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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Once Arn and his group is allowed to stop walking and they form a camp, what two groups do the Khmer Rouge soldiers separate the captives into?
(a) Families with children and families without children.
(b) Males and females.
(c) Cambodians and Vietnamese.
(d) Former peasants and former city-dwellers.

2. 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 no one is allowed to speak to the soldiers for any reason.
(c) Now no one can hunt for their own food.
(d) Now the band has to play at nighttime meetings so that all of the kids can learn the words to the songs.

3. Why does Arn at first hesitate to volunteer when a high-ranking Khmer Rouge soldier asks who wants to play music in a band within the camp?
(a) He is told that the band will play for the glory of Angka, which goes against his religious beliefs.
(b) He has never played an instrument and is scared that he will not be good at playing music.
(c) He thinks that the other children in the band will not take the task seriously and that therefore they will all be punished or even killed.
(d) He is afraid that the question is a trick to suss out children who may have taken music lessons and should therefore be killed for their elitist status.

4. When the new music teacher is too overcome by his own sadness to teach the children, Arn teaches them himself, instructing them to hit the strings lightly, like the wings of what bird?
(a) A robin.
(b) A hummingbird.
(c) A starling.
(d) A swallow.

5. What is Arn's first reaction when a girl sitting next to him at dinner suddenly dies?
(a) He pushes her to floor to save the other children from having to look at her.
(b) He takes her bowl of rice and keeps on eating.
(c) He runs away into the jungle to be by himself for a while.
(d) He screams for help and is punished for his cries.

6. When some new children arrive at the camp and one of them refuses to cut her hair, how is she punished?
(a) She is denied any food besides grass for weeks.
(b) She is put inside a drum on the temple steps as they beat it and light a fire under it.
(c) She is wrapped in canvas and tossed high into the air for hours.
(d) She is required to sleep in the manure pile for three nights.

7. Where do Arn and Munny hide when they hear the sounds of a nearby battle during their make-believe game of war?
(a) In the theater where they had seen the movie earlier that night.
(b) In the branches of a nearby Banyan tree.
(c) In a pond near their house.
(d) In their rich next-door-neighbor's Mercedes.

8. What do the rich kids do to Arn when he is selling his wares near the school?
(a) They spit on him.
(b) They run to buy his wares.
(c) They throw stones at him.
(d) They push over his cart in the gutter.

9. What event causes Arn to sneak out and plead with the new music teacher to start exerting effort in his teaching?
(a) Arn knows that the new music teacher is a friend of his mother's and so he wants to preserve the teacher's life.
(b) Arn has taken a genuine interest in the musical arts and wants to do anything he can to fuel his new passion.
(c) Arn realizes that though he can play and teach all of the instruments to the other children, he wants a father figure to be their leader.
(d) A Khmer Rouge guard asks Arn how the band is progressing and whether the new music teacher has a good or a bad character.

10. After the children in the band have had no rice for many days, the Khmer Rouge tell them they are getting a special dinner of banana peels, rice husks, and rotten pieces of food. Arn knows that this is usually the food given to which kind of farm animal?
(a) A chicken.
(b) A goat.
(c) A pig.
(d) A horse.

11. What is it about Arn that makes the soldier let him go without even a warning when he is caught sneaking to Mek's tent in the night?
(a) His fame as a khim player.
(b) His kind words about the soldier's sister.
(c) His smile.
(d) His decision to stand up to the soldier and not allow himself to be controlled.

12. What do the Khmer Rouge soldiers lack that makes the soldiers associated with the Prince doubt their power?
(a) Grenades.
(b) Homogeneous uniforms.
(c) Boots.
(d) Guns.

13. How do the Khmer Rouge soldiers react when Arn asks them if they want to play soccer with him?
(a) They mercilessly beat one of Arn's friends when Arn's team wins.
(b) They put their guns down and engage in a real enjoyment of the game.
(c) They yell at Arn to go away and threaten to hurt his family.
(d) They kick the ball with little skill and frown the whole time.

14. How does Arn find out unequivocally that the government soldiers who answered the Khmer Rouge's call to go to the airport were subsequently murdered?
(a) His little brother sneaks away to the airport and comes back to report to Arn what he's seen.
(b) He sees their bodies during the mass exodus from the village.
(c) His friend's high-ranking father was shot.
(d) The Khmer Rouge soldiers drive through town announcing the murders they've committed.

15. From where does Chantou send Arn a letter?
(a) From a mountain camp.
(b) From their home village.
(c) From an opera house in Thailand.
(d) From her adoptive parents' home in America.

Short Answer Questions

1. When the word "sleep" is banned by the Khmer Rouge, what word is allowed in its place?

2. What dance do Arn and Munny perform for the crowd outside the theater?

3. What does Arn say that convinces the new music teacher to make more of an effort to teach the children?

4. What is the event that first causes Arn to think maybe the Khmer Rouge have evil intentions?

5. When Sophea shows up at the camp, what reason does she give for their aunt sending her to look for Arn?

(see the answer keys)

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