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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. Who is the film star Zhong Liang seems to be looking for?

2. How big are the litters of female prime beasts, usually?

3. How did the narrator's mother die?

4. What does Zhong Liang give the narrator for Christmas?

5. What does Jiang Tan's mother say about him?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who does the narrator realize must be her "father?"

2. How does the narrator realize she herself is a heartsick beast?

3. Why is the wood of flourishing beast saplings so valuable?

4. Who creates heartsick beasts?

5. How does Methuselah die?

6. Why does the narrator come to stay with Methuselah in Part III?

7. What is Zhong Liang's role in the professor's operations?

8. Why does the narrator tell Zhong Liang her stories have to be fairly simple?

9. How does the narrator arrange for her cousin's family to be saved from the debacle at the airport?

10. What happens to Charley that the narrator feels responsible for?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Ge describe and explore the sacrifices that parents make for their offspring through different characters and at different points in this novel? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

What does the killing of both beasts and humans - in large numbers - at different points in the novel reveal about the government in this world Ge has built for the reader? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

How does Ge treat the topic of deep betrayal in this novel, particularly as it relates to the way the narrator is tricked into revealing the whereabouts of the sacrificial beasts? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

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