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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Jing-Mei’s mother respond when Jing-Mei throws a fit when she’s told she’ll be taking piano lessons?
(a) She calls her father
(b) She weeps
(c) She slaps her
(d) She laughs at her

2. How many days after the talent show is it when Jing-Mei is surprised that her mother insists she practice piano?
(a) 2
(b) 3
(c) 4
(d) 5

3. When did the Japanese invasion of China take place, leading Jing-Mei’s mother to flee China?
(a) 1937
(b) 1929
(c) 1943
(d) 1911

4. When the instructor of the beauty school has to cut off Jing-Mei’s hair because of the bad perm, she tells Jing-Mei’s mother that what play is very popular these days?
(a) Guys and Dolls
(b) Little Orphan Annie
(c) Cinderella
(d) Peter Pan

5. Of the composition that the piano prodigy plays on The Ed Sullivan Show, Jing-Mei says, “I remember the song, because later on” what?
(a) It was the song played at my mother’s funeral
(b) I had that song played at my wedding
(c) I heard it again on the radio
(d) I had to learn how to play it

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

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

8. What does Jing-Mei’s mother tell her she looks like after she’s been given a bad perm at the beauty school?
(a) An orphan
(b) Negro Chinese
(c) Raggedy Anne
(d) A Cupie Doll

9. When does Jing-Mei say her mother came to America?
(a) 1960
(b) 1958
(c) 1949
(d) 1981

10. Jing-Mei says of Mr. Chong when she began piano lessons that “he must have been younger than I thought, since he” what?
(a) Had no children and was not yet married
(b) Had sisters that were my mother’s age
(c) Had two young children and a young wife
(d) Lived with his mother and was not yet married

11. Jing-Mei says that soon after her mother got the idea for her to be a Chinese Shirley Temple, she took her to a beauty school in what district?
(a) SoHo
(b) Noe Valley
(c) Potrero Hill
(d) The Mission district

12. What sensation does Jing-Mei describe as she begins hitting one wrong note after another during the talent show?
(a) A burning sensation in my heart and then an inability to breathe
(b) A shiver of excitement started in my hands and spread up my arms
(c) A chill started at the top of my head and began to trickle down
(d) I felt a wave of terror and then everything went black

13. Of Auntie Lindo’s daughter, Jing-Mei says “We had grown up together and shared all the closeness of two sisters squabbling over crayons and dolls. In other words, for the most part, we” what?
(a) Pestered each other
(b) Loved each other
(c) Envied each other
(d) Hated each other

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

15. 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

Short Answer Questions

1. Jing-Mei describes Mr. Chong’s mother as having a particular smell about her of what?

2. What musical term from the story refers to a composition for one or two instruments, typically comprised of three or four movements in contrasting forms and keys?

3. Who does Jing-Mei tell her mother she wishes she were like as they argue about piano practice after the talent show?

4. Where did Jing-Mei’s mother abandon her first children, hoping for them to become adopted?

5. When Jing-Mei stands up after playing her piano solo at the talent show, she realizes what are shaking?

(see the answer keys)

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