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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. Who visits Dirk in Canton in Chapter 15?

2. According to Robb, what must arrive in London to keep him and Dirk out of financial trouble?

3. Who does Dirk say did not cheat him but rather outsmarted him?

4. Who does Dirk find lying dead in his bed?

5. How long does it take the British to recapture Canton?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the stakes in the wager that Dirk and Zergeyev make on the prize fight?

2. When Brock is dressing for the ball, what does he try to hide from Liza?

3. Why does Brock plan to replace his clipper ships with steam-powered ships?

4. Why does Dirk view Hong Kong as a valuable prize?

5. Why does Brock panic when Dirk pays his debt to Brock in silver?

6. Why does Jin-qua order Gordon Chen to do anything that May-may requests of him?

7. Why is the note that Longstaff asks to have translated into Chinese puzzling to Horatio and Glessing?

8. What is Dirk's reason for firing Captain Perry?

9. What does Wu Fang Choi request from Dirk when he presents his half coin?

10. How does Brock know about Dirk's financial problems?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What examples of marriage are portrayed in Tai-Pan? What seems to be the overall view of marriage based on these examples? Does the author use marriages with a purpose in mind? What is the purpose?

Essay Topic 2

How are the relationships between parents and their children represented in this novel? Do the relationships seem healthy? Why or why not? Are there differences between the ways sons and daughters are treated? If so, what are they?

Essay Topic 3

What views of women are presented in this book? How do May-may, Mary Sinclair, Liza, and Tess represent those views?

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