Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

SECTIONS 1-3

Reading Check

1. What motivates the ox to continue working?

2. What simile does Fugui use to compare “[w]horing and gambling” (Section 2) to?

3. Who was Fugui concerned with honoring?

4. Why does Fugui’s father not exchange the copper coins into silver?

5. How is Fugui’s story about his father cyclical?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is the narrator’s job, and what can the audience surmise about this character?

2. What is the first story that Fugui shares about his past?

3. Who are Mr. Shen and Long Er? Why does Fugui find these men interesting?

4. Why does Jiazhen kneel before Fugui, and what is the end result?

5. Which circumstances lead Long Er to purchase Fugui’s property? Which two family members in Fugui’s family are affected?

Paired Resources

“Witnessing Japan’s Surrender in China”

• This article from the BBC discusses the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945.
• It relates to the theme of Political Systems and Class Divides.
• How did the end of the Sino-Japanese War affect agrarian Chinese communities?