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.
注(1)：本文选自Time;12/11/2000， p61;
注(2)：本文习题命题模仿对象2002年真题text 4; 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
发表于 2017-8-6 16:07:32