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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. Why does Sao Elder Brother become known as Mad Sao?
(a) Sao is haunted by his dead mother's ghosts and is seen and heard talking to no one.
(b) Sao goes mad and becomes paranoid, accusing Father of stealing his money.
(c) Sao is the only man in the family to be Americanized.
(d) Sao returns to Red China to care for his mother before she dies.

2. What word best describes the meaning of Ch'u Yuan's name?
(a) next king
(b) dirty crowd
(c) peace
(d) righteous

3. Why does Great Aunt get herself smuggled into Hong Kong?
(a) Great Aunt hopes Uncle Kau will live out their last days in Hong Kong since it is not Communist.
(b) Great Aunt, a ninety years old, wants to prove to herself she can get to Hong Kong without being detected.
(c) Great Aunt had lived her whole life in one village and she wanted to see a big city.
(d) Great Aunt is being hunted by the Communist in China.

4. What does the Wild Man do on the night he learns that the Border Patrol is sending him back?
(a) He escapes the jail and is never seen again.
(b) He pretends he is too sick to travel.
(c) He beats the guards with his belt at the first opportunity.
(d) He commits suicide by hanging himself with his belt.

5. What reason do the white miners give for the decision to drive out the China Men?
(a) for fighting with the Indians
(b) for paying Citizenship Judges to become citizens
(c) for getting richer by working harder
(d) for stoning a woman in Juneau

Short Answer Questions

1. What amount of pay is given to the Chinese workers in Hawaii for working in the cane fields?

2. What drives the Wild Man to hysterics while he is in the jail?

3. What does the Hundred-Year-Old man do to rest during his trips to town early in his time in Hawaii?

4. How were the Indians in Alaska treated by the "gold seeking" miners?

5. From whom do MaMa and Father have to keep their savings a secret?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the author suggest that instead of the Driving Out in Alaska taking place twice that it could be the same story but with the dates mixed up?

2. Summarize Kingston's childhood account of seeing a "Wild Man" every day when she and her sister walked to school.

3. Retell the Filipino scholar's story about the Chinese first coming to the Philippines in search of gold. Be sure to include only the information that the scholar provides. Don't be distracted by the party-goers' interruptions.

4. Explain why the people that meet Li Sao realize too late that he is the last righteous human being. What do the people do to get Li Sao to return to Earth? What are the results of the people's attempts?

5. What happens to Father after the Gambling House is closed permanently? How does Father recover?

6. Describe the relationship between Lo Bun Sun and Sing Kay Ng.

7. Describe the experience of the AJA's (Americans of Japanese Ancestry) during World War II, using only details from Kingston's retelling of her memories and the stories she heard as a child.

8. What does Kingston mean at the end of "Alaska China Men" when she writes, ". . . perhaps any China Man was China Joe"?

9. At the end of the story about Kau and Great Aunt, Kingston writes that the Great Aunt's return to Red China is a clue that the country of their heritage is not as bad as the stories imply. What does this reveal to the reader about the narrator and her understanding of Communist China?

10. What is the significance of the last line in "The Hundred-Year-Old Man"?

(see the answer keys)

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