Latin second paper practice tests.

Like the real ministry paper: two translations are set, you translate one of your choice, with a short introduction and a closing note in Italian that place the author and the work. Then come eight short-answer questions — comprehension, linguistic and stylistic analysis of typical constructions (narrative cum, ablative absolute, conditional sentences, consecutio temporum) and historical and cultural background — of which you answer four. Real maximum time: six hours.

You translate on paper as in the exam, then reveal the guided solution one step at a time: syntactic analysis, vocabulary choices, a working translation and the final rendering for each passage, and a model answer for each question. At the end you mark how much you had done on your own, and the practice test estimates your mark out of 20 (translation 10 points, each question 2.5, as in the official grid).

Yes: it is allowed in the real exam, and it is allowed here too — the exercise is not about memorising vocabulary but about recognising the syntactic structures and translating them correctly. The translations are passages by classical authors (Cicero, Seneca, Sallust, Livy), not invented texts.

Because that is exactly what happens in the exam: you read both options before deciding, and choosing well counts as much as the translation itself. A passage can look easier at first glance and hide a complex conditional sentence further on — training yourself to choose is part of the practice test.