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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 ride does Lisette take the narrator on right before she leaves?

2. Why does the narrator get angry sometimes when he thinks of Lisette and Perry, and of Lisette's leaving?

3. What does Xiaolei's boss at the shop do when she finds out Xiaolei has refused to give the man's item back and then lost it?

4. What does Cao Cao do for a living?

5. Who does Xiaolei anxiously wait for at work?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Zhu Feng do to try to get more money to invest in the stock market?

2. Why does Cao Cao work so relentlessly on his airplane?

3. What happens to Cao Cao's noodle robot?

4. Why does Xiaolei like her job at the flower shop?

5. How does Xiaolei feel after visiting the handsome, rich man's apartment in the story "Shanghai Murmur"?

6. What is one sacrifice Cao Cao makes to please the local Communist leader every season?

7. In "Flying Machine," how do Cao Cao's efforts to win over the local Communist Party work out?

8. How does Lisette treat the narrator in the story "On the Street Where You Live"?

9. What does Xiaolei start to think about the handsome and well-dressed man who gets flowers almost every week?

10. What does Cao Cao suspect about the party secretary in "Flying Machine"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are some of the unexpected benefits of the reactions of people to the qiguo fruit in the story "New Fruit" during its second season, when it elicits strong feelings of regret, sadness, and negativity in people eating it? What aspects of human nature do you think Chen is trying to illustrate with the characters' behaviors around the fruit in this story? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

In the story "Lulu," how does the narrator begin to feel about Lulu's increasingly aggressive activism? How does Chen develop the growing tension between Lulu and the narrator, and how does she communicate this tension to the reader? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

How does Zhu Feng deal with his jealousy towards his friend Li in the story "Land of Big Numbers?" What does Chen communicate about the nature of jealousy and wealth inequality in present-day China in this story? Write an essay explaining your answers.

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