泽熙美文Reading Comprehension
Shortly after the death of emperor Theodosius in 395 A.D., the Roman Empire was permanently divided into Eastern and Western empires. By the fifth century A.D., the power of the Western Roman Empire had declined considerably, though the Eastern Roman Empire centered in Byzantium continued to flourish. Various problems contributed to this undermining of the West.
The accessions of Arcadius and Honorius, sons of Theodosius, as emperors in the East and West, respectively, illustrate the unfortunate pattern of child heirs that had unfavorable effects for both empires. When Arcadins died in 408, he was succeeded by his seven-year-old son, Theodosius Ⅱ. Reigning until 423, Honorius was succeeded by his nephew Valentinian Ⅲ, who was only five. Because of their young ages, Theodosius’ sons and grandsons could not rule without older advisors and supervising regents upon whom they naturally became dependent and from whom they were unable to breakaway after reaching maturity. As powerful individuals vied for influence and dominance at court, the general welfare was often sacrificed to private rivalries and ambitions. Moreover, it was the women of the dynasty who were the more capable and interesting characters. Holding the keys to succession through birth and inheritance, they became active players in the political arena.
Compared with the East, however, the West faced a greater number of external threats along more permeable frontiers. Whereas the East could pursue war and diplomacy more effectively with their enemies on the long eastern frontier, the West was exposed to the more volatile tribal Germanic peoples on a frontier that stretched along the Rhine and Danube rivers for 1,000 miles. The East, however, only had to guard the last 500 miles of the Danube. In addition, the East had many more human and material resources with which to pursue its military and diplomatic objectives. The East also had a more deeply rooted unity in the Greek culture of the numerous Greek and Near Eastern cities that Rome had inherited from earlier Grecian empires. Latin culture had not achieved comparable penetration of the less urbanized West outside of Italy. The penetration of Germanic culture from the north had been so extensive along the permeable Rhine-Danube frontier that it was often difficult to distinguish between barbarians (speakers of German and other languages unrelated to Latin) and Romans in those regions by the fifth century anyway.
One of the most outstanding features at the beginning of this period was the prominence of Germanic generals in the high command of the Roman Imperial army. The trend became significant, and several practical reasons can explain it. The foremost probably was the sheer need for military manpower that made it attractive to recruit bands of Germanic peoples for the armies, which, in turn, gave able chieftains and warlords the opportunity to gain imperial favor and advance in rank. Second, one way to turn Germanic chieftains from potential enemies into loyal supporters was to offer them a good position in the Roman military. Third, although Theodosius had risen to power as a military leader, he was also a cultured aristocrat and preferred to emphasize the civilian role of the emperor and to rely for protection on Germanic generals whose loyalties were primarily to him, their patron.
