There is aqualityof cohesiveness about the Roman world that applied neither to Greece nor perhaps to any othercivilization,ancientor modern. Like the stone of Roman wall, which were held together both by the regularity of the design and by that peculiarly powerful Romancement, so the various parts of the Romanrealmwere bonded into amassive, monolithic entity byphysical, organizational, and psychological controls. Thephysicalbonds included the network ofmilitarygarrisons, which were stationed in every province, and the network of stone-built roads that linked the provinces with Rome. The organizational bonds were based on thecommonprinciples of law andadministrationand on the universal army of officials who enforcedcommonstandards ofconduct. The psychological controls were built on fear and punishment—on theabsolutecertainty that anyone or anything that threatened theauthorityof Rome would beutterlydestroyed.

Thesourceof Roman obsession withunityandcohesionmay well have lain in thepatternof Rome’s earlydevelopment. Whereas Greece had grown from scores ofscatteredcities, Rome grew from one singleorganism. While the Greek world had expandedalongtheMediterraneanseas lanes, the Roman world was assembled byterritorialconquest. Ofcourse, thecontrastis not quite so stark: in Alexander the Great the Greeks had found the greatestterritorialconqueror of all time; and the Romans, once they moved outside Italy, did not fail to learn the lessons of sea power. Yet theessentialdifferenceis undeniable. The key to the Greek worldlayin its high-powered ships; the key to Roman powerlayin its marching legions. The Greeks were wedded to the sea; the Romans, to the land. The Greek was a sailor at heart; the Roman, a landsman.

Certainly, in trying to explain the Romanphenomenon, one would have to place great emphasis on this almostinstinctfor theterritorialimperative. Roman prioritieslayin theorganization,exploitation, anddefenseof theirterritory. In all probability it was thefertileplainof Latium, where the Latins who founded Rome originated, that created the habits and skills of landedsettlement, landedproperty, landedeconomy, landedadministration, and a land-based society. From this arose the Romangeniusformilitaryorganizationand orderlygovernment. In turn, a deep attachment to the land, and to thestabilitywhichrurallife engenders, fostered the Roman virtues: gravitas, asenseof responsibility, pietas, asenseofdevotionto family and country, and iustitia, asenseof the natural order.

Modern attitudes to Romancivilizationrange from the infinitely impressed to the thoroughly disgusted. As always, there are the power worshippers, especially among historians, who are predisposed toadmirewhatever is strong, who feel more attracted to the might of Rome than to the subtlety of Greece. At the same time, there is asolidbody of opinion that dislikes Rome. For many, Rome is at best theimitatorand the continuator of Greece on a largerscale. Greekcivilizationhadquality; Rome,merequantity. Greece wasoriginal; Rome, derivative. Greece had style; Rome had money. Greece was the inventor; Rome, the research anddevelopmentdivision. Such indeed was the opinion of some of the moreintellectualRomans. “Had the Greeks heldnoveltyin suchdisdainas we,” asked Horace in his epistle, “what work ofancientdatewould now exist?”

Rome’sdebtto Greece wasenormous. The Romans adopted Greekreligionandmoralphilosophy. Inliterature, Greek writers wereconsciouslyused as models by theirLatinsuccessors. It wasabsolutelyaccepted that aneducatedRoman should be fluent in Greek. In speculativephilosophyand the sciences, the Romans madevirtuallynoadvanceon early achievements.

Yet it would be wrong to suggest that Rome was somehow a junior partner in Greco-Romancivilization. The Romangeniuswas projected into new spheres—especially into those of law,militaryorganization,administration, andengineering. Moreover, the tensions that arosewithinthe Romanstateproducedliteraryandartisticsensibilities of the highest order. It was noaccidentthat manyleadingRoman soldiers and statesmen were writers of highcaliber.

Questions:
question_stem: Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
choices: tag: A
text: The regularity and power of stone walls inspired Romans attempting to unify the parts of their realm.

tag: B
text: Although the Romans used different types of designs when building their walls, they used regular controls to maintain their realm.

tag: C
text: Several types of control united the Roman realm, just as design and cement held Roman walls together.

tag: D
text: Romans built walls to unite the various parts of their realm into a single entity, which was controlled by powerful laws.
answer_key: C
explanation: C 这句话看上去很复杂，其实是一个加了很多修饰成分的类比符合句，用 so 来连接类比（A 是 XXX 样的，B 也是 XXX 样的）。去掉不非主要成分，原句和缩略为：Like the stone of Roman wall, which were held by design and cement, so the roman realm were bonded into an entiy by controls. 这样缩略完以后就非常好选了，正确答案就是 C。A 中的 inspire 纯属瞎编乱造；B 中的让步也是原句没有的，错；D 前半句非常正确，但从句说 powerful laws 缩小了原文的 control，不对。

question_stem: According to paragraph 1, all of the following are controls that held together the Roman world EXCEPT
choices: tag: A
text: administrative and legal systems

tag: B
text: the presence of the military

tag: C
text: a common language

tag: D
text: transportation networks
answer_key: C
explanation: B，D 选项属于 physical bonds，A 选项属于 organizational bonds，因而只有 C 未提及，选 C

question_stem: The phrase “obsession with” in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: thinking about

tag: B
text: fixation on

tag: C
text: interest in

tag: D
text: attitude toward
answer_key: B
explanation: B, obsession with: 着迷于……，所以 fixation on 着迷于……正确。A 是思考；C 是对…感兴趣；D 是对…的态度。

