Cancer Ward - Quiz
Cancer Ward
  • 1. What is the nature of Kostoglotov's attraction to Zoya?
A) Based on shared political views
B) Purely intellectual
C) Mostly physical
D) Deeply spiritual
  • 2. What is Zoya's profession?
A) Doctor and researcher
B) Nurse and medical student
C) Surgeon and administrator
D) Pharmacist and lab technician
  • 3. Who is Vera Gangart?
A) A fellow patient in the hospital
B) One of Kostoglotov's doctors
C) A visitor from the zoo
D) A head nurse in the cancer ward
  • 4. What best describes Vera Gangart's marital status before meeting Kostoglotov?
A) Secretly engaged to an exile
B) Middle-aged and has never married
C) Young and recently divorced
D) Widowed with several children
  • 5. Why do Zoya and Vera invite Kostoglotov to stay overnight?
A) Because he is still recovering from a major surgery
B) Because he lost his wallet at the train station
C) Because the hospital demanded they monitor him
D) Because he has nowhere to sleep due to his exile status
  • 6. How does Kostoglotov imagine his ideal devotion to Vera?
A) To travel with her to Ush-Terek immediately
B) To write political poetry about her beauty
C) To buy her expensive gifts from the city market
D) To lie at her feet like a beaten dog and breathe on her feet
  • 7. What realization does Kostoglotov have about Russia and himself toward the end of the novel?
A) He can easily integrate back into normal society
B) The damage done was too great, and there will be no healing now that Stalin has gone
C) Russia is finally recovering and a golden age of freedom has begun
D) Stalin's absence will instantly cure all societal ailments
  • 8. Where does Kostoglotov go on the day of his release from the hospital?
A) To the railway station in Ush-Terek
B) To a government office for exile registration
C) To a zoo
D) Back to his apartment in Moscow
  • 9. Whom does Kostoglotov see in the animals at the zoo?
A) People he knew
B) Foreign leaders
C) The doctors from the ward
D) His prison guards
  • 10. Why would Kostoglotov not want to break into the cages and liberate the animals?
A) Because he was afraid of being arrested by the zookeepers
B) Because the cages were locked with unbreakable steel
C) Because deprived of their home surroundings, they had lost the idea of rational freedom
D) Because the animals looked completely happy in captivity
  • 11. What was the reason the Macaque Rhesus was blinded?
A) An evil man threw tobacco into its eyes
B) It stared directly into the glaring sun
C) It contracted a severe disease from a visitor
D) It was part of a cruel medical experiment
  • 12. What struck Kostoglotov most about the sign on the Macaque Rhesus's cage, apart from the cruelty?
A) The absence of propaganda
B) The poor spelling in the note
C) The mention of Stalin's name
D) The fact that it was written in English
  • 13. How did Kostoglotov view the attacker who threw tobacco at the monkey?
A) As a victim of the political regime
B) As an anti-humanist propagandist
C) As just an evil man
D) As an agent of American imperialism
  • 14. After wandering around town, what does Kostoglotov decide regarding Zoya and Vera?
A) He decides against going to see them
B) He decides to marry Zoya immediately
C) He goes to Zoya's apartment for dinner
D) He sends them both a formal invitation
  • 15. What happens when Kostoglotov finally finds the courage to go to Vera's place?
A) They have a wonderful evening and make plans to wed
B) He gets lost and never reaches her apartment
C) She slams the door in his face because he is late
D) He has left it so late that she is no longer there, and he decides not to try again
  • 16. What physical concern does Kostoglotov have due to his cancer treatment?
A) His voice will be completely destroyed
B) Hormone therapy may have left him impotent
C) His legs will remain paralyzed
D) He might lose his eyesight permanently
  • 17. What does Kostoglotov decide to accept from life in the end?
A) To demand compensation from the hospital
B) To travel the world with Zoya
C) To fight for a high-ranking political position
D) To accept less than he had hoped for and face it alone
  • 18. Where does Kostoglotov head after leaving town and deciding against visiting the women?
A) Back to the cancer ward to ask for more treatment
B) To the local police station to report his exile status
C) To the railway station to fight his way onto a train to Ush-Terek
D) To a hotel in the center of the city
  • 19. What is Ush-Terek?
