Question

    In general, the ancient Romans were a practical people. They cared less about philosophy and pure mathematics than did the Greeks. The Romans were the best of the ancient engineers and architects. They were brilliant students of Greek geometry and trigonometry, and they applied their knowledge to the construction of fine bridges, roads, and public buildings.

They knew about the smelting of iron ore, but they used the iron they produced mainly for spears, swords, and shields, rather than for building construction.

While the Romans accomplished practical wonders, they did very little theoretical scientific thinking. Because of their frequent wars, many of their inventions were no more than improvements in the design of Greek weapons with which they were familiar.

There are two reasons for the Roman neglect of philosophy and pure mathematics. First, they were apparently too busy conquering nearby nations and forming them into a rapidly growing empire to waste much time on abstract thinking. Secondly, they were handicapped by the rigidity of their numerical system. (Try to multiply XI by LVII or to divide CXLIII by IX; it simply cannot be done with pencil and paper.) The Romans did all of their arithmetic on an abacus, the ancient counterpart of the modem computing machine. Their number system discouraged the study of pure mathematics.

1.The author calls the Romans “practical" because they________.

A.they didn't care about philosophy

B.they just learned from Greek geometry

C.they applied what they learned to construction

D.they thought little of theoretical scientific thinking

2.According to the passage, the Romans excelled in________.

A.smelting iron ore B.engineering and architecture

C.improving Greek weapons D.producing spears, swords, and shields

3.The underlined word “counterpart" in the last paragraph means ________.

A.equivalent B.calculator

C.appearance D.partner

4.The passage mainly talks about ________.

A.why Romans ignored mathematics

B.Romans' discouraging number system

C.how Romans accomplished practical wonders

D.Romans who neglected theoretical thought

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.A

4.D

【解析】

这是一篇议论文。文章主要对罗马人为什么很少进行理论科学思考，并陈述了其中两个原因：忙于征服其它国家；他们的数字系统过于僵化。

1.推理判断题。根据文章第一段的They were brilliant students of Greek geometry and trigonometry, and they applied their knowledge to the construction of fine bridges, roads, and public buildings.(他们是希腊几何和三角学的杰出学生，他们把所学的知识用到桥梁、公路和公共建筑上)可推测，作者认为古罗马人实际，是因为他们把所学知识运用到了实际生活中——建筑。C. they applied what they learned to construction(他们把所学知识运用到建筑中)符合以上推测。故选C项。

2.细节理解题。根据文章第一段的The Romans were the best of the ancient engineers and architects.(罗马人是古代最好的工程师和建筑师)可知，故罗马人擅长工程和建筑。B. engineering and architecture.(工程和建筑)符合以上说法。故选B项。

3.词意猜题题。根据划线部分所在句子The Romans did all of their arithmetic on an abacus, the ancient counterpart of the modem computing machine.可知，罗马人用算盘做算数，古代的算盘counterpart现代的计算机。算盘和计算机都是用来计算的，由此推测划线部分的意思是“等同于”。故选A项。

4.主旨大意题。根据文章的主要内容，尤其是第三段的While the Romans accomplished practical wonders, they did very little theoretical scientific thinking.(尽管罗马人创造了许多使用的奇迹，但是他们却很少进行理论上的科学思考)可知，古罗马人是实用主义，他们极少进行理论科学思考。D. Romans who neglected theoretical thought.(忽略理论思考的罗马人)符合以上说法。故选D项。