pg.3-20

Vocabulary:
risible (adj.) - syn: comical, ant: austere
surreptitious (adj.) - syn: furtive, ant: open
sonata (n) - syn: song
audacity (adj.) - syn: bold, ant: prudent
reactionary (adj.) - syn: orthodox, ant: liberal
vertiginous (adj.) - syn: dizzy, ant: alert
insidious (adj.) - syn: crafty, ant: honest
1. The village headman assumes that the violin is a toy from the city, but Luo and the narrator manage to fool the village by explaining that it was a sonata called Mozart is Thinking of Chairman Mao which gave sense of respect for their leader Mao. This introduces the central conflict between them and villagers, which is the fact that the two teens are from the city and are labeled intellectuals.
2. Mao Zedong, the one who came up with the idea of reeducation, and his Red Army, who enforced his orders to destroy the Four Olds and punish those who do not cooperate with Mao, are the key players in China's Cultural Revolution. The intended purpose was to make all people equal and get rid of the old, and they result is a lack of educated people, intellectuals wasting their education by labouring in the fields, and actually being inferior due to being disrespected for their education.
3. It is ironic because they did not actually have education beyond the elementary level but their parents occupation which made them 'enemies of the people' turned Luo and the narrator into 'intellectuals'.
4. He was venting his frustration on the narrator.
5. Phoenix of the Sky is the name of the mountain due to it's dizzying height.
6. It's primary source of income is from mining copper, which tells us that the economy is good because they need the copper for minting coins.
7. They change the time on their clock to make their lives easier. This tells us that they are very witty, but not very honest.
8. It lasts usually for two years, but the narrator and Luo are especially despondent about this because their parents are class enemies and their chance of ending reeducation is three in a thousand.
9. Luo's gift is in story telling, which he uses in the village to escape two days of work. He is so good, that the headman then asks him to do this again and offers the same pay as if he worked. Maybe they will get into trouble in town when they go to view the movie.