Sophocles, Thucydides, Homer and Xenophon were among the Greek writers whose work taxed this year's crop of Greek Leaving Cert. students. Among the 10 students sitting the exams, those at higher level faced into a tough paper, according to Mr Daniel O'Connor, who teaches Greek and Latin at John Scottus School, Dublin. "The standard was quite high," he said, "and there were a number of searching questions." The questions, however , were fair and would have posed few problems for well prepared students.
Question 4, on history, art and architecture, offered a good choice, Mr O'Connor said. He was critical of the quality of illustrations - fuzzy to say the least. The ordinary-level paper was difficult for students working at that level, he observed, though it was clearly laid out. Good ordinary-level students who had worked hard would have been capable of obtaining a D or even a low C in the higher paper, he suggested.