Download 2008 SAN ANTONIO CLASSICAL SOCIETY

CONTEST CODE: 06
2011 TEXAS STATE JUNIOR CLASSICAL LEAGUE
READING COMPREHENSION LEVEL II TEST
Ōlim in magnā urbe Persidis, pulchriōre quam cēterīs urbibus terrae, rēx, Xerxēs nōmine,
habitābat. Is erat īrātus Graecīs quī in Graeciā īnsulīsque habitābant, quod ultīs bellīs auxilia ad
hostēs Persārum inde missa erant. Itaque Xerxēs Graeciam īnsulāsque vincere cōnstituit.
Postquam nāvēs mīlitēsque undique coēgit, trāns mare nāvigāre parāvit. Mīlitibus nautīsque
convocātīs “Graecōs superāre,” inquit, “erit facile. Graecī, quamquam sunt fortēs et audācēs,
vōbīs nōn sunt fortiōrēs et audāciōrēs. Omnium enim mīlitum fortissimī et audācissimī estis. Ubi
vīdistis rēgem potentiōrem, populum clāriōrem, exercitum ācriōrem? Mox victōriam reportāre
poteritis.” Persae īnsulās, quae sunt prope Graeciam, prīmō superāre cōnstituērunt. Aliīs īnsulīs
approprinquāre facile erat, quod lītus erat aequum et īnsulae erant humiliōrēs; aliīs
appropinquāre difficle erat quod īnsulae erant altae et montēs altissimōs habēbant. Incolae tamen
īnsulārum, quod līberī erant līberārumque cīvitātum, imperiō Persicō pārēre nōlēbant.
1. Where does this story take place?
(a) Crete
(b) A large Persian city
2. Xerxes was
(a) A Persian city
(b) King of Persia
(c) Greece
(c) A Greek general
(d) Egypt
(d) A Greek island
3. At which Greeks were the Persians especially mad?
(a) Athenians
(b) Spartans
(c) Greek Islanders
4. Before the Persians could set sail, they had to
(a) Gather their ships and soldiers
(c) Send spies into Greece
(b) Draw up battle plans
(d) Sacrifice to the gods
5. The best translation of “Gracōs superāre erit facile” is
(a) Easy
(b) Time-consuming
(c) Difficult
(d) Thebans
(d) Expensive
6. How do the Greeks compare to the Persians?
(a) The Persians are stronger and braver than the Greeks
(b) The Greeks are stronger and braver than the Persians
(c) The Greeks are stronger, but the Persians are braver
(d) The Persians are stronger, but the Greeks are braver
7. The Persians have all of the following EXCEPT
(a) The smartest generals
(c) The fiercest army
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(b) The most famous people
(d) The most powerful king
CONTEST CODE: 06
8. When did the Persians expect victory?
(a) By nightfall
(b) Within a few months
(c) Soon
9. Whom did the Persians attack first?
(a) The Greeks living in Persia
(c) Sparta
(b) Greek outposts in Egypt
(d) The islands near Greece
10. What two factors aided the initial Persian invasion?
(a) Tall mountains and deep rivers
(c) Calm seas and tall mountains
(b) Calm seas and flat terrain
(d) Rocky terrain and deep seas
(d) By winter
11. Why weren’t the invaded people interested in obeying Persian rule?
(a) They were worried the Persians were too bloodthirsty
(b) They didn’t want to have to pay taxes
(c) They were used to being free peoples
(d) They didn’t want to have to convert to the Persian religion
Imperātor Poenus in terrā Siciliā, bellō Pūnicō prīmō, contrā exercitum Rōmānum prōgreditur,
collēs locaque idōnea prior occupat. Itaque mīlitēs Rōmānī in locum perīculōsum iter faciunt.
Tribūnus ad cōnsulem venit et eum dē perīculō certiōrem facit. “Sī” inquit “rem servāre vīs, tibi
quadrigentī mīlitēs mittendī sunt ad illum collem, quī occupdandus et tenendus est. Hostēs cum
id vīderint, fortissimos quisque erit cupidissimus impetūs faciendī et pugnandī; et quod hanc
manum parvam adoriētur multitūdō hostium, illī omnēs quadrigentī sine dubiō interficientur.
