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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the Chinaman's hat in "The Great Grandfather of the Sandalwood Mountains"?
(a) the top of Sandalwood Mountain
(b) a hat to protect the Chinese workers
(c) an island
(d) the place in town where Chinese workers gamble

2. What is the significance of the court case, Chae Chan Ping v. The United States?
(a) This is the first case to address the issue of Sojourners.
(b) This is the first case of a Chinese fighting against the Chinese Exclusion Acts.
(c) Congressmen call for the United States to be made up of a limited amount of elderly Chinese people.
(d) This case adds one year of hard labor for illegal Chinese immigrants before being deported.

3. What is supposedly the cause of the "Mongolian spot" on some Chinese babies?
(a) The Mongolian spot is the mark of an immortal.
(b) The Mongolian spot indicates the child has a disease.
(c) The Mongolian spot is a bruise left by the doctor during birth of Chinese babies.
(d) Tu Tzu-chun is kicked in the rear to get him through the birth canal.

4. How long had Ed been away from China before he and MaMa were reunited in New York City?
(a) 2 years
(b) 5 years
(c) 15 years
(d) 10 years

5. What was used first to keep the holes open in Tang Ao's earlobes?
(a) sticks of straw
(b) jade studs
(c) silk threads
(d) gold loops

Short Answer Questions

1. What is happening on the East Coast at the same time as the Central Pacific is forging through the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the West?

2. What reason is given for torturing Tang Ao?

3. Which is an example from the text of sensory details?

4. What mood does the letter from Kingston's friend, the physicist, reflect about his return visit to their common ancestral village?

5. Which of the following is an example of figurative language?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Bak Goong have so much trouble staying quiet while working in the cane fields?

2. What is the purpose for making Tang Ao's capture so easy it could be done by women?

3. Compare and contrast the tales that Kingston makes up about how her father gets to America.

4. Tell what the Four Valuable Things are and explain their importance to the Chinese culture.

5. In "On Mortality," how does the author make the reader sympathize with Tu when he is born as a deaf-mute girl child?

6. At the end of the "The Laws," Kingston predicts that the 1980 census may show that a million or more ethnic Chinese will be living in the United States. Why does she have to predict the census numbers?

7. Briefly describe the process of footbinding and tell why the women sing to him when tightly bandaging his feet.

8. Describe the tenets of the philosophy of living multiple lives until you learn an important lesson.

9. What explanation does the tale of Tu Tzu-chun give for the "Mongolian spot" in "On Mortality?"

10. Describe how the author uses personification in "The Great Grandfather from the Sandalwood Mountains." Give examples from the text.

(see the answer keys)

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