A) The hometown of Vera Gangart
B) The capital city where he was born
C) A famous health resort in the mountains
D) The distant village to which he had been exiled
  • 20. What does Kostoglotov write in his goodbye letter to Vera from the station?
A) That she will come to bless the day she did not commit to share his life
B) That he blames her for his impotence
C) That he is moving to America to escape his past
D) That he is returning to the hospital to marry her
  • 21. What hidden desire does Kostoglotov confess to Vera in his goodbye letter?
A) That he planned to steal her apartment
B) That he always wanted to pick her up and kiss her on the lips
C) That he wanted to borrow money from her for his train ticket
D) That he hated her intellectual conversations
  • 22. What is the primary setting of the novel?
A) A squalid hospital
B) A GULAG prison camp
C) A luxury sanatorium
D) A botanical garden
  • 23. Where was Kostoglotov living in internal perpetual exile before the hospital?
A) Tashkent
B) Leningrad
C) Kislovodsk
D) Kazakhstan
  • 24. Where was author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn born, unlike his character Kostoglotov?
A) Tashkent
B) Kislovodsk
C) Leningrad
D) Kazakhstan
  • 25. Where was Kostoglotov born?
A) Moscow
B) Tashkent
C) Leningrad
D) Kislovodsk
  • 26. Who represents bureaucrats and the nature of power in Stalin's State?
A) Pavel Nikolayevich Rusanov
B) Jeffrey Meyers
C) The clinic doctor
D) Kostoglotov
  • 27. What is Pavel Nikolayevich Rusanov's profession?
A) Military general
B) Personnel officer
C) Natural healer
D) Literary critic
  • 28. Which local landmark of Tashkent is mentioned in the novel?
A) Mirabad Amusement Park
B) Issyk-Kul Lake
C) Chorsu Bazaar
D) Red Square
  • 29. Who is the author of Cancer Ward?
A) Fyodor Dostoevsky
B) Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
C) Leo Tolstoy
D) Anton Chekhov
  • 30. What prize has the author of the novel won?
A) Booker Prize
B) Pulitzer Prize
C) Nobel Prize
D) Man Booker International Prize
  • 31. In what year was the novel Cancer Ward completed?
A) 1966
B) 1955
C) 1968
D) 1936
  • 32. How was the novel initially distributed in Russia in 1966?
A) Radio broadcasts
B) State-run newspapers
C) Official state publishing houses
D) Samizdat
  • 33. In what year did several European publishers publish the novel in Russian?
A) 1970
B) 1966
C) 1968
D) 1956
  • 34. Where did English excerpts of the novel appear in April 1968 without the author's permission?
A) Times Literary Supplement
B) The New York Times
C) The Guardian
D) London Review of Books
  • 35. Which UK publisher released an unauthorized English translation of the novel first?
A) Macmillan
B) Penguin Books
C) HarperCollins
D) The Bodley Head
  • 36. Which US publisher released an unauthorized English translation of the novel after the UK release?
A) Simon & Schuster
B) Random House
C) Doubleday
D) Dial Press
  • 37. What is the number of the cancer ward where the story takes place?
A) Ward 20
B) Ward 5
C) Ward 13
D) Ward 7
  • 38. In which city is the hospital located?
A) Moscow
B) Tashkent
C) Leningrad
D) Kiev
  • 39. In which Soviet republic is the hospital located?
A) Georgian SSR
B) Soviet Uzbekistan
C) Byelorussian SSR
D) Ukrainian SSR
  • 40. In what year is the story set?
A) 1968
B) 1955
C) 1966
D) 1936
  • 41. Who is the main character of the novel?
A) Andrei Rublev
B) Oleg Kostoglotov
C) Ivan Denisovich
D) Yuri Zhivago
  • 42. What was Oleg Kostoglotov's designation before being exiled?
A) Economic saboteur
B) Foreign spy
C) Double agent
D) Counter-revolutionary
  • 43. Under which article was the main character exiled to Central Asia?
A) Article 10
B) Article 120
C) Article 58
D) Article 42
  • 44. During which years did Stalin's Great Purge take place according to the text?
A) 1924–1928
B) 1941–1945
C) 1950–1953
D) 1936–1938
  • 45. What did the ordinary citizens have to do during the verdicts according to a patient's quote?
