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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. In 1968, what was Alexander Dubcek's attempt to create "socialism with a human face" called?

2. In Magnitogorsk, how much was sunlight was reduced by pollution?

3. What did both Lenin and Stalin use to advertise the Revolution?

4. Who succeeded Brezhnev?

5. What news did Tretetsky and his men learn on August 21, 1991?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why was Andropov important to Gorbachev?

2. Why did Natasha Rapoport not emigrate to Israel?

3. What is the dilemma that Mishal and Flora Litvinov faced with their children?

4. What was Magadan like in the late 1930s?

5. What was Vremya?

6. What was the Doctors' Plot?

7. What did Gorbachev do about the letter published March 13 in the Sovetskaya Rossiya?

8. Why did Sakharov become a dissident?

9. Why did the salmon catch rot on Sakhalin Island?

10. Why did Shakhnazarov say that Gorbachev, himself, and all the others who surrounded Gorbachev were double-thinkers?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Remnick refers to September of 1990 as a Black September and mentions three omens that occur. Use examples from the book to explain the meaning of these three omens and why they indicated that something ominous was about to happen in the Soviet Union.

Essay Topic 2

Gorbachev and the Party had illusions about the future of the Soviet Union. Discuss these illusions and how events shattered Gorbachev's and the Party's illusions.

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the book, Remnick provides examples of times the Party attempted to block the words of various writers. At the beginning of Chapter 24 is a quote: "What is written with a pen cannot be hacked away even by an ax." Using examples from the book, argue that words can or cannot be forever destroyed by violence.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 892 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample