说服演讲者把语速稍微放慢一点，那是不可能的。所以A项“懂一点拉丁语能帮助人更好地说意大利语”符合题意。B项“弄明白一个意大利人说什么”，C项“了解意大利历史”，D项“和意大利人交朋友”，这三项都不符合文意。

单选题 The word "a smattering" underlined in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ______.

单选题 According to paragraph 4, the British ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 根据文中第四段的内容“The British used not to be appalling at languages: my theory is that they only became so during the past, century, when Latin stopped being widely taught.”可知，当拉丁语不被广泛学习的时候，英语很快就在世界范围内普遍开来，所以C项“当停止学习拉丁语时，他们变得擅长语言”符合题意。A项“在学习拉丁语时总处于痛苦中”，B项“过去当拉丁语被教的时候，他们很擅长语言”，D项“过去当拉丁语被教的时候，他们总处在痛苦中”，这三项和文中第四段内容不符合。

单选题 One of the benefits to learn Latin is that ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 根据文中第二段的内容“Having a basic grounding in Latin makes learning Romance languages a doddle”可知，有一定的拉丁语基础，再学习罗曼语就是一件轻而易举的事。所以A项“使学习其他的语言变得更容易”符合题意。B项“在学习俄语时有很大的帮助”，根据第二段的“I was hopeless at learning Russian”可知B不正确；C项“有助于提高心理健康”，D项“帮助作者说四种语言”，C、D两项在文中没有提到。

单选题 The word "intelligible" underlined in Paragraph 5 refers to ______.

单选题 That Latin is not dead is shown by all of the following EXCEPT ______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 根据文中第五段的内容“It makes the kind of people who never use two short words when six big ones will do intelligible. It demystifies jargon and legalese. It helps with cross-words. It even forces those of us who are pathologically illogical to think logically every once in a while:”可知，D项“一些人变得更自信”在文中没有提到。A项“一些难的术语变得易于理解”，B项“字谜游戏变得容易解决”，C项“一些人的思考方式变得合乎逻辑性”，这三项在文中第五段内容中都有相互对应的内容。

单选题 The contestant could have won if he/she ______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 根据文中第六段的内容“I noticed that the question which felled the contestant would almost certainly not have stumped him had he had some Latin.”可知，懂一点拉丁语就不会让参赛者那么容易被打败。所以B项符合题意。A项“没有被法律术语打败过”，C项“没有如此渴望成为一为百万富翁”，D项“已经问了一些关于西塞罗的问题”，这三项和文中第六段内容不符合。