Amy High is decked out in the traditional pink dress and golden stole of ancient Rome. She bursts into a third-grade classroom and greets her students: "Salvete, omnes!" (Hello, everyone!) The kids respond in kind, and soon they are studying derivatives. "How many people are in a duet?" High asks. All the kids know the answer, and when she asks how they know, a boy responds, "Because duo is 'two' in Latin." High replies, "Plaudite!" and the 14 kids erupt in applause. They learn the Latin root later, or side, and construct such English words as bilateral and quadrilateral. "Latin's going to open up so many doors for you," High says. "You're going to be able to figure out the meaning of words you've never seen before."

　　High teaches at Providence Elementary School in Fairfax City, Va., which has a lot riding on the success of her efforts. As part of Virginia's high-stakes testing program, schools that don't boost their scores by the year 2007 could lose state funding. So Fairfax City, just 18 miles southwest of the White House, has upgraded its two crumbling elementary schools with new high-tech television studios, computer labs and one very old feature--mandatory Latin.

　　Here lies one of the more counterintuitive developments of the standardized-testing movement: Though some critics complain that teachers are forced to dumb down their lessons and "teach to the test," some schools are offering more challenging course work as a way of engaging students. In the past three years, scores of elementary schools in high-stakes testing states such as Texas, Virginia and Massachusetts have added Latin programs. Says Allen Griffith, a member of the Fairfax City school board: "If we're trying to improve English skills, teaching Latin is an awfully effective, proved method."

　　This is not your father's Latin, which was taught to elite college-bound high schoolers and drilled into them through memorization. Its tedium and perceived irrelevance almost drove Latin from public schools. Today's growth in elementary school Latin has been spurred by new, interactive oral curriculums, enlivened by lessons in Roman mythology and culture. "One thing that makes it engaging for kids is the goofy fun of investigating these guys in togas," says Marion Polsky, author of First Latin: A Language Discovery Program, the textbook used in Fairfax City.

　　Latin enthusiasts believe that if young students learn word roots, they will be able to decipher unfamiliar words. (By some estimates, 65% of all English words have Latin roots.) Latin is an almost purely phonetic language. There are no silent letters, and each letter represents a single sound. That makes it useful in teaching reading. And once kids master the grammatical structure of Latin--which is simple, logical and consistent--they will more easily grasp the many grammatical exceptions in English.

1.From the first Paragraph we learn that _____.
　　[A] the students show little interest in learning Latin
　　[B] the students say hello to their teacher in Latin
　　[C] Amy High teaches the students to read Bible in Latin
　　[D] learning English is unnecessary if you have perfectly mastered Latin

2.Which of the following statements is not true according to the text?
　　[A] The testing program is crucial to the schools.
　　[B] Latin is compulsory to the elementary schools students in Fairfax City.
　　[C] Providence Elementary School will not get state funding this year.
　　[D] Fairfax City government had done a lot to equip its elementary schools.

3.According to Allen Griffith, Latin _______.
　　[A] has little to do with English
　　[B] is very helpful to one’s learning English
　　[C] will replace English in the near future
　　[D] should be taught to kids even when they are in elementary school

4.Which of the following best defines the word “plaudite”?
　　[A] Great.
　　[B] Sorry.
　　[C] Class is over.
　　[D] Sad.

5.One reason for Latin enthusiasts to support young students’ learning Latin is _______.
　　[A] Latin has a longer history than English
　　[B] Latin has less word roots
　　[C] every letter in English word represent a single sound
　　[D] it is easier to grasp Latin grammar

　　答案：BCBAD

　　篇章剖析

　　本篇文章以一堂生动的小学拉丁语课开始，通过实际例子和专家的看法，得出学拉丁语可以帮助学好英语的结论。第二段指出某些州的小学为了继续得到州政府的财政支持，不得不在小学增添拉丁语。第三段讲虽然有人批评这种考察学校的制度，但强制学拉丁语的学校考试成绩确实提高了很多。第四段指出现在和过去学习拉丁语的不同点。最后一段列出支持学拉丁语的原因。

　　词汇注释

　　deck: [dek] v. 装饰，点缀

　　stole: [stEul] n. 披肩

　　high-stake adj. 高风险的

　　mandatory: [5mAndEtEri] adj. 强制的，命令的

　　dumb down 简单化

　　goofy: [5^u:fi] adj. 好玩的

　　toga: [5tEu^E] n. （古罗马男子穿的）宽松长袍

　　decipher: [di5saifE] v. 解释

　　难句突破

　　So Fairfax City, just 18 miles southwest of the White house, has upgraded its two crumbling elementary schools with new high-tech television studios, computer labs and one very old feature--- mandatory Latin.

