Reading Practice Set 2

Ancient Rome and Greece

1. There is a quality of cohesiveness about the Roman world that applied neither to Greece nor
perhaps to any other civilization, ancient or modern. Like the stones of a Roman wall, which
were held together both by the regularity of the design and by that peculiarly powerful
Roman cement, so the various parts of the Roman realm were bonded into a massive,
monolithic entity by physical, organizational, and psychological controls. The physical
bonds included the network of military garrisons, 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 the common principles of law and administration and on the universal
army of officials who enforced common standards of conduct. The psychological controls
were built on fear and punishment on the absolute certainty that anyone or anything that
threatened the authority of Rome would be utterly destroyed.

2. The source of the Roman obsession with unity and cohesion may well have lain in the

cities, Rome grew from one single organism. While the Greek world had expanded along the
Mediterranean Sea lanes, the Roman world was assembled by territorial conquest. Of course,
the contrast is not quite so stark: in Alexander the Great the Greeks had found the greatest
territorial conqueror of all time; and the Romans, once they moved outside Italy, did not fail
to learn the lessons of sea power. Yet the essential difference is undeniable. The key to the
Greek world lay in its high-powered ships; the key to Roman power lay in 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.

3. Certainly, in trying to explain the Roman phenomenon, one would have to place great
emphasis on this almost animal instinct for the territorial imperative. Roman priorities lay in
the organization, exploitation, and defense of their territory. In all probability it was the
fertile plain of Latium, where the Latins who founded Rome originated, that created the
habits and skills of landed settlement, landed property, landed economy, landed
administration, and a land-based society. From this arose the Roman genius for military
organization and orderly government. 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.

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4. Modern attitudes to Roman civilization range from the infinitely impressed to the thoroughly
disgusted. 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. At the same time, there is a solid body of opinion that dislikes
Rome. For many, Rome is at best the imitator and the continuator of Greece on a larger
scale. Greek civilization had quality; Rome, mere quantity. Greece was original; Rome,
derivative. Greece had style; Rome had money. Greece was the inventor; Rome, the research
and development division. Such indeed was the opinion of some of the more intellectual

5.
philosophy. In literature, Greek writers were consciously used as models by their Latin
successors. It was absolutely accepted that an educated Roman should be fluent in Greek. In
speculative philosophy and the sciences, the Romans made virtually no advance on early
achievements.

6. Yet it would be wrong to suggest that Rome was somehow a junior partner in Greco-Roman
civilization. The Roman genius was projected into new spheres especially into those of
law, military organization, administration, and engineering. Moreover, the tensions that
arose within the Roman state produced literary and artistic sensibilities of the highest order.
It was no accident that many leading Roman soldiers and statesmen were writers of high
caliber.

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Directions: Now answer the questions.

1. According to paragraph 1, all of the following are controls that held together the Roman
world EXCEPT

A. administrative and legal systems

B. the presence of the military
C. a common language
D. transportation networks

2. According to paragraph 2, which of the following was NOT

development?

A. Expansion by sea invasion

B. Territorial expansion
C. Expansion from one original settlement
D. Expansion through invading armies

3. Alexander the Great

A. To acknowledge that Greek civilization also expanded by land conquest

B. To compare Greek leaders to Roman leaders
C. To give an example of a Greek leader whom Romans studied
D. To indicate the superior organization of the Greek military

4. fostered

A. accepted
B. combined
C. introduced
D. encouraged

5. Paragraph 3 suggests which of the following about the people of Latium?

A. Their economy was based on trade relations with other settlements.

B. They held different values than the people of Rome.
C. Agriculture played a significant role in their society.
D. They possessed unusual knowledge of animal instincts.

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6. Paragraph 4 indicates that some historians admire Roman civilization because of

A. the diversity of cultures within Roman society

B. its strength
C. its innovative nature
D. the large body of literature that it developed

7. According to paragraph 4, intellectual Romans such as Horace held which of the following
opinions about their civilization?

A. Ancient works of Greece held little value in the Roman world.

B. The Greek civilization had been surpassed by the Romans.
C. Roman civilization produced little that was original or memorable.
D. Romans valued certain types of innovations that had been ignored by ancient
Greeks.

8. Which of the following statements about leading Roman soldiers and statesmen is supported
by paragraphs 5 and 6?

A. They could read and write the Greek language.

B. They frequently wrote poetry and plays.
C. They focused their writing on military matters.
D. They wrote according to the philosophical laws of the Greeks.

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9. In the paragraph below, there is a missing sentence. Look at the paragraph and indicate (A,
B, C and D) where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

They esteem symbols of Roman power, such as the massive Colosseum.

Where would the sentence best fit?

Modern attitudes to Roman civilization range from the infinitely impressed to the thoroughly
disgusted. (A) 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. (B) At the same time, there is a solid body of opinion that
dislikes Rome. (C) For many, Rome is at best the imitator and the continuator of Greece on a
larger scale. (D) Greek civilization had quality; Rome, mere quantity. Greece was original;
Rome, derivative. Greece had style; Rome had money. Greece was the inventor; Rome, the
research and development division. Such indeed was the opinion of some of the more

A. Option A
B. Option B
C. Option C
D. Option D

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10. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below.
Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most
important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they
express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This
question is worth 2 points.

Write your answer choices in the spaces where they belong. You can either write the letter of your
answer choice or you can copy the sentence.

The Roman world drew its strength from several

important sources.

Answer Choices

A. Numerous controls imposed by Roman rulers held its territory together.

B. The Roman military was organized differently from older military organizations.
C. Romans valued sea power as did the Latins, the original inhabitants of Rome.
D. Roman values were rooted in a strong attachment to the land and the stability of rural
life.
E. Rome combined aspects of ancient Greek civilization with its own contributions in
new areas.
F. Educated Romans modeled their own literature and philosophy on the ancient
Greeks.

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are registered trademarks of ETS. TOEFL GOLEARN! and the T logo are trademarks of
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