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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When Arn is told by a Khmer Rouge soldier that he has a new job in addition to his job as a musician in the band, what does that new job turn out to be?
(a) He has to push the dead and dying into the mass grave in the mango grove.
(b) He has to take away the material belongings from the captives' tents and give them to the soldiers.
(c) He has to cook for all of the children in the camp.
(d) He has to clean the area where the whole camp relieves themselves.

2. Upon realizing that Arn is teasing him by putting a stone on his chest instead of the customary lump of sugar, Mek tells Arn that he has a treat for him. What is the treat?
(a) He tells Arn a story about how his children used to tease him, too.
(b) He hums an old Cambodian love song to Arn that is now illegal.
(c) He shows Arn a firefly he has trapped in a bottle.
(d) He gives Arn a piece of cornbread.

3. What product does Arn skip school to sell, much to the chagrin of his older sister?
(a) Shoes.
(b) Ice cream.
(c) Bowls of rice.
(d) Cigarettes.

4. What does Arn do with the lump of sugar the kitchen girl gives him after she is done with him?
(a) He gobbles it down once he leaves her tent.
(b) He gives it to Kha.
(c) He sneaks into Mek's tent and shares it with him.
(d) He throws it into the jungle.

5. When the five-year-old boy that reminds Arn of his little brother sneaks out night after night, returning only in the morning, what does Arn eventually find out he is doing?
(a) He is stealing rice from the kitchen.
(b) He is eating dead people's flesh in the mango grove.
(c) He is climbing trees to eat the fruit.
(d) He is attacking the Khmer Rouge soldiers from the jungle.

6. Why do Arn's sister and aunt break down crying when Arn gives them a treat?
(a) They wish he had gotten enough to give every member of the family a treat.
(b) They are worried that he steals to get money.
(c) They feel sorry for him that he has to use his earnings to provide for his family.
(d) They don't like the treat he gives them.

7. What is Arn's solution for helping Siv remember not to hold the flag in front of Arn's face at the end of the dance?
(a) He steals some rice for him.
(b) He offers to switch dancing roles with him.
(c) He explains to Siv that he's ruining the dance and reducing Arn's chances at fame.
(d) He threatens to break his flag.

8. When the high-ranking soldiers for whom the band played has taken their leave, what is NOT a rule put in place by the remaining Khmer Rouge soldiers?
(a) Now no one is allowed to fall in love.
(b) Now the band has to play at nighttime meetings so that all of the kids can learn the words to the songs.
(c) Now no one is allowed to speak to the soldiers for any reason.
(d) Now no one can hunt for their own food.

9. What event precipitates the band members being fed real rice and being forced to practice their music all night long?
(a) A traveling performance for all the people who have resettled in their home villages since the evacuation.
(b) A performance for the American soldiers.
(c) A performance at a large meeting for all of the highest-ranking Khmer Rouge leaders.
(d) A performance for the Vietnamese soldiers.

10. What are the two forms of compensation that the news bearer accepts in return for news about the captives' families?
(a) Musical performances and food.
(b) Sex and food.
(c) Lumps of sugar and figs.
(d) Feathers for his pillow and food.

11. What does the new music teacher give Arn as the reason that he does not care whether he lives or dies?
(a) His children are all dead and he does not know where his wife is.
(b) He has had malaria for months and it has robbed him of his energy.
(c) His passion for music has been twisted by the war into something ugly and he can no longer bear to teach it to others.
(d) His true passion is for the theater arts, so he is disappointed that he is being forced to teach music instead.

12. Why do Arn and his siblings live with their aunt?
(a) Because their mother was overcome with grief after their father died and said she had to leave the family.
(b) Because after their father's death, their mother had to go far away to find work.
(c) Because their aunt is rich and can take better care of a large family than their mother can.
(d) Because their mother is dead.

13. What details does the author include to let the reader know that the kitchen girl's sexual molestation of Arn happens without his consent?
(a) The kitchen girl's threats to kill his family if he tells anyone and Arn's decision to turn the kitchen girl in for a transgression she didn't commit.
(b) Arn's secret plot to kill the kitchen girl before he escapes and the way in which he pretends to stab her when she turns her back.
(c) Arn's tears of frustration after each session and his anger when he is telling Mek about her actions.
(d) The kitchen girl's announcement that she can kill Arn anytime she wants to and Arn's comment that the food she gives him afterward tastes like dust.

14. Who tells Arn's aunt about Arn and Munny seeing the American movie?
(a) Sophea.
(b) Sojeat.
(c) Munny.
(d) Mali.

15. The Khmer Rouge tell the band that they are going on a trip and everyone is expecting to be killed. Instead, what happens?
(a) They embark on a tour of the agricultural fields in order to entertain the workers.
(b) They go to a nearby village and are ordered to kill everyone living there.
(c) They are put into the back of a truck and driven around for hours in order to disorient them.
(d) They are permitted to go the Thailand border to see if they can find their family members.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Arn cope with his feelings when the Khmer Rouge kitchen girl sexually molests him?

2. What event causes Arn to wonder if he has become a monster just like the Khmer Rouge soldiers?

3. Who is in the picture that Arn hangs on his bedroom wall at the beginning of the novel?

4. The morning just before the Khmer Rouge drive through the village making announcements on their bullhorns, what sounds are noticeably absent?

5. Why does the kitchen girl give Arn extra food?

(see the answer keys)

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