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 doodle(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 modem 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 doodle”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 crosswords．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。