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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. Which family member was sent to a military farm in Dedu county?

2. What did Chairman Mao declare in 1966 that intellectuals must undergo?

3. Why was Tang Dan disillusioned with her work in Dedu county?

4. What privileges did Lao Tang receive as he studied Lin Biao's life?

5. Durig the summer of 1968, how many students were killed by New Beida students?

Short Essay Questions

1. What difficulties did Tang Dan encounter during her time with the military?

2. Why had Lao Tang not left Liang Xiao?

3. How did the disputes between factions at the university resemble civil war?

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

5. Why did Yue Daiyun feel optimistic upon her return to Beida in spite of the dismal condition of the campus?

6. What astonished Lao Tang more than evidence of Lin Biao's reactionary viewpoint?

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

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

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

10. What tragedy took place in Hanzhong on a branch campus for the study of applied physics?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

During the time that is portrayed in this memoir, military and police power were placed in the hands of committees and groups - sometimes self-appointed, as the student groups were. In your essay, discuss the results of these shifts in power.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

A central argument among the shifting power groups in this memoir is the question of whether democracy is a tool to eventually establish communism, or communism is a tool leading to the eventual establishment of democracy. Discuss the meaning and differences between these two points of view.

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