A review of the treatment of female characters in Chinese fiction reve

1. The passage is primarily concerned with discussing which of the following subjects?
(A) The impact on the Chinese novel of Mao Tsetung's guidelines for a literature of socialist realismClassic trap: this part is the point of the last paragraph not the passsage as a whole.
(B) The impact of Ibsen's plays on themes in twentieth-century Chinese literatureAgain this is mentioned in the passage, but is not the main point.
(C) Stylistic differences between pre-1900 and post-1900 Chinese fictionThe passage does not talk about stylistic difference, it rather talks about how women were potrayed post 1900 Chinese literature, pre-1900 is only mentioned in the first paragraph.
(D) Changes in the role of women in Chinese society brought about by Communist party policySimilar to A.
(E) The characterization of women in twentieth-century Chinese literatureCorrect.

2. According to the passage, post-1949 Chinese fiction differs from earlier twentieth-century Chinese fiction in that it
(A) lacks a coherent philosophical point of view
(B) views the possibility of social change with greater optimism Correct --> First sentence of the second paragraph: "In contrast to this view of women in fiction in the early part of the century, fiction after the late 1940's is not so pessimistic."
(C) is concerned primarily with entertaining rather than educating its readers
(D) ignores the problems facing groups other than women within Chinese society
(E) ignores the traditions and social conventions of Chinese culture

3. The author mentions Lu Hsiin's comments on A Doll's House in order to make the point that
(A) individualism, as presented in the play, benefits only the individual, not the community in which he or she lives Paragraph 2 does not talk about benefits at all.
(B) Chinese writers looked to Western literature for evidence of pressures of social conventions similar to those pressures in their own culture Paragraph 2 does not talk about Western literature at all.
(C) Chinese writers felt the need to focus on the practical problems presented by a particular social environment as well as on personal needs Correct. Look at the sentence right before Lu hsiin's comment is mentioned...
(D) the preoccupation in Western literature with women's emancipation blinded writers and thinkers to the broader social issues involved Paragraph 2 does not talk about Western literature at all.
(E) the treatment of women's emancipation in Western literature has little relevance to Chinese literature Paragraph 2 does not talk about Western literature at all.


4. The passage provides information for answering which of the following questions?
(A) How did the government of the People's Republic of China deal with resistance to their policy of adequately compensating women for their work? Passage never talks about "resistance"
(B) What are some of the problems encountered by female characters in novels describing life in the People's Republic of China after 1949 ? Correct. This question is answered in paragraph 2 of the passage.
(C) What were the goals set for Chinese women by Communist party policy?Goals set is mentioned in the 3 paragraph, but the goals are never explicitly stated.
(D) Do the stereotypes prevalent in Chinese fiction before the twentieth century still appear in Chinese literature? We know nothing about current Chinese literature... So this question is not answered in the passage.
(E) What initiated the first changes in the depiction of women in Chinese literature?The first paragraph talk about the first change "While authors of these novels often sympathetically portrayed heroines who experienced social oppression, they never questioned the position of women in Chinese culture. Not until the early twentieth century did Chinese fiction focus on women's emancipation, and then the subject became the backdrop of most novels that addressed the issue. ", but does not talk about what initiated it...

5. According to the passage, the struggle of Chinese women for liberation is portrayed in post-1949 Chinese literature as
(A) a struggle with roots in pre-twentieth century events
(B) a product of pre-1949 social reforms
(C) subordinate to the maintenance of traditional social patterns
(D) part of a much larger struggle for liberation Correct. Last sentence first paragraph: "After the Communist party established the People's Republic in the late 1940's, attitudes changed again: the gaining of women's rights was treated as one of many ongoing social revolutions, although from the beginning Communist party policy subordinated the women's struggle to the class struggle. "
(E) hampered by unrealistic Communist party policy

6. Which of the following plots exemplifies what the author describes as the pessimism of the Chinese literature written between 1900 and 1949?
--> Important part of the passage: "In their novels, a pattern recurs: after an initial break with social conventions, women falter in their goals or tragically end their lives, defeated by the overwhelming pressures of those conventions."

(A) A woman trained as an economist takes a posi- tion in her field, only to relinquish it because she realizes she cannot overcome her male colleagues' antagonism toward professional women.Correct. Shows the failing in reaching their goals and the defeat by the overwhelming pressure...
(B) A 60-year-old widow, who manages her village's nursery, refuses to quit her job to help her daughter, who has just given birth to a child.Irrelevant
(C) A man in charge of a tea-curing plant selects a woman to fill his position when .he retires, but she must spend a long time battling the resentment of the male workers.she doesn't fail... just takes long
(D) A woman whose illness forces her temporarily to resign her full-time job in a food coopera- tive elects to work part-time in a bookstore.Failing becasue of illness not pressure...
(E) A daughter-in-law chooses not to stay home to care for her in-laws as is the custom, but takes a job in a factory and plans to advance to a management position.This fits more with the 3 paragraph than with the 2.


7. Which of the following statements would be most likely to begin the paragraph immediately following the passage?
(A) The subject of women's emancipation, which had germinated years before, surfaced in public debate in the period after 1919.Should be something after 1949, since last sentence moves discussion into to the post-1949
(B) The pessimistic view of the emancipation of women in the 1920's was dispelled when it was seen that emancipation could be achieved by working with a series of limited and specific goals.Should be something after 1949...
(C) A vivid reflection of the changes that occurred in Chinese fiction is found in Lo Pin-chi's novel, Mother Wang (1953).Correct, talks about changes in fiction and the book is called "Mother Wang", furthermore it talks about chinese fiction, like the last sentences of the passage.
(D) In an interesting reversal of the problems produced by the generation gap, Ju Chihchiian's novel, Wish Fulfilled (1959), depicts a son's difficulty in adjusting to his mother's newly acquired job and independence.Geneartion Gap?? Not relevant + talks about the son rather than mother...
(E) Recently written Chinese fiction, unlike earlier works, is didactic and not philosophical.Irrelevant...


8. The passage suggests that the author would most probably agree with which of the following statements about the relationship between Chinese novels written after 1949 and life in China during that period?

(A) The novels were slow to reflect changes in culture.Not true, it is not mentioned in the passage it rather shows that changes were made according to Mao Tse-tung
(B) The novels reminded citizens of their heritage and traditions, as well as pointed the way toward future possibilities.While I would agree with the second half of this choice, it is not mentioned that the novels reminded citziens of thei heritage and traditions...
(C) The novels provided government-sanctioned role models for citizens. Correct. "After Mao Tse-tung's announcement of guidelines for a literature of socialist realism, this emphasis on women's rights became more pronounced. Most women in fiction after 1949 conform to the goals set for them by Communist party policy"
(D) The authors presented a variety of experiences far wider than normally common to their audience. Not mentioned that experiences are far wider in any way....
(E) The authors seemed to be indifferent to the problems created by women's familial and job responsibilities.Not true, the authors explicitly mention the problems by these two factors

Explanation for Q8 may not be sufficient, but I gave it a shot... Got it wrong when trying the question.