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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. What does Beth decide about the U.S. Championships?

2. What magazine interviews Beth?

3. Although Beth spends much of her time practicing, where does she end up going to take a break in Chapter 8?

4. Chapter 10 begins as Beth walks into a tournament where?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Beth react to not winning the tournament in Mexico City?

2. Why is Beth worried at the end of Chapter 5?

3. What does Beth think of the young chess prodigy in Mexico City?

4. What are two things that make Beth happy at the end of Chapter 7?

5. How does Beth feel about Mrs. Wheatley’s affair with Manuel?

6. How do Beth’s and Mrs. Wheatley’s spending habits change throughout Chapter 5?

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

8. How does Beth end up in New York?

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

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?

Essay Topic 2

Beth gets involved with several men. Describe her relationships with them. What similarities are there? How does the man’s intelligence and ability or inability to play chess influence her feelings for them? How do her physical relationships compare to other relationships she has?

Essay Topic 3

Beth is insecure in many ways. What are a few of them? How do you know this? In what is she secure? In what ways is she confident? How does learning make her confident? What can be learned by this?

(see the answer keys)

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