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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where has Willie found the money to fund his trip?
(a) He sells all of his baseball cards.
(b) He takes on a paper route and saves his money for months.
(c) He asks to borrow money from his friends.
(d) He withdraws money from his bank account and steals from his parents.

2. Why does Mrs. Weaver blame Big Will for the family's problems?
(a) She says that he does not talk to anyone, and he does nothing to help the family out.
(b) She is angry because he has started to drink too much.
(c) She blames him for Willie's accident, which is the cause of all of their problems.
(d) She criticizes him for working too much and not being around.

3. What advice does Cyril give Willie to help him deal with the dreams that he has been having?
(a) Cyril tells him to exercise before bed so that he is too tired to dream.
(b) Cyril suggests that he tells his parents about his dreams.
(c) Cyril tells him to acknowledge that he already knows what the dreams are trying to tell him.
(d) Cyril suggests that he take a warm bath before he goes to bed.

4. Why does Willie feel safe on the motorcycle with his father?
(a) Willie's father has never had an accident before.
(b) Willie believes that his father is immortal.
(c) Willie knows that his father is a cautious driver.
(d) Willie and his father are wearing helmets.

5. What does Johnny say that finally causes Sal Whitworth to lose his composure?
(a) Johnny makes a comment about Sal's mother.
(b) Johnny makes a comment about Sal's big nose.
(c) Johnny makes a comment about Sal's struggle with dyslexia.
(d) Johnny makes a comment about Sal's sister.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Willie run in the morning before sunrise?

2. Why does Willie have trouble on the racquetball court?

3. What city is Willie's final destination?

4. Why does Johnny laugh when Willie threatens to give him a nosebleed?

5. Why does Willie take it easy in practice?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Willie disappointed when he realizes that Angel works for Lacey?

2. What is special about the basketball game that Willie plays with Hawk and Kato?

3. Why does the umpire not reprimand Sal Whitworth for hitting Johnny Rivers?

4. Why does Willie's father react with anger when Willie returns?

5. What details about the beginning of the novel establish the rest of the story as a flashback?

6. What advice does Cyril Wheat give to Willie about how to deal with his friends?

7. Why does Hawk attack Kam?

8. What makes Willie think that Lacey might help him even though he says he wants him out the next day?

9. Why do the other boys on the baseball team go after Johnny Rivers and hose him down?

10. Why does Willie return to Oakland?

(see the answer keys)

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