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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. When did Cheng's mother die?

2. After Cheng's handcuffs were removed, what extra food was buried at the bottom of her food container?

3. What did one doctor refuse to sell to the Shanghai Museum?

4. How much did Cheng weigh after being released from the detention house?

5. After Cheng had another bad hemorrhage in 1973, to what hospital was she taken?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Cheng say when the interrogators insisted that she had had a photo taken in front of a Kuomintang flag?

2. What did Cheng decide had happened when the preface was removed from her book of Mao quotations?

3. What opportunity did Cheng have when she was asked to answer questions about her relatives or friends?

4. What did Maoists think about individuals who may have made important scientific or artistic contributions to China's cultural life before the Communists came to power?

5. Why did Cheng think about the irony of life in China as she watched her disabled student struggle with a disability?

6. What did a man read about Cheng's case before she was released?

7. How did Cheng persuade an official to give her a passport application?

8. After giving Cheng eggs in her food, what did the kitchen woman do to keep Cheng from thanking her?

9. What was wrong with Cheng's old friend Winnie?

10. What did it mean to get things through the "back door"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Hean's mother told Cheng that "we can't always be our true selves." Discuss why it was not possible for Hean's mother, for Cheng, or for others to be their true selves living in China.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss why the circumstances of Meiping's death seemed suspicious. Use examples from "Life and Death in Shanghai."

Essay Topic 3

Argue whether the overall mood of the book is optimistic or pessimistic. Use examples from the book to support your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

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