Poetry Questions to Try
Language Skills
1. Ille similis deo esse videtur.
A) from a god B) by a god C)
to a god D) god
2. Nescio ubi Cornelia habitaverit.
A) lives B) to live C)
lived D) living
3. Eripite illum puerum his flammis!
A) Snatch B) To snatch C)
Will be snatched D) Having been snatched
4. Iuvenis ab urbe proficiscitur.
A) was setting out B) sets out C)
has set out D) will set out
5. Femina nullum metum mortis habuit.
A) from death B) of death C)
death D) in death
6. Huc adveni ut darem tibi donum.
A) as I give B) in order to give C)
because I gave D) while giving
7. Aeneas dixit filium regis interfecturum ________.
A) esse B) est C)
erat D) sit
8. Imperator cum exercitu _________ advenit.
A) fortem B) forti C)
fortes D) fortibus
9. Viri Dardani terram antiquam coluere.
A) will inhabit B) had inhabited C)
inhabited D) inhabiting
10. Dea Diana est altior omnibus mulieribus.
A) from all women B) of all women C)
than all women D) by all women
Culture, Mythology, and Geography
11. Which pair were not father and son?
A) Aeneas and Ascanius B) Odysseus and Telemachus
C) Achilles and Patroclus D) Priam
and Hector
12. The town on the east coast of Italy from which the ancients
sailed to Greece is
A) Mantua B) Pompeii C)
Ostia D) Brundisium
13. What is the metrical pattern of "Tu quoque perpetuos
semper gere frondis honores"?
A) SDDSDS B) DDSDDS C)
DDSSDS D) SSDSDS
14. Which mythological couple had a long and loving marraige
before finally dying together?
A) Baucis and Philemon B) Pyramus and Thisbe
C) Orpheus and Eurydice D) Apollo and Daphne
15. Which Roman author wrote the Odes, Epodes,
Satires, and Epistles?
A) Horace B) Terence C)
Ovid D) Catallus
16. What hero escaped from the one-eyed monster Polyphemus?
A) Theseus B) Perseus C)
Odysseus D) Jason
17. The plot of the Aeneid is most similar to
A) the Eclogues and the Georgics B)
the Amores and the Heroides C)
the Histories and the Annals D) the
Illiad and the Odyssey
18.Which could be called arboreal animals?
A) squirrels and monkeys B) dogs and cats C)
goats and sheep D) otters and seals
19. Multum in parvo is an example of the figure of
speech known as
A) anaphora B) hendiadys C)
oxymoron D) simile
20. Which expression could be used by a commentator who is
amazed at the event he is reporting?
A) mirabile dictu B) in loco parentis
C) sub rosa D) bona fide
A Prayer for Rome
The poet laments the state of Rome
Quippe ubi fas versum atque nefas; tot bella
per orbem, Quippe ubi
= here indeed; versum = has been turned around
tam multae scelerum facies, non ullus aratro aratrum, -i, n. = plow
dignus honos, squalent abductis arva colonis,
honos = honor; squalent
= are neglected
et curvae rigdum falces conflantur in ensem.
falces = sickles; conflantur = are
forged
Hic movet Euphrates, illinc Germania bellum;
vicinae ruptis inter se legibus urbes
arma ferunt; saevit toto Mars impius orbe,
ut cum carceribus sese effudere quadrigae,
ut = just as; carceribus = starting
gates; quadrigae = chariots
addunt in spatia, et frustra retinacula tendens
in spatia = lap after
lap; retinacula = reins
fertur equis auriga neque audit currus habenas.
auriga = charioteer; audit =
does respond to; habenas = reins
Vergil, Georgics, I.505-51
21. In line 1, the poet describes a world full
of
A) starvation B) sickness C)
poverty D) wars
22. The best translation for tam...facies (line 2)
is
A) the deeds of wicked men B) such an evil
face C) so many aspects of evil D)
so many evil torches
23. According to lines 2-3, farmers are
A) ignoring the gods B) looting the countryside
C) dying of disease D) not
working the fields
24. The sense of line 4 is that
A) farm implements are being made into weapons B)
there are efforts to stop the slaughter C) the people
have lost confidence in their leaders D) the
gods are taking an interest in the suffering
25. In line 5 we learn that
A) rivers are flooding B) people are moving
their homes away from Rome C) other countries
are more beautiful than Rome D) war is breaking
out in the far regions of the Roman world
26. The best translation for vicinae...urbes...arma ferunt
(lines 6-7) is
A) arms are borne against the cities B) neighboring
cities bear arms C) the neighborhoods of the city
bear weapons D) the neighbors and city have
weapons
27. In line 7, the god Mars represents war. This figure of
speech is
A) metonymy B) chiasmus C)
anaphora D) ellipsis
28. The simile of lines 8-10 compares war to
A) a victorious charioteer B) an excited
crowd watching a chariot race C) the confinement
of the starting gates D) a chariot that
is out of control
