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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. Why were friendship bonds more likely at the cadre school than at Beida?

2. Why was Yue Daiyun disheartened by her first teaching assignment at the cadre school in Liyuzhou?

3. How did the Jinggang Mountain group defend their besieged building while restoring electrical power?

4. What pseudonym had Lao Tang and Lao Li, his friend, used to publish articles about Chinese philosophy?

5. What did the Jinggang Mountain Corps want?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why was Lao Tang uneasy about national recognition of his work with Liang Xiao?

2. Why were admission examinations eliminated from the requirements for university entrance in 1970?

3. What were the most emphatic new directives from Chairman Mao as the conflicts escalated?

4. Why was Yue Daiyun stunned and unhappy at the new student orientation at the cadre school?

5. Why did a smiling photo of Lao Tang get him in trouble?

6. Why was the building of permanent housing the most pressing task when Yue Daiyun's group arrived at Liyuzhou?

7. Which children were admitted into New Beida?

8. Why did Yue Daiyun believe that bonds were closer at the cadre school than on the Beijing campus of Beida?

9. Why was the educational level of college age youth lower in 1970?

10. Why were Chairman Mao's instructions to unite and return to classes ineffective?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At several points in the story, Yue Daiyun and others felt it necessary to "draw a line" between themselves and others. Explain what it means to draw a line. Give examples of how and why this procedure was implemented. Do you think such a procedure is unique to Chinese society during the cultural revolution?

Essay Topic 2

Parent-child relationships are an important theme in this memoir, as children were encouraged to distance themselves from the reactionary or intellectual thought patterns of their parents. As a young bride, Yue Daiyun draws such a line against her father-in-law, and she later regrets it. Her own children find it necessary to repudiate their parents. Analyze and evaluate the effects of this disjunction on family relationships.

Essay Topic 3

Landlords were the most vilified of any group described in this story. Why was their condemnation so universal? What happened to them? To their property?

(see the answer keys)

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