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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What color shoes do the team want when Nike donates shoes?

2. In Chapter 3, who on the O'Dowd team draws first blood during the game with De La Salle?

3. In Chapter 2, how long has Gene lived in Oakland and never really noticed how popular basketball is?

4. What did Coach Lou weigh when he was a junior in high school?

5. Where did Coach Lou's family live during his junior and senior year in high school?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Coach Lou like when he was a freshman at O'Dowd?

2. After the 1946-47 season, why were Blacks in the National Basketball League (NBL), removed from teams in the league?

3. How long has Coach Lou been coaching at O'Dowd, and how many times has he taken to the Dragons to State?

4. How has Gene felt about sports since he was a little kid?

5. Why does Weston Bell quit the Dragons and transfer to another school?

6. When the Dragons lose an exhibition game in Chapter 3, what conversation does Gene have with his wife?

7. How did Zip Gayles react when Marques Haynes got creative during a basketball game?

8. What philosophy did Coach Phelps follow when building a team, and how has Coach Lou built his basketball team?

9. In the early days of basketball when there were no leagues at the national level, how did some teams take on ethnic themes to draw crowds to their games?

10. What does Gene learn about Ivan from a Sports Stars of Tomorrow video on YouTube?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What a reader knows about events and characters is determined by the point of view in a book. What is the point of view in Dragon Hoops? How does the point of view influence what readers know about events and characters? How does it help readers connect with and understand characters?

Essay Topic 2

Alex is a foreign exchange student from China. What expectations did Alex have when he came to play ball in the U.S.? How were his expectations dashed by reality?

Essay Topic 3

An aphorism is a statement that expresses a truth or an opinion in a succinct manner. What are some aphorisms that Coach Lou uses? How do those aphorisms resonate with Gene? How do the aphorisms help Gene and other characters make decisions?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,041 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample