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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How do the Khmer Rouge trick the government soldiers into assembling together at the airport so that they can be killed more efficiently?
(a) They tell them that the prince has just arrived at the airport and that they should come welcome him back home.
(b) They tell them that their families are in danger but that they cannot tell them why until they all congregate together for a meeting.
(c) They tell them that they will each be given a large sum of money if they go to the airport to help fix the runways.
(d) They tell them that a large supply of food has just been flown in by the Americans.

2. 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 are put into the back of a truck and driven around for hours in order to disorient them.
(b) They embark on a tour of the agricultural fields in order to entertain the workers.
(c) They are permitted to go the Thailand border to see if they can find their family members.
(d) They go to a nearby village and are ordered to kill everyone living there.

3. Who is in the picture that Arn hangs on his bedroom wall at the beginning of the novel?
(a) The Prince of Cambodia's daughter.
(b) His mother during her opera heyday.
(c) The young U.S. President's widow, Jackie Kennedy.
(d) The first lady of the United States.

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 swallow.
(c) A hummingbird.
(d) A starling.

5. When the trucks of Khmer Rouge soldiers first arrive, what does the radio tell the Cambodian people to do?
(a) To give the soldiers whatever they can and show that they support them.
(b) To run away as fast as they can and take nothing with them.
(c) To do nothing and say nothing when the soldiers speak to them.
(d) To learn how to use guns so that they may join the throng of soldiers.

6. In what country is Arn's hometown?
(a) Cambodia.
(b) Vietnam.
(c) India.
(d) Thailand.

7. When another child captive tells on Arn for lying to increase his number of work breaks, what do the Khmer Rouge soldiers impose as Arn's punishment?
(a) He is refused food for three days.
(b) He is forced to burn his uniform.
(c) He is forced to sleep in a pile of manure for three nights.
(d) He is tied to a tree and chastised by the other child captives.

8. What causes Arn to think that finally the Khmer Rouge may have won the metaphorical battle between himself and the soldiers?
(a) He loses his appetite and feels that even if he were given an entire meal, he would refuse to eat it.
(b) He can no longer remember the faces of his family members.
(c) He realizes that he wants to please the soldiers more than he wants to stay alive.
(d) He thinks that he'd rather see any other child in the camp die than to die himself.

9. Though the Khmer Rouge blame the bad rice harvest on the laziness of the workers, Arn knows it is actually due to what reason?
(a) The soil has been planted too many times with no rest.
(b) Substandard rice seed was used.
(c) The monsoons have submerged the rice for too long and it has been unable to grow effectively.
(d) Villagers have crept into camp in the night and have stolen rice.

10. What event causes Arn to wonder if he has become a monster just like the Khmer Rouge soldiers?
(a) He feels happiness at the sight of the boy who previously got him into trouble being beaten by a soldier for being lazy.
(b) He feels happiness at seeing Kha die, since now he is at least out of his misery.
(c) He feels happiness at hearing that one soldier has been murdered for speaking roughly to another soldier.
(d) He feels happiness at hearing that his rich neighbors have all been killed for their elitist ways.

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

12. What does Arn say that convinces the new music teacher to make more of an effort to teach the children?
(a) Arn tells him that he'll be killed if he does not.
(b) Arn tells him that the music is crucial to keeping up the morale of the field workers.
(c) Arn tells him that every child in the band will be killed if he does not.
(d) Arn tells him that soon the band will become famous across the country if he does.

13. What event causes Arn to sneak out and plead with the new music teacher to start exerting effort in his teaching?
(a) 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.
(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 knows that the new music teacher is a friend of his mother's and so he wants to preserve the teacher's life.
(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.

14. How old is Arn when the novel's narrative first begins?
(a) 9.
(b) 13.
(c) 14.
(d) 11.

15. When the Khmer Rouge evacuate all of the cities in order to force everyone into agricultural work, how many days do they tell the villagers they will be gone?
(a) 10 days.
(b) 3 days.
(c) 5 days.
(d) 14 days.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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?

2. What is the stringed instrument called that Arn learns to play in the band?

3. What event precipitates the band members being fed real rice and being forced to practice their music all night long?

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

5. What is Arn's first reaction when a girl sitting next to him at dinner suddenly dies?

(see the answer keys)

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