A) Protest outside the courthouse
B) Demand the firing squad
C) Remain completely silent
D) Sign petitions for pardon
  • 46. Which MVD chief's fall preceded the timescale of the novel?
A) Lavrenti Beria
B) Genrikh Yagoda
C) Viktor Abakumov
D) Nikolai Yezhov
  • 47. Which leader's 'secret speech' denouncing Stalinism occurred after the novel's setting?
A) Georgy Malenkov
B) Leonid Brezhnev
C) Mikhail Gorbachev
D) Nikita Khrushchev
  • 48. In what year did Nikita Khrushchev deliver his secret speech?
A) 1966
B) 1956
C) 1953
D) 1955
  • 49. Which senior Stalinist's fall takes place during the time of the novel's action?
A) Vyacheslav Molotov
B) Nikita Khrushchev
C) Georgy Malenkov
D) Lavrenti Beria
  • 50. Who does the monkey in the zoo scene represent according to Solzhenitsyn's appendix?
A) The camp guard
B) The censor
C) The political prisoner
D) The average worker
  • 51. Which zoo animal is reminiscent of Stalin alongside the man who threw tobacco?
A) The tiger
B) The bear
C) The macaque
D) The squirrel
  • 52. What does the squirrel running itself to death represent in the novel's symbolism?
A) The political elite
B) The proletariat
C) The camp inmates
D) The secret police
  • 53. When did Solzhenitsyn finish writing Cancer Ward?
A) Late 1964
B) Mid-1968
C) Early 1965
D) Mid-1966
  • 54. Which Russian literary magazine received the manuscript of Cancer Ward in June 1966?
A) Novy Mir
B) Dial Press
C) Times Literary Supplement
D) The Bodley Head
  • 55. Who was the editor of Novy Mir who equivocated and requested cuts?
A) Tvardosky
B) Lev Leonidovich
C) Joseph Pearce
D) Kostoglotov
  • 56. Where was the meeting of the Central Writers' Club held on 17 November 1966 to discuss the novel?
A) St. Petersburg
B) London
C) Moscow
D) Leningrad
  • 57. Who wrote that attendance at the Central Writers' Club meeting was higher than usual?
A) Vera Kornilyevna
B) Solzhenitsyn
C) Joseph Pearce
D) Tvardosky
  • 58. To whom did Solzhenitsyn give an unauthorized interview about The First Circle?
A) A Japanese journalist
B) A British editor
C) An American publisher
D) A French novelist
  • 59. What is the name of the doctor who treats Kostoglotov with particular kindness?
A) Vera Kornilyevna Gangart
B) Olympiada Vladislavovna
C) Ludmila Afanasyevna Dontsova
D) Yevgenia Ustinovna
  • 60. Who is the head of the radiotherapy and fluoroscopy section who falls ill?
A) Vera Kornilyevna Gangart
B) Yevgenia Ustinovna
C) Zoya
D) Ludmila Afanasyevna Dontsova
  • 61. Who is the nurse and student doctor in training who is one of Kostoglotov's love interests?
A) Olympiada Vladislavovna
B) Nellya
C) Elizaveta Anatolyevna
D) Zoya
  • 62. Who is the head of the surgeon section who used to work in a prison camp?
A) Tvardosky
B) Nizamutdin Bahramovich
C) Lev Leonidovich
D) Joseph Pearce
  • 63. Which gifted surgeon wears too much lipstick and is an avid smoker?
A) Vera Kornilyevna
B) Yevgenia Ustinovna
C) Zoya
D) Olympiada Vladislavovna
  • 64. What promotion does Nellya receive at the end of the book?
A) Clinic director
B) Radiotherapy head
C) Head surgeon
D) Food orderly
  • 65. Which orderly does Kostoglotov discover used to live near him in Leningrad?
A) Olympiada Vladislavovna
B) Zoya
C) Elizaveta Anatolyevna
D) Nellya
  • 66. Who is the head of the clinic and a non-competent specialist absent throughout the book?
A) Joseph Pearce
B) Nizamutdin Bahramovich
C) Tvardosky
D) Lev Leonidovich
  • 67. Which experienced and competent nurse is taken away to attend an unimportant conference during much of the action?
A) Zoya
B) Olympiada Vladislavovna
C) Elizaveta Anatolyevna
D) Nellya
  • 68. What does Kostoglotov's last name mean?
