Reading Check

1. Suyuan believes you can be anything you want in America. (Paragraph 1)

2. Suyuan values the opportunities in America because she lost everything when she fled China. (Paragraph 3)

3. Suyuan expects June to be a prodigy. (Paragraph 2)

4. June gets away with poor piano playing because Mr. Chong is deaf and doesn’t see well. (Paragraphs 37 and 41 )

5. June insults her mother when she says she wishes she weren’t her daughter and that she had never been born or had died in China. (Paragraphs 75 and 77)

Short Answer

1. June’s response to her mother’s expectations changes from interest to boredom to excitement to resentment. (Various paragraphs)

2. June is jealous of “snotty” Waverly and her fame as a chess champion. (Paragraph 44)

3. Suyuan and Lindo compete with each other through their daughters. (Paragraphs 45 and 46)

4. June is touched by her mother’s offer of the piano because June views it as a sign of forgiveness. (Paragraph 84)

5. Years later, June discovers that her recital piece is half of one song, just as she and her mother are half of each other. (Paragraph 95)