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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 Beth graduates from high school, what does Mrs. Wheatley give her?

2. Who is the best chess player since Morphy?

3. Beth‘s third opponent in Chapter 8 shocks her. Why?

4. In Chapter 11, when does Beth leave for Paris?

5. In what hotel is the second tournament held?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Beth beat Benny in Chapter 10?

2. How does Beth end up in New York?

3. Why does Beth still feel like an outsider in chess in Chapter 6?

4. How does Beth feel, at first, at the college party?

5. How does Beth play against Benny at skittles in Chapter 10?

6. What does Benny’s apartment look like?

7. How does Beth know that Mrs. Wheatley is dead?

8. How does Harry Beltik help improve Beth skills at chess?

9. Why is Beth feeling as if her time with Benny is coming to an end at the end of Chapter 11?

10. How does Beth feel about the tournament in Ohio in Chapter 10?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Beth is placed in an orphanage early on in the book. What were orphanages like during this time period? Why might they have been this way? Based on the information given in the book, how did institutions such as this one affect the children in them? How might they have also affected the adults who worked there?

Essay Topic 2

Beth has her first taste of beer in Chapter 6 and compares the sensation of being drunk to taking the tranquilizer pills. What does this need for drugs say about Beth? How does this reflect an addictive personality? What other aspects of her life also show she has an addictive personality?

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 8, when Beth plays the young prodigy and asks him what he will do once he is world champion. How will he spend the rest of his life? He looks at her puzzled. How would Beth have responded to this question if she had been asked when she was young? Why might Beth have asked this question? Might she also be asking herself this question? How does the struggle between Beth’s commitment to chess and life outside of chess show itself throughout the book?

(see the answer keys)

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