1. The word unfavorable in the second passage is closest in meaning to ______.
A.negative
B.uncontrollable
C.unexpected
D.long-lasting
正确答案：A
[解析] 题干unfavorable意为“不利的”，各选项中只有A项negative(负面的；消极的)与其意思接近，故选A项。
B项“不可控制的”、C项“预料之外的”和D项“长久的”均不符合题意。
[参考译文] 公元395年皇帝狄奥多西死后不久，罗马帝国就永久地被划分为了东罗马帝11和西罗马帝国。到了公元5世纪，西罗马帝国的力量已大大减弱，而以拜占庭为中心的东罗马帝国继续蓬勃发展。各种问题导致了西罗马帝国的衰败。
狄奥多西的儿子阿卡迪乌斯和奥诺里乌斯分别做了东、西罗马帝国的皇帝，这体现了对两个帝国都有不利影响的子嗣继位模式。阿卡迪乌斯于408年去世后，他7岁的儿子狄奥多西二世接替了皇位。423年，奥诺里乌斯的皇位由他的侄子瓦伦提尼安三世继承，他只有5岁。由于年龄较小，狄奥多西的儿子们和孙子们没有年长的顾问和监督摄政王就无法统治，他们也自然地对其产生了依赖，即使在成年后也无法摆脱。当有权势的人在宫廷上争夺影响力和支配地位时，公众的福利往往被私人的竞争和野心给牺牲。而且，王朝的女性才是更有能力以及让人感兴趣的人物。她们的出身和遗产继承给她们带来了继承权，因此她们积极活跃在政治领域。
然而，与东罗马帝国相比，西罗马帝国的边界更易越过，面临着更多的外部威胁。虽然东罗马帝国可以在漫长的东部边境上与敌人进行更有效的战争和外交活动，而西罗马帝国则暴露在更加动荡不安的日耳曼部落人民面前，因为其边界在莱茵河和多瑙河边上，绵延将近1,000英里。然而，东罗马帝国只需要守卫多瑙河的最后500英里。此外，东罗马帝国拥有更多的人力和物力资源，可以更好地用来实现其军事和外交目标。罗马从早期希腊帝国那里继承了许多希腊和近东城市，因而希腊文化在东罗马帝国也有着根深蒂固的统一性。意大利城外城市化程度较低的西罗马帝国地区，拉丁文化没有达到类似的文化渗透程度。日耳曼文化从北方沿着莱茵河、多瑙河边境的渗透如此之广，以至于到公元5世纪时，人们往往很难区分这些地区的野蛮人(说德语和其他与拉丁语无关的语言)和罗马人。
这一时期伊始最突出的特点之一是日耳曼将军在罗马帝国军队拥有着最高指挥地位。这种趋势变得很明显，有几个切实的原因可以解释这一现象。最重要的原因可能是对军事力量的绝对需求，这使得为军队招募日耳曼人变得很有吸引力，这反过来又使能干的酋长和军阀有机会获得皇帝的赏识晋升。第二，给他们在罗马军队中提供一个好的职位也是把日耳曼首领从潜在的敌人变成忠诚的支持者的一个方法。第三，狄奥多西虽然以军事领袖的身份掌权，但他也是一位有教养的贵族，他更喜欢强调皇帝的平民角色，并依赖于日耳曼将军的保护，这些将军主要忠诚于他——他们的主顾。
2. According to the second paragraph, which of the following was one result of the pattern of rule by child emperors? ______
A.The common people lost respect for the position of emperor.
B.Regents and advisors attempted to put an end to traditional rivalries for dominance within the court
C.Women within the dynasty gained increased influence and power.
D.Traditional rules of succession by inheritance were changed.
正确答案：C
[解析] 第2段倒数第一、二句提到，在年龄较小的皇帝的统治下，王朝的女性是更加有能力的人物，她们拥有继承权，因而在政治领域非常活跃。由此可推断，这一时期王朝的女性获得了更大的影响力和权力，因此C项正确。
A项“老百姓对皇帝的地位失去了尊重”和D项“传统的继承制发生了变化”均未被提及。第2段提到，有权势的人在法庭上争夺影响力和支配地位，但并未提到B项“摄政王和顾问们试图结束宫廷内对统治地位的争夺”，故B项可排除。
3. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the underlined sentence in the passage? ______
A.As young rulers, the sons and grandsons of Theodosius necessarily depended on older advisors, and as adults, they were unable to rule independently of these advisors.
B.The sons and grandsons of Theodosius were too young to rule and they were without the assistance of older advisors.
C.On reaching maturity, the sons and grandsons of Theodosius attempted to break away from the older officials who had advised them since childhood.
D.Because the sons and grandsons of Theodosius were young when they became rulers, older advisors were able to prevent them from breaking away.
正确答案：A
[解析] 画线部分主要提到两个重要信息：一是因为年龄小，狄奥多西的子孙继位时必然需要顾问和监督摄政王辅佐；二是他们长大后，无法摆脱这些顾问和监督摄政王的干涉。因此下列四个选项中A项最能表达画线部分的意思，故答案为A项。
文中提到，狄奥多西的子孙们掌权时，有顾问和摄政王的帮助，因此B项“狄奥多西的子孙们掌权时年龄太小，且没有年长顾问的帮助”可排除。C项“狄奥多西的儿子和孙子长大成人后，试图摆脱从小就出谋划策的年长官员”在文中没有提及。D项“由于狄奥多西的子孙在成为统治者时年龄尚小，年长的顾问能够阻止他们摆脱他们的辅佐”在文中未被提及，可排除。
4. In describing the frontiers of the Western Empire as more permeable, the author means that these frontiers ______.
A.had more places where crossings could occur
B.were more distant from the center
C.were more likely to be changed
D.were more deserted
正确答案：A
[解析] 第3段第1句就捉到，西罗马帝国面临着更多的外部威胁是因为它有着更易越过的边界。接着下一句继续对此进行补充说明：西罗马帝国的边界绵延1,000多英里，在莱茵河和多瑙河边上，暴露在更加动荡不安的日耳曼部落人民面前，而东罗马帝国仅需守卫多瑙河最后的500英里。由此可判断，作者说西罗马帝国的边境更易越过的意思是边界更广，且暴露在外部威胁势力面前，故A项“有更多可以越过边境的地方”正确。
B项“离中心更远”、C项“更有可能被改变”和D项“更加荒无人烟”
