Daily Quiz

Question 1:

According to the passage, during the Heian Period a familiarity with Buddhism was necessary to understand literature because:

A. Buddhism came from mainland Asia, whose religious practices influenced Japanese culture.
B. The most important texts written during the Heian Period were based on religious treatises.
C. Buddhist monks brought many literary forms to Japan from China.
D. Buddhist monks were primarily responsible for teaching Japanese women to read.

Question 2:

As it is used in line 65, the phrase “recourse to” most nearly means:

A. reliance on
B. analysis of
C. reference to
D. insistence on

Question 3:

The passage states that the invention of Japanese phonetic letters in the tenth century resulted in:

A. the adaptation of popular Chinese literary forms to fit Japanese tastes.
B. a rapid increase in literacy among the Japanese lower classes.
C. the first prose works written entirely in Japanese.
D. increased interaction between Chinese and Japanese elites.

Question 4:

The author finds it “not surprising that literature should have been so highly regarded” (lines 29-31) in Heian-era Japan for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:

A. Japanese culture held peasants and artisans in great esteem.
B. literary knowledge was necessary for professional advancement.
C. books provided guidance about moral issues.
D. the rules governing personal conduct were detailed in literary works.

Question 5:

According to the passage, the author considers Heian-era Chinese writings to be

A. of little interest to anyone except Japanese historians.
B. undervalued and worthy of investigation.
C. a significant source of information about early diplomatic relations between China and Japan.
D. outstanding examples of the flexibility and beauty of the Chinese language.

Question 6:

Which of the following pieces of writing would most likely have been composed in Japanese in Heian-era Japan?

A. a philosophical text about Buddhism.
B. a contract detailing the transfer of a piece of land from one owner to another.
C. a love poem written by an aristocratic woman.
D. an official examination for a position in the Japanese bureaucracy.

Question 7:

The author dismisses the idea that “men considered it beneath them to write in Japanese” (lines 79-81) primarily on the grounds that:

A. legal documents written in Japanese and dating from the Heian era have been found in Tokyo.
B. men sometimes composed poetry using Japanese letters.
C. Japanese was an ideal language for expressing subtle, refined emotions.
D. a number of important early novels were written in Japanese by men.

Question 8:

It can be most reasonably inferred from the passage that prior to the year 900, opportunities for Japanese women to express themselves through writing were:

A. abundant due to the adoption of Chinese ideographs.
B. determined by their husbands and fathers, who often deliberately kept them ignorant.
C. dependent on the whims of priests and aristocrats.
D. severely restricted since Japanese phonetic script had not yet been invented.

Question 9:

According to the passage, the ability to write during Heian-era Japan was primarily confined to:
I. aristocrats II. priests III. people of Chinese ancestry

A. I only
B. II only
C. I and II only
D. I, II, and III

Question 10:

According to the passage, the invention of Japanese writing had which of the following effects on women’s lives?

A. it liberated Japanese women of all social backgrounds by allowing them to perform business transactions.
B. it exposed them to the world outside Japan by allowing them to read about foreign countries.
C. it encouraged them to be pious by providing them with religious works written by Buddhist monks.
D. it provided upper-class Japanese women with a means of transforming their innermost feelings into great works of literature.

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