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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Zoya enlist to help her with the administrative duties she needs to do?

2. Who did Pavel put into a school as a result of sending away the child of the woman in the dream?

3. Who can read a little Latin, which allows him to decipher that one patient has an untreatable tumor?

4. What is the form of government that is in place at the time of the Soviet Union in the story?

5. Who is the author of the short stories that Yefrem is reading, which causes Pavel to laugh?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the title of the story that most intrigues Yefrem in the collection of stories he is reading?

2. Why does the head man want to throw Oleg out of the hospital during the inspection?

3. What is the secret that Vera has been keeping, one that others assume is not the truth and she does not correct them?

4. What does the orderly do though she has only completed a part of her job?

5. What does Pavel almost forget to tell his wife during their Sunday visit at the hospital?

6. Why was Oleg never told about the original biopsies of his primary tumor?

7. Why is Pavel furious when Oleg takes the paper when it is delivered by a nurse?

8. What does Pavel learn from his doctor when he asks about his health condition?

9. When the new man and Dyomka are talking in the ward, what does one of the men say it is better to do than to die?

10. What does Vera find in Oleg's cabinet before an inspection of the ward?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Pavel Rusanov is an important man in the Soviet Union and he expects to be treated as such, no matter where he is.

Part 1: Do you think that importance is something that should be valued in society?

Part 2: Does it seem possible for a person to always be treated as if they are the most important person in the room?

Part 3: Why do you think Pavel is a person who expects to be important wherever he goes?

Essay Topic 2

Pavel and his wife claim to love people, but they do not want to be too close to them.

Part 1: Can you love a person without being close to them?

Part 2: How do you think Pavel and his wife define the idea of love in relation to others?

Part 3: Do you think that you can love people without wanting to be close to them?

Essay Topic 3

The senior surgeon, Yevgenia Ustinovna, smokes constantly and even uses two fingers to raise her lips.

Part 1: Do you think that a doctor should smoke?

Part 2: Would you want to be under the care of a physician who is always smoking?

Part 3: Do you think that all doctors should be examples for their patients, in terms of healthy habits?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 741 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample