Read the following scene.
Claire stared out the window, watching the dark clouds roll
across the sky. Her prospects looked bleak. She wished
she was anywhere but here in her room. The walls felt as if
they were closing in. She was about to turn from the
window when she noticed a small ray of sunshine break
through the clouds. Maybe she could solve her problems if
she talked with her mom. She started to feel better.
Which statement best describes the symbolism used in this passage?
O
A. The sunshine symbolizes hope.
B. The room symbolizes freedom.
O
C. The clouds symbolize decisions.
O
D. The mother symbolizes despair.

word count 168

serve the people! ,” smoothly translated by julia lovell, offers an initial sample of yan lianke’s writing to an english-speaking audience. a bluntly drawn, mildly erotic fable, it teases mao zedong by poking fun at a true believer who obeys the chairman’s precepts too literally. to a western sensibility, the broad strokes of yan lianke’s humor would seem to pose little risk of inciting rebellion, whether of the flesh or of the body politic. but then, part of the book’s attraction is that it doesn’t have a western sensibility. it lets the reader see — or rather, intuit — what jokes chinese officials don’t consider funny, and how very little it takes for a writer to be branded an incendiary in 21st-century china, more than three decades after the death of mao, a decade after the death of deng xiaoping and seven years since china entered the world trade organization, a move that would seem to signal a willingness (however wary) to mingle with the rest of the world.