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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 types of centers does Captain Shi Qiang describe all around the world and working together in Chapter 10, "Da Shi"?

2. Where is the Saint Joseph's Church that Wang Miao goes to in Chapter 9, "The Universe Flickers"?

3. What scientific paper is presented to Ye Wenjie as one that she wrote in 1966 in Chapter 3, "Red Coast I"?

4. What does Sha Ruishan give to Wang Miao to enable him to see the microwave background on their research in Chapter 9, "The Universe Flickers"?

5. Ye Wenjie discovers in college that it is useless to excel at theory without what in astrophysics?

Short Essay Questions

1. What setting is established in Chapter 9, "The Universe Flickers"? How is it described?

2. What does Shi relate to Wang regarding the academic community in Chapter 10, "Da Shi"?

3. How does Bai Mulin betray Ye Wenjie? Why does he betray her?

4. What setting is established in Chapter 2, "Silent Spring"? What has brought Ye Wenjie to this location?

5. What is the significance of the literary allusions to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in the novel?

6. What does Ye Wenjie remark about potential alien contact in Chapter 14, "Red Coast IV"?

7. What setting is described when Wang logs onto the Three Body game in Chapter 11, "Three Body: Mozi and Fiery Flames"?

8. Describe the narrative style in The Three-Body Problem. Does the narrative style change in the course of the novel?

9. What has happened to Ye Wenjie's daughter in the novel?

10. What happens when the Stable Era begins in the Three Body game in Chapter 11, "Three Body: Mozi and Fiery Flames"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze and discuss the character of Ye Wenjie in The Three-Body Problem. How old is Ye Wenjie when her character is introduced? What events impact Ye Wenjie's character and her actions? How does her character evolve by the end of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

What is the cosmic microwave background? What composes the cosmic microwave background? Why is this significant in the plot of The Three-Body Problem?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the three-body problem in physics and discuss how it applies in this novel. What are the components of the three-body problem? How does it apply to Trisolaris? What research is described on this problem in the novel?

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