But in Greece and Rome, men 13 use them.
答案：(C) wouldn't
上下文說希臘羅馬人認為雨傘是女性用品，所以男性「過去不願意」使用，需要否定意義的過去式情態助動詞 wouldn't。won't 是未來式不符合過去語境；would／could 為肯定形式與語意矛盾。
本題大考中心未公布逐題答對率，以下不談數據，只談觀念。
四個選項裡兩個肯定、兩個否定，如果沒把句首的 But 和下一句一起讀，很容易挑錯方向。
先用形態刷一個：won’t 是 will not 的縮寫，講的是現在或未來，而整段在敘述古代的事，時態對不上，先排除。剩下 would、could、wouldn’t，看方向：空格所在的句子以 But 開頭——前面說雨傘從中國傳到印度、波斯、埃及，這裡用 But 一轉，代表希臘與羅馬的情況不一樣。下一句更直接：They believed umbrellas were {14} for women.（他們認為傘是女性用的東西。）既然認定那是女人的東西，男人當然不肯用，填 wouldn’t。這裡的 would 不是「將會」，而是表示過去的意願；加上 not 就是「不肯、不願意」。掛鉤是一句你可能聽過的話：The car wouldn’t start.（車子發不動。）——字面是「車子不肯發動」，把 would 的「意願」講得很傳神。
would、could：兩個都是肯定，與 But 帶出的轉折以及下一句「傘是女性用的東西」直接衝突。won’t：講現在或未來，與過去的敘事對不上。
wouldn’t V（過去不肯、不願意）、would rather（寧願）、used to V（過去經常）、believe that（相信）、carry an umbrella（帶傘）、in Greece and Rome（在希臘與羅馬）。其中 used to V 這一組考過 3 個年度，83 年第 15 題 →、99 年第 16 題 →、111 年第 17 題 →都出現過。
The umbrella is not a new invention. The Chinese 11 umbrellas in the eleventh century B.C. 12 China they traveled to India, Persia, and Egypt. But in Greece and Rome, men 13 use them. They believed umbrellas were 14 for women. When the Spanish explorers went to Mexico, they saw the Aztec kings 15 umbrellas. English explorers found out that Indian princes also carried umbrellas on the east coast of North America. It 16 that people in different parts of the world invented umbrellas at different times.
England was probably the first country in Europe 17 ordinary people used umbrellas 18 the rain. England has a rainy climate, and umbrellas are very useful there. The umbrella is now a very ordinary 19 . Everybody uses it today. It keeps the rain and the sun off people. Some umbrellas fold up, 20 it is easy to carry them.