Question

 When John Milton,writer of Paradise Lost,entered Cambridge University,in 1625,he was already skilled in Latin after seven years of studying it as his second language at St Paul's School,London. Like all English boys who prepared for col?lege in grammar schools,he had learned not only to read Latin but also to speak and write it smoothly and correctly. His pronunciation of Latin was English,how?ever,and seemed to have sounded strange to his friends when he later visited Italy.

Schoolboys gained their skill in Latin in a bitter way. They kept in mind the rules to make learning by heart easier. They first made a word-for-word translation and then an idiomatic translation into English. As they increased their skill,they translated their English back into Latin without referring to the book and then com?pared their translation with the original. The schoolmaster was always at hand to encourage them. All schoolmasters believed Latin should be beaten in.

After several years of study,the boys began to write compositions in imitation (模仿) of the Latin writers they read. And as they began to read Latin poems,they began to write poems in Latin. Because Milton was already a poet at ten,his poems were much better than those painfully put together by the other boys. Dur?ing the seven years Milton spent at university,he made regular use of his command of Latin. He wrote some excellent Latin poems,which he published among his works in 1645.

1. What does the passage mainly tell about?

   A. How John Milton wrote Paradise Lost.

   B. How John Milton studied Latin.

   C. How John Milton became famous.

   D. How John Milton became a poet.

2. Which of the following is TRUE of John Milton's pronunciation of Latin?

   A. It has a strong Italian accent.

   B. It has an uncommon accent.

   C. It was natural and easy to understand.

   D. It was bad and difficult to understand.

3. It can be inferred from the passage that         .

   A. Milton's training in Latin was similar to that of the other boys

   B. Milton hadn't learned any foreign language except Latin before going to col?lege

   C. Milton's Italian friends helped him v/ith Latin when they were talking

   D. Milton's classmates learned Latin harder but worse than Milton

4. What does the underlined part "Latin should be beaten in" probably mean?

   A. Schoolboys should be punished if they were lazy to learn Latin.

   B. Schoolboys should be encouraged if they had difficulty in learning Latin.

   C. Schoolboys were expected to master Latin in a short time.

   D. Schoolboys had to study Latin in a hard way.

Answer 1

本文讲述了英国诗人约翰•弥尔顿大学时期如何学习拉丁语及如何用拉丁语作诗。

1. B主旨大意题。根据全文可知，文章主要讲述了弥尔顿上大学期间如何学习拉丁语以及如何用拉丁语作诗。

2. B 细节理解题。根据第一段的"His pronunciation of Latin-- sounded strange..."可知答案。

3. A推理判断题。根据第二段的内容可知选A.

4. D句意理解题。根据文中反复提到的学拉丁语的艰辛可知选D.