　　主体句式：Fairfax City has upgraded its elementary schools…

　　结构分析：这是一个包含同位语的简单句。句子主干是“Fairfax City… has upgraded its …schools with….”

　　句子译文：所以白宫西南方18英里的费凡思市更新了两所破落小学的设备，新添了高科技的视听室，电脑试验室，还有非常老套的一招——强制学习拉丁语。

　　题目分析

　　1．答案是B, 属事实细节题。从第一段可看出学生对拉丁语很感兴趣。”in kind” 的意思是“同样的”。

　　2．答案是C，属事实细节题。细读第二段可发现所有细节。“high-stake” 指“高风险的”，有可能失去很多，也有可能得到很多； “mandatory”指“强制的，命令的”。

　　3．答案是B，属推理判断题。从“If we’re trying to improve English skills, teaching Latin is an awfully effective, proved method.” 可以清楚知道他的看法。

　　4．答案是A，属猜测意义题。从“…the 14 kids erupt in applause” 可以看出他答对了，老师应该是表扬他。

　　5．答案是D，属归纳推理题。从最后一段可知，大多数英语单词都有拉丁词根，拉丁语中的每个字母都发音，拉丁语法更简单，有逻辑。

　　参考译文

　　艾米·海身着古罗马传统的粉色外套，金色披肩，冲进三年级教室和学生打招呼: “Salvete, omnes!” （大家好！）学生们也用同样的语言向她问好，然后他们开始学习派生词。“Duet指几个人？”海问道。孩子们都知道答案, 海问他们怎么知道。一个男孩答到：“因为拉丁语duo意思是‘两个’”。“真棒！”海说道。14个孩子使劲鼓掌。他们又学了拉丁词根later（意思是“边”），并且组成了英语单词bilateral（双边的）和 quadrilateral（四边的）。“拉丁语会为你们打开许多扇门”， 海说，“即使你碰到从未见过的词，你也能猜出它的意思。”

　　海在弗吉尼亚州费尔法克斯市的天佑小学任教。由于她的努力，这所学校学生成绩有了很大改观。弗吉尼亚州制订了对学校而言生死攸关的测试计划，其中一条是任何2007年成绩不能提高的学校将得不到州政府的资助。所以白宫西南方18英里的费尔法克斯市更新了两所破落小学的设备，新添了高科技的视听室，电脑试验室，还有非常老套的一招——强制学习拉丁语。

　　标准化考试运动违背本能的一面即在于此：虽然有批评家抱怨老师被迫简化所讲课程以求人人都能听懂，“只为考试而教学”，可有些学校却讲授更难的课程来吸引学生。过去三年里，一些对州内学校实行生死评价的州，比如得克萨斯州、弗吉尼亚州、马萨诸塞州，他们的小学总评里已经把拉丁语包括在内。费尔法克斯市一位学校董事艾伦·格瑞费思说，“要想提高英语水平，学习拉丁语是一种被证明非常奏效的方法。”

　　这当然不是你父辈那时的拉丁语。那时学拉丁语的都是想上大学、学习拔尖的高中生，通过死记硬背、反复操练来学习。学起来枯燥乏味，学的人又觉得学了也没多大意义，搞的公立学校几乎都不开拉丁语课了。现在开拉丁语课的小学又多起来，主要是由于新颖互动着重口语的授课模式以及精彩的罗马神话及文化吸引着学生。“孩子们觉得调查那些穿长袍的人有无穷的乐趣，这一点使他们对拉丁语着迷。”莫伦·鲍斯基说。他是目前费尔法克斯市使用的拉丁语教科书《第一拉丁语：语言探索项目》的作者。

　　热衷学习拉丁语的人认为，如果学生学会词根，认识生词就不成问题。（据估计，65%的英语单词包含拉丁词根。）拉丁语几乎是纯粹的语音语言，即单词中没有不发音的字母，每个字母都有固定的发音。这在教学生阅读时很有用。而且，一旦孩子们掌握了拉丁语的语法结构——简单，有逻辑，前后一致，在学习英语的语法就容易多了。