Develop Interpretations About Main Idea Practice Test

Read the excerpt below (Ovid, Metamorphoses; Augustan mythological epic). Context: Daphne’s identity shifts as she flees Apollo; transformation becomes both escape and loss.

Latin (line numbers):

1. Vix prece finita torpor gravis occupat artus;
2. mollia cinguntur tenui praecordia libro,
3. in frondem crines, in ramos bracchia crescunt;
4. pes modo tam velox pigris radicibus haeret;
5. ora cacumen habet; remanet nitor unus in illa.
6. Hanc quoque Phoebus amat positaque in stipite dextra
7. sentit adhuc trepidare novo sub cortice pectus;
8. complexusque suis ramos, ut membra, lacertis
9. oscula dat ligno; refugit tamen oscula lignum.
10. Cui deus: “at quoniam coniunx mea non potes esse,
11. arbor eris certe,” dixit “mea; semper habebunt
12. te coma, te citharae, te nostrae, laure, pharetrae.
13. Tu ducibus Latiis aderis, cum laeta Triumphum
14. vox canet et visent longas Capitolia pompas.”
15. Finierat Paean; factis modo laurea ramis
16. adnuit utque caput visa est agitasse cacumen.

Glossary: torpor = “numbness”; liber = “bark”; cacumen = “treetop”; stipes = “trunk”; cortex = “bark”; lacerti = “arms”; Paean = “Apollo”; pharetra = “quiver.”

In the context of the passage, what does line 9 suggest about Daphne’s transformed identity?

Read the excerpt below (Juvenal, Satires; early 2nd century CE). Context: Juvenal condemns social climbing and performative patronage through sharp irony.

Latin (line numbers):

1. Quis tulerit Gracchos de seditione querentes?
2. quis feret auctorem, cuius toga sordida, leges?
3. Invidiam placare paras virtute? periclum est;
4. nam qui laudatur, tacite suspectus habetur.
5. “Da,” clamat cliens, “sportulam!” sed turba frequens
6. ante fores strepit et dominum salutare laborat.
7. Ille, supercilio torvo, vix annuit;
8. et tamen hic populus servit et ridet eundem.
9. Si cena vocat, recubas; sed panis et holus in mensa,
10. dum dominus mulsum bibit et pavonem secat.
11. O miseri, quorum pretio constant convivia!
12. Nonne pudet, totiens aliena in limine stare?
13. Atque hoc “honor” vocant: famem cum dedecore ferre.
14. Sic Romae vivitur: magna est merces servitii.

Glossary: Gracchi = “reforming brothers (exempla)”; sordida = “filthy”; cliens = “client”; sportula = “handout”; supercilium = “brow/pride”; holus = “vegetables”; mulsum = “honeyed wine”; limen = “threshold”; dedecus = “disgrace”; merces = “payment.”

How does Juvenal convey social humiliation through irony in lines 5–14?