Question

7. How does Mao's phrase, "Revolution is not . . ." provide a context clue?

Answer 1

Answer:

D. Mao provides an understanding of the word when he lists the opposites to his definition.

Explanation:

This is the quote that the question references:

“A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.”

In this quote, Mao does not provide any synonyms of the word "revolution." He also does not talk about the etymology (origin) of the word, nor does he compare the terms "revolution" and "resistance." However, something that Mao does is listing things that he considers to be opposite to the revolution. By doing so, he provides an understanding of the word.

Answer 2

A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind courteous, restrained and magnanimous.
In Mao’s view the revolutionary instincts of the peasantry derive from their poverty. Hence it is the poorest peasants, those with the least to lose, who are naturally the most revolutionary.
In these stirring passages, Mao puts forth a view of revolution quite different from that of Marx and Lenin; whereas for Marx the urban proletariat served as the revolutionary vanguard and for Lenin the Communist Party fulfilled that purpose, Mao is here assigning the role of revolutionary vanguard to the poor peasants who, as he described them “are not afraid of losing anything.” Although Mao’s Marxian celebration of class struggle put him at odds with a Confucian preference for social harmony, he nevertheless shared with Mencius a stress on the peasantry as the decisive political force – and a belief that peasant poverty was the root cause of revolution (the modern Chinese term for which, geming, carries the meaning of “to change the mandate”). 35 After the establishment of a Communist regime in China, when Mao’s thoughts turned from revolution to developmental issues, he continued to emphasize the pivotal and dynamic role of the peasantry.  

The correct answer is:
A. Mao provides synonyms to help the reader understand his meaning.