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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 the Socialist Youth League performed work in the summer, they dug tunnels around Hyeonseo's school. What type of work did they engage in during the other three seasons that year?
(a) Architectural.
(b) Journalistic.
(c) Agricultural.
(d) Economic.

2. What aspect of Hyeonseo's mother's character does Hyeonseo say is unusual for a woman of high songbun?
(a) Her frequent gambling.
(b) Her entrepreneurial spirit.
(c) Her love for fashion.
(d) Her kindness to citizens with low songbun.

3. About what malady is Hyeonseo speaking when she says that her father displayed signs of "an illness that is not acknowledged in North Korea" (67)?
(a) Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
(b) Depression.
(c) Anxiety.
(d) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

4. Even though it meant shopping for food every day, for what reason did Hyeonseo's mother eschew the latest trend of buying a refrigerator from China?
(a) She did not have enough money.
(b) She did not want to attract attention.
(c) There are too many blackouts.
(d) She did not know how to hide it from the police.

5. What does Hyeonseo say is the only "permitted outlet for spiritual fervor" (41) in North Korea?
(a) The business trade.
(b) One Catholic mass per year.
(c) Self-criticism sessions.
(d) Kim worship.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does seo mean in Korean?

2. What was the true cause of Hyeonseo's father's death?

3. When Hyeonseo's father rushes back into the burning house, what items does he emerge from the house carrying?

4. In what sport did Hyeonseo excel enough to represent her school in a tournament while living in Hyesan?

5. To what city does Hyeonseo's family move after leaving Hyesan?

Short Essay Questions

1. How are the themes of money and freedom linked within the scene in which Hyeonseo's mother is caught on the street wearing trousers?

2. How is the theme of appearance versus reality demonstrated within the description of Hyeonseo's mother's behavior once her husband has been detained for ten days?

3. What does the author say is the reason that "kindness toward strangers is rare in North Korea" (38)?

4. What does the family's color television symbolize within the narrative?

5. What do the hills surrounding the city of Anju symbolize within the text?

6. What beliefs about Chinese people does Hyeonseo say are taught to every North Korean child?

7. What are the two types of prison in the gulag?

8. What is the "only permitted outlet for spiritual fervor" (41) in North Korea and what does the author say is the punishment for seeking out different means of spirituality?

9. How does Hyeonseo feel about her forced participation in the Socialist Youth League?

10. What is ironic about the North Korean government's use of the term "people's trial" (27)?

(see the answer keys)

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