题型：阅读理解 题类：模拟题 难易度：普通
河北省石家庄市2020届高三英语综合训练（二）试卷
As one of the most important languages in the world, Latin had humble beginnings. It originated along the Tiber River in Italy and only a handful of people spoke the language. Over time, Latin became more well-known as Romans gained political power. Many famous literary texts and scientific classifications were written in Latin. Even though knowing Latin indicated a person was educated, according to Britannica, in the 20th century far fewer people learned Latin, leading it to be classified as a “dead” language.
There are around 7,000 living languages in the world, but, according to Britannica, “more than half are at risk of dying out by the end of the 21st century.” Civilizations evolve over time and so do languages. More often than not, a language dies because everyone who speaks the language dies. For example, Marie Smith Jones, perhaps the last native speaker of the Alaskan Eyak language, died at the age of 89 in 2008, and so did the language. Now, fewer and fewer people speak Latin, which raises public's awareness about its protection.
Actually, there are many other reasons as to why Latin should be protected or taught. “It is a window into a fascinating ancient civilization, and studying an ancient civilization teaches us to respect different points of view and unfamiliar cultural practices,” says Kathleen Coleman, James Loeb Professor of Harvard University.
Since it isn't used in ordinary conversations, there are a lot of difficulties that arise from teaching Latin. “Teaching a 'dead' language is different from teaching other languages,” explains Coleman, “because there are no native speakers to show us how it sounds or answer questions about the meaning of words or explain idioms. Though it's hard, fortunately, we still can find the answers to our questions from the broken evidence available in written texts.”
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