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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. What does Dontsova tell Oleg about his treatment, which is why he cannot leave just yet?

2. The surgeon tells Proshka that she will explain his _________ to him before his discharge from the cancer ward.

3. On what day of the week does Pavel's wife come to see him in the cancer ward?

4. What does the chief surgeon in the cancer ward do which causes some to think she is not setting a good example?

5. Who looks at the patients with contempt and refuses to learn more about them?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. With what does Zoya ask Oleg to help her when she arrives at the hospital for her shift?

3. 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?

4. What does Pavel find out in the paper when he finally gets a chance to read it after Oleg is done?

5. What does Pavel do with the other patients in the ward since he does not want to learn their names when he sees them?

6. Why does Sibgator decide that he wants to stand in the hallway instead of having a bed like everyone else in the ward?

7. What does Ustinovna do when she is not smoking a cigarette, which shows that she is a heavy smoker?

8. What is the only concession that Pavel is allowed when he is entered into the cancer ward along with the other patients?

9. Why has Zoya decided to wear a particular dress on the day that starts out this section of the book?

10. What does Kapa try to give to the nurse, though the nurse says that she cannot accept this from her?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Yefrem knows that he is fighting death and that he needs to do all he can while he is still alive.

Part 1: What is the value of life?

Part 2: How do you think you might react if you were given a short period to live?

Part 3: Why do you think people tend to create more personal goals as they come closer to death?

Essay Topic 2

Pavel knows that he has manipulated many people in order to get the things he has, but cancer will not respond in the same way.

Part 1: Do you think there is ever a good reason to manipulate someone else?

Part 2: How do you think manipulation can work in your favor?

Part 3: Why do you think Pavel feels that manipulation is the best way to get what he wants?

Essay Topic 3

There weren't tracking devices for measuring how much radiation a person has gotten in their lives, causing people like Dontsova to get radiation sickness.

Part 1: Why do you think tracking devices weren't used to track one's exposure to radiation?

Part 2: Do you think that radiation tracking devices were available during the time period of the book?

Part 3: How do you think current hospitals might track the radiation that a person receives?

(see the answer keys)

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