托福备考托福阅读34套TPO样题+解析+译文7--2 Ancient Rome and Greece

托福考试 复习

托福阅读TPO7(试题+答案+译文)第2篇:Ancient Rome and Greece

托福阅读原文

There is a quality of cohesiveness aboutthe Roman worldthat applied neither to Greece nor perhaps to any othercivilization, ancientor modern. Like the stone of Roman wall, which were heldtogether both by theregularity of the design and by that peculiarly powerfulRoman cement, so thevarious parts of the Roman realm were bonded into amassive, monolithic entityby physical, organizational, and psychologicalcontrols. The physical bondsincluded the network of military garrisons, whichwere stationed in everyprovince, and the network of stone-built roads thatlinked the provinces withRome. The organizational bonds were based on thecommon principles of law andadministration and on the universal army ofofficials who enforced commonstandards of conduct. The psychological controlswere built on fear andpunishment—on the absolute certainty that anyone oranything that threatenedthe authority of Rome would be utterly destroyed.

The source of Roman obsession with unityand cohesion maywell have lain in the pattern of Rome’s early development.Whereas Greece hadgrown from scores of scattered cities, Rome grew from onesingle

organism.While the Greek world had expanded along the Mediterranean seaslanes, theRoman world was assembled by territorial conquest. Of course, thecontrast isnot quite so stark: in Alexander the Great the Greeks had found thegreatestterritorial conqueror of all time; and the Romans, once they movedoutsideItaly, did not fail to learn the lessons of sea power. Yet theessentialdifference is undeniable. The key to the Greek world lay in itshigh-poweredships; the key to Roman power lay in its marching legions. TheGreeks werewedded to the sea; the Romans, to the land. The Greek was a sailorat heart;the Roman, a landsman.

Certainly, in trying to explain the Romanphenomenon, onewould have to place great emphasis on this almost instinct forthe territorialimperative. Roman priorities lay in the organization,exploitation, and defenseof their territory. In all probability it was thefertile plain of Latium,where the Latins who founded Rome originated, thatcreated the habits andskills of landed settlement, landed property, landedeconomy, landedadministration, and a land-based society. From this arose theRoman genius formilitary organization and orderly government. In turn, a deep attachmentto theland, and to the stability which rural life engenders, fostered theRomanvirtues: gravitas, a sense of responsibility, pietas, a sense of devotiontofamily and country, and iustitia, a sense of the natural order.

Modern attitudes to Roman civilizationrange from theinfinitely impressed to the thoroughly disgusted. As always,there are thepower worshippers, especially among historians, who arepredisposed to admirewhatever is strong, who feel more attracted to the mightof Rome than to thesubtlety of Greece. At the same time, there is a solid bodyof opinion thatdislikes Rome. For many, Rome is at best the imitator and thecontinuator ofGreece on a larger scale. Greek civilization had quality; Rome,mere quantity.Greece was original; Rome, derivative. Greece had style; Rome hadmoney. Greecewas the inventor; Rome, the research and development division.Such indeed wasthe opinion of some of the more intellectual Romans. “Had theGreeks heldnovelty in such disdain as we,” asked Horace in his epistle, “whatwork ofancient date would now exist?”

Rome’s debt to Greece was enormous. TheRomans adoptedGreek religion and moral philosophy. In literature, Greek writerswereconsciously used as models by their Latin successors. It wasabsolutelyaccepted that an educated Roman should be fluent in Greek. Inspeculativephilosophy and the sciences, the Romans made virtually no advance onearlyachievements.

Yet it would be wrongto suggest that Romewas somehow a junior partner in Greco-Roman civilization.The Roman genius wasprojected into new

spheres—especially into those of law,military organization,administration, and engineering. Moreover, the tensionsthat arose within theRoman state produced literary and artistic sensibilitiesof the highest order.It was no accident that many leading Roman soldiers andstatesmen were writersof high caliber.

托福阅读试题

1.Which of the sentences below bestexpresses the essential informationin the highlighted sentence in the passage(paragraph 1) ? Incorrect choices change the meaning inimportant ways or leaveout essential information.

A.The regularity and power of stone wallsinspired Romans attempting to unify the parts of their realm.

B.Although the Romans used different typesof designs when building their walls, they used regular controls to maintaintheir realm.

C.Several types of control united the Romanrealm, just as design and cement held Roman walls together.

D.Romans built walls to unite the variousparts of their realm into a single

entity, which was controlled by powerfullaws.

2.According to paragraph 1, all of thefollowing are controls that heldtogether the Roman world EXCEPT

A.administrative and legal systems

B.the presence of the military

C.a common language

D.transportation networks

3.The phrase “obsessionwith” in the passage(paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to

A.thinking about

B.fixation on

C.interest in

D.attitude toward

4.According to paragraph 2, which of thefollowing was NOT characteristicof Rome’s early development?

A.Expansion by sea invasion

B.Territorial expansion

C.Expansion from one original settlement

D.Expansion through invading armies

5.Why does the author mention “Alexanderthe Great” in the passage? (paragraph 2)

A.To acknowledge that Greek civilizationalso expanded by land conquest

B.To compare Greek leaders to Roman leaders

C.To give an example of Greek leader whomRomans studied

D.To indicate the superior organization ofthe Greek military

6.The word “fostered”in the passage(paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to

A.accepted

B.combined

C.introduced

D.encouraged

7.Paragraph 3 suggests which of thefollowing about the people of Latium?

A.Their economy was based on traderelations with other settlements.

B.They held different values than thepeople of Rome.

C.Agriculture played a significant role inthe society.

D.They possessed unusual knowledge ofanimal instincts.

8.Paragraph

4

indicates

that

somehistorians

admire

Roman

civilizationbecause of

A.the diversity of cultures within Romansociety

B.its strength

C.its innovative nature

D.the large body of literature that itdeveloped

9.In paragraph 4, the author develops adescription of Roman civilizationby

A.comparing the opinions of Romanintellectuals to Greek intellectuals

B.identifying which characteristics ofRoman civilization were copied from Greece

C.explaining how the differences betweenRoman and Greece developed as time passed

D.contrasting characteristics of Romancivilization with characteristics of Greek civilization

10.According to paragraph 4, intellectualRomans such as Horace held whichof the following opinions about theircivilization?

A.Ancient works of Greece held little valuein the Roman world.

B.The Greek civilization had been surpassedby the Romans.

C.Roman civilization produced little thatwas original or memorable.

D.Romans valued certain types ofinnovations that had been ignored by ancient Greeks.

11.The word “spheres” in thepassage(paragraph 5) is closest in meaning to

A.abilities B.areas

C.combinations

D.models

12.Which of the following statements aboutleading Roman soldiers andstatesmen is supported by paragraphs 5 and 6?

A.They could read and write the Greeklanguage.

B.They frequently wrote poetry and plays.

C.They focused their writing on militarymatters.

D.They wrote according to the philosophicallaws of the Greeks.

13. Look at the four squares [■] thatindicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Theyesteem symbols of Roman power, such as the massive Colosseum.

Modern attitudes to Roman civilizationrange from the infinitelyimpressed to the thoroughly disgusted. ■【A】As always,there are the power

worshippers, especiallyamong historians, who arepredisposed to admire whatever is strong, who feelmore attracted to the mightof Rome than to the subtlety of Greece. ■【B】At the sametime, there is a solid body ofopinion that dislikes Rome. ■【C】For many,Rome is at best the imitator and thecontinuator of Greece on a larger scale. ■【D】Greekcivilization had quality; Rome, mere quantity.Greece was original; Rome,derivative. Greece had style; Rome had money. Greecewas the inventor; Rome, theresearch and development division. Such indeed wasthe opinion of some of themore intellectual Romans. “Had the Greeks heldnovelty in such disdain as we,”asked Horace in his epistle, “what work ofancient date would now exist?”

Where would the sentence best fit?

14. Direction: An introductory sentence fora brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary byselecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in thepassage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideasthat are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. Thisquestion worth 2 points.

The Roman world drew its strength fromseveral important sources.

A.Numerous controls imposed by Roman rulersheld its territory together.

B.The Roman military was organizeddifferently from older military organizations.

C.Romans valued sea power as did theLatins, the original inhabitants of Rome.

D.Roman values were rooted in a strongattachment to the land and the stability of rural life.

E.Rome combined aspects of ancient Greekcivilization with its own contributions in new areas.

F.EducatedRomans modeled their own literature and philosophy on the ancient Greeks.

托福阅读答案 1.C

2.C

3.原文该单词所在句子为:\"Thesource of Roman obsession with unity and cohesion may well have lain in thepattern of Rome’s early development.\" 可以理解为: \"罗马人对整体性和团结的执着来自于罗马早期的发展。\"根据前一句提到The psychological controls的内容判断早期罗马统治者是用许多刑罚来控制人类精神的，那结果就是罗马人服从了统治，因此对于unity and cohesion集体观念应该是服从的。

“Obsession with”有“着迷于、执着于”的意思。因此B选项正确。 4.A 5.A

6.原文该单词所在句子为:\"Inturn, a deep attachment to the land, and to the stability which rural lifeengenders, fostered the Roman virtues: \"可以理解为: \"反过来，对土地的深深的依恋和有乡村生活产生的稳定孕育了罗马人的品格。\"根据前后搭配，对于土地的依恋和乡村生活的向往是无法接受、联合以及介绍品格道德的，这样的生长环境和心理情操培养了人们的感情。

“Foster”有“鼓励、激励”的意思。因此D选项正确。

7.C 8.B

9.第四段只提到了罗马知识分子的观点，并没有提到希腊知识分子的观点，所以A选项错误。选项B和选项C在第四段并没有提到。在第四段主要通过比较希腊和罗马文化，希腊文化注重质量，罗马文化注重数量，希腊是创造者，罗马是继承者，并且通过罗马知识分子的观点进一步比较两种文明，用以描述罗马文明。所以选项D正确。 10.C 11.B 12.A

13.第六段的最后一句话提到“It was noaccident that many leading roman soldiers and statesmen were writers of highcaliber(很多罗马的军官和政治家都是高水平的作家并非偶然)”，罗马军人和政治家既然是高水平的作家，所以属于“educated Roman”；根据第五段提到“It was absolutely accepted that an educated Roman should be fluentin Greek(人们还认为，一个受过良好教

育的罗马人应该精通希腊语)”将两句话结合起来，可以看书他们可以用希腊语读写。所以A选项正确。B、C、D在文中并未提到 14.ADE