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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Arn start to suspect that Koong is Sombo's new favorite boy?
(a) Sombo tells Arn not to be jealous, but it just makes Arn sure his suspicions are correct.
(b) Sombo now gives Koong extra food.
(c) Sombo now speaks roughly to Arn, while speaking sweetly to Koong.
(d) Sombo now sleeps alongside Koong.

2. What event causes Arn to question whether Sombo is still his friend or not?
(a) Arn overhears Sombo telling another soldier how annoying he finds Arn's behavior.
(b) Sombo swears at him and spits on the ground when Sombo asks to go wherever Sombo is being taken by the high-ranking soldier.
(c) Sombo refuses to share his extra rice with Arn.
(d) Arn sees Sombo strike Siv in the face for being clumsy.

3. The author uses the occasion of Arn's transition into the role of soldier to refer back to events at the start of the novel. What are those events and what triggers them in Arn's thoughts?
(a) He remembers a prayer and recites it out loud, causing him to think about the monk teacher whom he used to bribe so he could skip school to sell his wares.
(b) He straps a gun and ammunition to his chest and it reminds him of playing soldiers with his little brother Munny, just as they did after the movie so long ago.
(c) He feels a sense of power from being armed and likens it to the feeling he used to get from earning his own money and having the power to buy things other kids couldn't.
(d) He looks up into the sky and hears the rat-a-tat-tat of artillery, which makes him think of the sound his cheap vendor bell used to make as he sold from his cart.

4. What is Arn's reaction to seeing his sister again?
(a) It makes him hate Sombo.
(b) It restores in him the will to live.
(c) It creates in him an inability to kill.
(d) It causes him to want to run away.

5. Once Sombo's group dwindles to a number of only seven kids, plus Sombo and Koong, they become so tired that they drop most of what they have been carrying. What are the two things they continue to carry?
(a) Extra socks and underwear.
(b) Cooking pots and kindling.
(c) Water and food.
(d) Guns and bullets.

6. What happens the first time Arn and and another Little Fish go to drop grenades into the tanks of the Vietnamese soldiers?
(a) Arn gets scared and doesn't climb onto the tank and the other boy gets hurt as a result.
(b) The other boy gets scared and doesn't join Arn in climbing onto the tank, but Arn fulfills the mission.
(c) Arn and the other boy are both successful and feel very proud of their accomplishment.
(d) Arn is successful at the mission but the other boy's foot is blown off.

7. For the first few days in the hospital, Arn is given a certain food to keep him alive. What is that food?
(a) Yogurt.
(b) Honey.
(c) Guava fruit.
(d) Powdered milk.

8. When he is allowed a special privilege by the leader, what does he find himself doing for the first time in three years?
(a) Hoping he'll live a long life.
(b) Laughing.
(c) Thinking about his mother.
(d) Regretting his poor treatment of Siv when they first met.

9. The second time Arn joins the volleyball game, he plays skillfully and everyone claps. Why does he do so well at the game this time around?
(a) Because he has asked Sojeat and Ravi ahead of time to set up some good plays for him to build from.
(b) Because he has conditioned himself to control his fear of flying objects.
(c) Because he has been practicing all day every day and has even been sneaking out at night to practice.
(d) Because he has replaced the regular volleyball with a rubber ball that is easier to maneuver.

10. When Sombo takes Arn away from the group, his parting from Kha and Siv is especially hard. What about the separation makes it particularly tough for Arn?
(a) He has grown over time to hate Sombo, so Kha and Siv are the only friends he has left.
(b) He has planned to give Kha and Siv his only blanket, but Sombo takes him away before he can do so.
(c) He has planned to learn how to play the xylophone from Kha and how to play soccer from Siv, but now it's too late.
(d) Sombo takes him away without warning, so he does not get to say goodbye to Kha and Siv, who are now like brothers to him.

11. Besides the fact that Arn was a child soldier and Sojeat and Ravi were not, what other main difference is there between his background and theirs?
(a) Arn's family was religious, while the families of Sojeat and Ravi were not.
(b) Sojeat and Ravi used to look up the Khmer Rouge soldiers, while Arn did everything he could to rebel against them.
(c) Arn's parents both raised him until the Khmer Rouge came, while the parents of Sojeat and Ravi were divorced before then.
(d) Sojeat's and Ravi's families had enough money to send them to school.

12. Why does Sombo leave Arn and the other boys to fend for themselves?
(a) He leaves because he is mad at Arn for Arn's reaction after he murders the villagers.
(b) He leaves because Koong is sick with a fever and he wants to take him to a Thai hospital.
(c) He leaves because he knows that if there is one fewer mouth to feed, the boys will be more likely to survive.
(d) He leaves because he is fed up with taking care of so many boys.

13. The American man whom Arn at first calls Jesus Monk, later finding out his name is Mr. Pond, takes pity on Arn and gives him medicine to cure what ailment?
(a) Yellow Fever.
(b) Worms.
(c) Dysentery.
(d) Malaria.

14. After Arns separates from the other boys, he wants to get to Thailand. What is the only landmark he knows about that will signal him he's about to get to Thailand?
(a) He knows he will have to cross a river.
(b) He knows he will have to cross a series of three bridges.
(c) He knows he will have to climb the tallest mountain of three peaks on the horizon.
(d) He knows he will have to wade through a swamp.

15. What instructions does Arn's sister give him when he is able to sneak out to see her in the night?
(a) She tells him not to be too brave and to hide from the bullets so she can see him again.
(b) She tells him to ask Sombo if she can join their group as their new rice girl.
(c) She tells him to run away and to meet her at the mountain camp where two of their other sisters are living.
(d) She tells him to listen to Sombo and to practice the art of war continually so that he may stay alive.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who nurses Arn enough to bring him back to consciousness once he reaches Thailand?

2. What creatures does the author depict fleeing from the sounds of war in order to underscore the theme of the unnatural?

3. After Arn becomes a sort of personal assistant to the leader with the white shorts, what privilege is he granted?

4. What new job does the child leader give the Little Fish so that they can prove their loyalty to Angka?

5. Arn hallucinates, seeing a rabbit as large as he is and this illusion seems to lead the way to Thailand. What color is the rabbit he hallucinates?

(see the answer keys)

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