As one of the most momentous 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 distinguished as Romans procured 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 preservation.
Actually, there are many other reasons in respect of why Latin should be preserved or taught. “It is a window into an engaging 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 distinct from teaching other languages, explains Coleman, “because there are no native speakers to demonstrate us how it sounds or answer questions about the meanings of words or justify idioms. While it's tough, we still can find the answers to our questions from the fragmentary evidence available in written texts.”
【小题1】What can we learn about Latin from Paragraph 1?| A．Latin was well-known since its birth. |
| B．Only educated people learned Latin in the past. |
| C．Latin was not favored by scientists and writers. |
| D．All people didn't learn Latin in the 20th century. |
| A．Latin is going to be a "dead” language. |
| B．what it really means when a language dies. |
| C．why people should be aware of protecting languages. |
| D．he is the last native speaker of the Alaskan Eyak language. |
| A．To show unfamiliar practices. |
| B．To respect others' opinions. |
| C．To learn about an ancient society. |
| D．To protect a "dead” language. |
| A．The learning materials. |
| B．The development of Latin. |
| C．The learning methods. |
| D．The difficulties in learning Latin. |