A) Heart breaker
B) Soul stealer
C) Bone swallower
D) Life taker
  • 69. Where is Kostoglotov exiled in perpetuity?
A) Ush Terek
B) Moscow
C) Siberia
D) Leningrad
  • 70. What illness does Pavel Nikolayevich Rusanov suffer from?
A) Spinal cancer
B) Lymphoma
C) Rectal cancer
D) Melanoblastoma
  • 71. Who is Pavel Nikolayevich married to?
A) Maika
B) Alla Pavlovna
C) Ludmilla Afanasyevna
D) Kapitolina Matveyevna
  • 72. What is Vadim Zatsyrko's profession?
A) Librarian
B) Geologist
C) Doctor
D) Prosecutor
  • 73. What disease does Vadim Zatsyrko suffer from?
A) Spinal cancer
B) Lymphoma
C) Rectal cancer
D) Melanoblastoma
  • 74. What is Aleksei Filippovich Shulubin's profession?
A) Librarian
B) Overseer
C) Geologist
D) Smuggler
  • 75. What illness does Aleksei Filippovich Shulubin suffer from?
A) Lymphoma
B) Melanoblastoma
C) Rectal cancer
D) Spinal cancer
  • 76. What is Asya's profession?
A) Librarian
B) Student
C) Gymnast
D) Poet
  • 77. What medical procedure does Asya require in the clinic?
A) Mastectomy
B) Amputation of her leg
C) Brain surgery
D) Removal of a tumor
  • 78. Who is the mild-mannered Tatar who resides on the landing of the cancer ward?
A) Ahmadjan
B) Maxim Petrovich Chaly
C) Sharaf Sibgatov
D) Yefrem Podduyev
  • 79. What illness does Sharaf Sibgatov have?
A) Lymphoma
B) Melanoblastoma
C) Crippling spinal cancer
D) Rectal cancer
  • 80. Which patient makes a full recovery and appears to be a prison camp guard at the end of the novel?
A) Sharaf Sibgatov
B) Ahmadjan
C) Friedrich Federau
D) Yefrem Podduyev
  • 81. What is Ahmadjan's nationality?
A) Tatar
B) Ukrainian
C) Russian German
D) Uzbek
  • 82. What author does Yefrem Podduyev begin to read in his final days?
A) Lavrentiy Beria
B) Anton Chekhov
C) Fyodor Dostoevsky
D) Leo Tolstoy
  • 83. What was Yefrem Podduyev's former occupation?
A) Strong overseer
B) Prison camp guard
C) Smuggler
D) Geologist
  • 84. Who is the exiled Russian German who remains a loyal member of the Communist Party?
A) Maxim Petrovich Chaly
B) Dr. Maslennikov
C) Friedrich Federau
D) Dormidont Tikhonovich Oreshchenkov
  • 85. What was Maxim Petrovich Chaly's profession before the cancer ward?
A) Geologist
B) Prison camp guard
C) Librarian
D) Smuggler
  • 86. Who is Ludmilla Afanasyevna's teacher and a respectable doctor with a private practice?
A) Maxim Petrovich Chaly
B) Pavel Nikolayevich Rusanov
C) Dormidont Tikhonovich Oreshchenkov
D) Dr. Maslennikov
  • 87. Who are Kostoglotov's exile neighbours and friends who also spent seven years in prison camps?
A) The Oreshchenkovs
B) The Federaus
C) The Kadmins
D) The Rusanovs
  • 88. What is Alla Pavlovna Rusanova's other name and profession?
A) Aviette, a poet
B) Maika, a gymnast
C) Ludmilla, a doctor
D) Kapitolina, a librarian
  • 89. What is Yuri Pavlovich Rusanov's profession?
A) Prosecutor
B) Smuggler
C) Geologist
D) Overseer
  • 90. Which doctor writes to Kostoglotov about the benefits of chaga in curing cancer?
A) Dr. Maslennikov
B) Aleksei Filippovich Shulubin
C) Ludmilla Afanasyevna
D) Dormidont Tikhonovich Oreshchenkov
  • 91. What is chaga, according to Dr. Maslennikov's letter to Kostoglotov?
A) Mineral extract
B) Mountain herb
C) A type of root
D) Birch fungus
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