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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. When does the story in Chapter 2 take place?
(a) 10 years in the future.
(b) Yesterday.
(c) 200 years ago.
(d) 50 years ago.

2. If a Gethenian becomes pregnant, how long is the gestation period (i.e., the amount of time it takes before the baby is born)?
(a) 9 months.
(b) Gethenians don't experience pregnancy.
(c) 4.8 months.
(d) 8.4 months.

3. What is the Gethenians' mating cycle known as?
(a) Being in heat.
(b) Libido.
(c) Mating cycle.
(d) Kemmer.

4. The relationship between which two characters is introduced in Chapter 1?
(a) King Argaven and Tibe.
(b) Genly Ai and Estraven.
(c) Estraven and Tibe.
(d) Genly Ai and King Argaven.

5. By the end of Chapter 10, what is Genly starting to realize?
(a) He's starting to realize that his initial impressions were accurate and that Orgoreyn is much more advanced and civilized than Karhide.
(b) He's starting to realize that his first impressions were wrong and that Karhide is much more advanced and civilized than Orgoreyn.
(c) He's starting to realize that something's not quite right; Orgoreyn isn't as it appears.
(d) He's starting to realize that the secret police, not the King, are running Karhide.

Short Answer Questions

1. After he loses his registration due to a change in the Alien Registry Law, what happens to Estraven?

2. Is it possible for a Gethenian to change gender from one period of sexual activity to another?

3. What does the mysterious man give the warder at Estre Gate?

4. Who wants to bring the ship to Orgota?

5. What themes are highlighted in the story told in Chapter 4?

Short Essay Questions

1. How are Genly and Estraven's sense of personal responsibility for their fellow man different?

2. Why is the Shath Domain, Getheren's homeland, experiencing poverty and widespread illness near the end of Chapter 2?

3. Why does the Lord of Estre decide to raise the baby that was given to the warder as a son of the hearth?

4. What communicates the imagery of facade and veneer in Chapter 10?

5. What does Sorve, Estraven's son, ask Genly to tell him about?

6. What "tale" of his planet does Genly tell Asra?

7. After the reception for Genly is called off, what is the advice Estraven gives to him?

8. In Chapter 19, how is betrayal portrayed?

9. What is the significance of the completion of the Arch of River Gate?

10. What does Genly say to the Commensals that he never mentioned to King Argaven?

(see the answer keys)

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