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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In what year did the film Bright Eyes bring Shirley Temple international fame?
(a) 1951
(b) 1948
(c) 1934
(d) 1959

2. Who is the only person applauding when Jing-Mei looks up from her curtsy at the talent show?
(a) Auntie Lindo
(b) Jing-Mei’s mother
(c) Jing-Mei’s father
(d) Mr. Chong

3. Jing-Mei describes the fingers of Mr. Chong’s mother as feeling like what?
(a) The inside of an oyster
(b) A dead person’s
(c) A fat baby’s
(d) A jellyfish

4. What is the name of the song that Jing-Mei finds next to the Schumann piece she played for the talent show at the end of the story?
(a) Pleading Child
(b) Anita’s Dance
(c) Peter’s Waltz
(d) Perfectly Contented

5. What is the name of the Schumann piece that Jing-Mei is to play at the talent show?
(a) Anita's Dance
(b) Pleading Child
(c) Peter’s Waltz
(d) Perfectly Contended

6. What does Jing-Mei realize about the song she finds next to the one she played for the talent show at the end of the story?
(a) It is composed by her mother
(b) It is the second half of the same song
(c) It is composed by Mr. Chong
(d) It is the opposite of the previous song

7. What does Jing-Mei do with the Chinese silk dresses she finds when sorting through her mother’s things at the end of the story?
(a) She gives them to her father
(b) She sells them
(c) She gives them to her sister
(d) She takes them home with her

8. How does Jing-Mei describe the Schumann piece that she was to play at the talent show?
(a) It was a difficult, multi-layered piece that sounded less difficult than it was
(b) It was a simple, moody piece that sounded more difficult than it was
(c) It was a textured piece that showed off skills that I didn’t even have
(d) It was a strong and powerful piece, one that I loved

9. As Jing-Mei walks back to her seat after her performance in the talent show, she overhears a little boy say to his mother, “That was awful.” What does the boy’s mother reply?
(a) Shh. She’s right there
(b) Well, she certainly tried
(c) She was terrible
(d) She was wonderful

10. What musical term in the story refers to the sounding of notes in a chord in rapid succession instead of simultaneously?”
(a) Sonata
(b) Arpeggio
(c) Bass
(d) Trill

11. Edvard Grieg is considered one of the leading composers of what era?
(a) The Surrealist era
(b) The Modernist era
(c) The Romantic era
(d) The Postmodernist era

12. What color does Jing-Mei say her mother knitted sweaters in, which were also “all the colors I hated”?
(a) Blue, red, and silver
(b) Green, blue, and yellow
(c) Yellow, pink, and orange
(d) Red, white, and black

13. During what years did The Ed Sullivan Show air on television?
(a) 1960-1970
(b) 1929-1949
(c) 1941-1960
(d) 1948-1971

14. What is Auntie Lindo’s husband’s name?
(a) Uncle Tin
(b) Uncle Lee
(c) Uncle Tom
(d) Uncle Wu

15. Of her first lessons with Mr. Chong, Jing-Mei says, “I would play after him, the simple scale, the simple chord and then I just played some nonsense that sounded like” what?
(a) A solitary violin
(b) A crash of bricks against a tin rooftop
(c) A cat running up and down on top of garbage cans
(d) A chorus of birds singing in the treetops

Short Answer Questions

1. What word from the story means coolly unconcerned, indifferent, or unexcited?

2. How old is the little girl on The Ed Sullivan Show that Jing-Mei and her mother watch playing piano?

3. Examine the following sentence from the narrative: “I kept thinking my fingers would adjust themselves back, like a train switching to the right track.” What literary device is used in this example?

4. What musical term from Jing-Mei’s piano lessons means characterized by abruptness and disconnectedness?

5. Where did author Amy Tan grow up?

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