question_stem: According to paragraph 2, which of the following was NOT characteristic of Rome’s early development?
choices: tag: A
text: Expansion by sea invasion

tag: B
text: Territorial expansion

tag: C
text: Expansion from one original settlement

tag: D
text: Expansion through invading armies
answer_key: A
explanation: A EXCEPT 题，排除法。A 选项与原文第三句说反，原文说是陆地 A 说是海洋，所以错，选；同时也说明 B 正确，不选；C 中的 one original settlement 定位至第二句，正确，不选；D 的 invading armies 定位至倒数第三句，注意 legion 就是 armies，所以 D 对，不选

question_stem: Why does the author mention “Alexander the Great” in the passage?
choices: tag: A
text: To acknowledge that Greek civilization also expanded by land conquest

tag: B
text: To compare Greek leaders to Roman leaders

tag: C
text: To give an example of Greek leader whom Romans studied

tag: D
text: To indicate the superior organization of the Greek military
answer_key: A
explanation: A 原文说在亚历山大大帝时代，希腊也建立了很强大的陆军，前面一直在说希腊是海洋型军队，但这句的前半句说对比也不是绝对鲜明的，紧接着就给了这个例子，而例子的冒号之前的内容也非常重要，强调两者之间的对立也不是那么完全的，也就是说希腊也有陆上部队，所以答案是 A。

question_stem: The word “fostered” in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: accepted

tag: B
text: combined

tag: C
text: introduced

tag: D
text: encouraged
answer_key: D
explanation: foster: 培养，促进。A 是接受；B 是结合；C 是引入；D 是鼓励，促进。所以 D 的 encourage 正确。对应原文：In turn, a deep attachment to the land, and to the stability which rural life engenders, fostered the Roman virtues: gravitas, a sense of responsibility, peitas, a sense of devotion to family and country, and iustitia, a sense of the natural order.原句说对土地和稳定的依靠怎么样了罗马人的性格，责任感，为国家和家庭贡献，还有天然的秩序性。前者对后者应该是正向作用的，而 accept/combine/introduce 都没有倾向性，所以 encourage 正确。

question_stem: Paragraph 3 suggests which of the following about the people of Latium?
choices: tag: A
text: Their economy was based on trade relations with other settlements.

tag: B
text: They held different values than the people of Rome.

tag: C
text: Agriculture played a significant role in the society.

tag: D
text: They possessed unusual knowledge of animal instincts.
answer_key: C
explanation: C 以 Lantium 做关键词定位至第三句，说这个地方的人有一系列与土地相关的性格，既然与土地相关，C 就正确；A 说反了，原文说经济以土地为主，贸易是不靠土地的；B 说反了，那个地方的人就是建立罗马帝国的人； D 没说

question_stem: Paragraph 4 indicates that some historians admire Roman civilization because of
choices: tag: A
text: the diversity of cultures within Roman society

tag: B
text: its strength

tag: C
text: its innovative nature

tag: D
text: the large body of literature that it developed
answer_key: B
explanation: 以 historians 做关键词定位至第二句：As always, there are the power worshippers, especially among historians, who are predisposed to admire whatever is strong, who feel more attracted to the might of Rome than to the subtlety of Greece.说总有那些强权崇拜者，而且解释说他们崇拜强者，所以这些人崇拜罗马的原因也是这个，答案是 B。

question_stem: In paragraph 4, the author develops a description of Roman civilization by
choices: tag: A
text: comparing the opinions of Roman intellectuals to Greek intellectuals

tag: B
text: identifying which characteristics of Roman civilization were copied from Greece

tag: C
text: explaining how the differences between Roman and Greece developed as time passed

tag: D
text: contrasting characteristics of Roman civilization with characteristics of Greek civilization
answer_key: D
explanation: D 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。

question_stem: According to paragraph 4, intellectual Romans such as Horace held which of the following opinions about their civilization?
choices: tag: A
text: Ancient works of Greece held little value in the Roman world.

tag: B
text: The Greek civilization had been surpassed by the Romans.

tag: C
text: Roman civilization produced little that was original or memorable.

tag: D
text: Romans valued certain types of innovations that had been ignored by ancient Greeks.
answer_key: C
explanation: C  以人名做关键词定位至最后一句，这句话一开始就有个 such，所以上文才是 Horace 的观点，前面不停说希腊是原创者，罗马只是跟着学，所以答案是 C，罗马没什么有价值的东西，A/B 都说反了；D 不同类型没说

question_stem: The word “spheres” in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: abilities

tag: B
text: areas

tag: C
text: combinations

tag: D
text: models
answer_key: B
explanation: B sphere 球体，所以 B 的 area 领域正确，原句 sphere 后的破折号对这个词给出了解释，law，military organization，administration and engineering 都是学科或者领域；A 能力 C 联合 D 模型都不对。

question_stem: Which of the following statements about leading Roman soldiers and statesmen is supported by paragraphs 5 and 6?
choices: tag: A
text: They could read and write the Greek language.

tag: B
text: They frequently wrote poetry and plays.

tag: C
text: They focused their writing on military matters.

tag: D
text: They wrote according to the philosophical laws of the Greeks.
answer_key: A
explanation: A，以 Roman soldiers and statesman 做关键词定位至第六段最后一句，说这些人是很有才的作家，然后似乎没答案，但问的是根据第五和第六两段啊，上一段还没看，上段倒数第二句说受过良好教育的罗马人都精通希腊语，所以上面说的那些有才的作家肯定也精通了，A 正确；没找到的话用排除法，其他三项都没说