Intereā, dum hostēs in hīs rēbus faciendīs sunt occupātī, tempus exercitūs ex hōc locō ēdūcendī
habēbis. Alia nisi haec salūtis via nūlla est.” Cōnsul tribūnō respondit hōc cōnsilium sibi
capiendum esse; “sed ad illōs” inquit” mīlitēs quadrigentōs dūcendōs ad eum locum in hostium
ōrdinēs quis est parātus.” “Sī alium” inquit tribūnus “nēminem reperiēs, mitte mē; ego hanc tibi
et reī pūblicae animam do. Cīvis Rōmānus prō patriā morī velle dēbet.”
12. Against which Roman enemy is this war being fought?
(a) Pyrrhus
(b) Carthage
(c) Samnium
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(d) Gallia
CONTEST CODE: 06
13. The story takes place
(a) On an island
(b) On a ship
(c) In Gallia
(d) At Rome
14. Why are the Roman soldiers in danger?
(a) The enemy had set a trap and was lying in ambush
(b) The enemy had better strategic positioning
(c) Their supplies were in danger of running out
(d) Their armor had been lost during a storm at sea
15. Why did the tribune approach his commander?
(a) To request a promition
(b) To report an insubordinate soldier
(c) To inform him about the imminent danger (d) To request that the army return home
16. Which of these best describes the plan the Romans develop?
(a) Send a small diversionary force to distract the enemy
(b) Send a raiding party in the middle of the night
(c) Send their bravest fighters to engage the enemy head-on
(d) Feign a retreat and then circle around the enemy and attack from behind
17. Which of the following closest translates “Hostēs cum id vīderint, fortissimos quisque erit
cupidissimus impetūs faciendī et pugnandī” (lines 4-5)?
(a) “When the enemy sees this, each will want to fight our bravest men.”
(b) “When the enemy sees this, their bravest men will each want to fight our men.”
(c) “When we see the enemy, each of our bravest men will want to fight them.”
(d) “When we see the enemy, each of our men will want to fight their bravest soldiers.”
18. How many men are required for the plan?
(a) Forty
(b) Fifty
(c) Five hundred
19. What’s the major drawback to the plan?
(a) All involved will die
(c) The Romans will have to give up their positioning
captured
(d) Four hundred
(b) The Romans will seem cowardly
(d) The Roman commander will be
20. The tribune thinks another plan could work equally as well as the one he devised.
(a) True
(b) False
21. The consul points out that the plan still requires
(a) More time to plan
(b) An enemy to turn traitor (c) A leader
22. What word best describes the tribune?
(a) Cowardly
(b) Cunning
(c) Brave
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(d) Additional cavalry
(d) Homesick
CONTEST CODE: 06
L. Catalīna, nōbilī genere nātus, fuit magnā vī et animī et corporis, sed ingeniō malō prǖōque.
Huic ab adulēscentiā bella intestīna, caedēs, rapīnae, discordia cīvīlis trāta fuēre, ibique
iuventūtem suam exercuit. Corpus patiēns inediae, algōris, vigiliae suprā quam cuiquam crēdibile
est. Animus audāx, subdolus, varius; cuius reī libet, simulātor ac dissimulātor; aliēnī appetēns,
suī profūsus, ārdēns in cupiditātibus; satis ēloquentiae, sapientiae parum. Vāstus animus
immoderāta, incrēdibilia, nimis alta semper cupiēbat. Hunc post dominātiōnem L. Sullae libīdō
maxima invāserat reī pūblicae capiendae, neque, id quibus modīs assequerētur, dum sibi rēgnum
parāret, quidquam pēnsī habēbat. Agitābātur magis magisque in diēs animus ferōx inopiā reī
familiāris et cōnscientiā scelerum, quae utraque eīs artibus auxerat, quās suprā memorāvī.
Incitābant praetereā corruptī cīvitātis mōrēs, quōs pessima ac dīversa inter sē mala, lūxuria atque
avāritia, vexābant. Igitur circiter Kalendās Iūniās prīmo singulōs appellāre, hortārī aliōs, aliōs
temptāre; opēs suās, imparātam rem pūblicam, magna praemia coniūrātiōnis docēre. Fuēre item
eā tempestāte quī crēderent M. Licinium Crassum nōn ignārum eius cōnsilī fuisse; quia Cn.
