This book of unprepared translation and comprehension tests has been designed to help teachers to prepare their students for the language units in the two new Latin specifications: WJEC’s Levels 1 and 2 and OCR’s GCSE. The Level 1 units cover broadly the same range of linguistic material as GCSE Foundation Tier, while the Level 2 units equate to GCSE Higher Tier.
Despite their basic similarity, the two specifications differ in their detail: the defined vocabulary lists attached to each unit are not quite the same; the list of included accidence and syntax varies from unit to unit, apart from the most demanding units from each specification, which are almost identical. The units also differ in format, with varying proportions of comprehension and translation and different word-counts. Whereas the OCR comprehension questions are broadly traditional in style, those of WJEC are rather more adventurous.
These differences are sufficient to call for a separate series of tests for each unit of the two specifications, apart from A402 and 9524, which are so similar in form and content that a single series should suffice for both. All the tests have been modelled as closely as possible on the published specifications and sample assessment materials, including past papers. The aim has been to provide students with tests that approximate as closely as possible to the real thing, so that when they take the examinations, there will be no surprises. Teachers should also have a reliable and accurate tool for assessing progress.
For reasons of space, the layout of the tests differs from that used in live examinations, for the simple reason that all public examinations at these levels are obliged to provide space for answers on the question papers. In a book that will be reused, this would not be appropriate.
Mark schemes are available for every test, and may be purchased from the publisher in the form of a separate booklet, Latin Language Tests: Mark Schemes. These schemes are also based as closely as possible on those used in live examinations. Teachers should be aware, however, that, in the light of experience, the examination boards are likely to reassess periodically the usefulness of the schemes originally adopted. It must also be remembered that mark schemes tend to contain only one of several, sometimes many, possible answers; teachers must use their discretion in determining whether particular answers should be accepted or not.
The author is indebted to Alan Clague for all the advice and suggestions he offered during the compilation of this book, and especially for checking the accuracy of the Latin.
A Note to the Student
Please remember to make your answers legible; if an Examiner can’t read what you write, s/he won’t be able to give you the mark. In translations, check that you have written something for every Latin word, using guesswork if you don’t know a word. Remember that a guess may be close enough to gain some credit, whereas a blank space can earn no marks at all.
You will find that most questions start with some Latin words in italics. An example from the very first test is ‘Clemens … Septimus (lines 1-2): who was Septimus?’. The two Latin words in italics are intended to direct you to the part of the story where you will find the answer. Unless the question is clearly asking you to look elsewhere, you should always confine your answer to what is inside these quoted words.
Please note that proper names are glossed only the first time they appear and are not underlined here, though in real examination papers they usually are. Remember that all proper names should be rendered in English in the nominative case. All underlined words are glossed beneath the passage.