Pompeius invīsus ipsī magnum exercitum ductābat, cuiusvīs opēs voluisse contrā illīus potentiam
crēscere, simuls cōnfīsum, sī coniūratiō valuisset, facile apud illōs prīncipem sē fore.
23. According to this passage, Cataline’s family was:
(a) Poor
(b) Foreign
(c) Noble
(d) Large
24. Though he was strong, Cataline was not very smart.
(a) True
(b) False
25. Cataline’s love of the uncouth began
(a) When he was an adolescent
(c) When he killed his first game on a hunt
(b) When he first read the Iliad
(d) After his first battle experience
26. The author says that Cataline could endure all of the following EXCEPT:
(a) Hunger
(b) Extreme Cold
(c) Lack of sleep
(d) Extreme Heat
27. How does the author characterize Cataline?
(a) A wise man (b) A good speaker
(c) A brave soldier
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(d) Non-religious
CONTEST CODE: 06
28. What does Cataline spend his days thinking about at lines 7-9?
(a) Committing Crimes
(b) Getting back at Cicero
(c) Winning glory in battle
(d) Marius’ daughter
29. What was Cataline’s greatest desire?
(a) To overthrow Cicero
(c) To become Rome’s richest citizen
(b) To take over Rome
(d) To marry Marius’ daughter
30. When did this great desire first overtake Cataline?
(a) During a childhood dream
(b) After Sulla’s dictatorship
(c) When he fought against Jugurtha
(d) After an argument with Cicero
31. In addition to his own greed, what does the author suggest influenced Cataline’s less-thanstellar behavior?
(a) The corruption common in Rome at the time (b) His poor upbringing
(c) Finding out his wife was having an affair
(d) Mental disease
32. When did Cataline first set his plan in motion?
(a) Early summer (b) Just before Saturnalia
(c) The Fall Equinox (d) New Year’s Day
33. Which of these arguments did Cataline NOT make in encouraging others to join him?
(a) Cataline would pay each a handsome bribe (b) Each man had great personal resources
(c) Rome was unprepared and would fall easily (d) Conspiracy has great rewards
34. Why did some suspect Crassus’ involvement?
(a) He was the only one rich enough to finance the venture
(b) His rivalry with Pompey
(c) He and Cataline had been best friends since childhood
(d) It was well known that Crassus and Cicero hated each other
35. Why else might Crassus have been interested in working with Cataline?
(a) He was in love with Cataline’s sister
(b) He was confident that he would be in charge if Cataline succeeded
(c) He wanted to prevent Caesar from taking power
(d) He to become governor of Egypt
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CONTEST CODE: 06
TIE BREAKERS
L. Paulus cōnsul iterum, cum eī bellum ut cum rēge Perse gereret obtigisset, ut eā ipsā diē
domum ad vesperum rediit, fīliolam suam Tertiam, quae tum erat admodum parva, ōsculāns
animadvertit trīsticulam. “Quid est,” inquit, “mea Teria? Quid trīstis es?” “Mī pater,” inquit,
“Persa periit.” Tum ille artius puellam complexus, “Accipiō,” inquit, “mea fīlia, ōmen.” Erat
autem mortuus canis eō nōmine.
96. Which of these statements about L. Paulus is NOT true?
(a) He has a daughter
(b) The story takes place during his first consulship
(c) He led the Romans against Perseus
(d) He is superstitious
97. Which of these do you think best approximates Tertia’s age?
(a) 5
(b) 15
(c) 18
(d) 25
98. What word would be most commonly used in place of “Quid” in line 3?
(a) Quomodo
(b) Quando
(c) Qui
(d) Cur
99. Why is Tertia sad?
(a) She doesn’t want her father to go to war
(b) Her pet dog just died
(c) Her father forgot to hug and kiss her when he came home
(d) Her mother had recently died
100. What does Paulus BELIEVE is the “ōmen” in lines 3-4?
(a) His daughter predicted the death of his enemy
(b) His daughter’s pet died
(c) The birth of his daughter
(d) The appearance of a large dog in his home
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