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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. When Sophea shows up at the camp, what reason does she give for their aunt sending her to look for Arn?
(a) Their aunt hopes that he has food for them.
(b) Their aunt wants him to take care of Sophea at his camp.
(c) Their aunt hopes that he can come join them at their camp.
(d) Their aunt wants him to come home to their old village.

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

3. What does Arn do with the lump of sugar the kitchen girl gives him after she is done with him?
(a) He gives it to Kha.
(b) He throws it into the jungle.
(c) He sneaks into Mek's tent and shares it with him.
(d) He gobbles it down once he leaves her tent.

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

5. What does the new music teacher give Arn as the reason that he does not care whether he lives or dies?
(a) His children are all dead and he does not know where his wife is.
(b) He has had malaria for months and it has robbed him of his energy.
(c) His passion for music has been twisted by the war into something ugly and he can no longer bear to teach it to others.
(d) His true passion is for the theater arts, so he is disappointed that he is being forced to teach music instead.

Short Answer 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?

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

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

4. What reason does Arn give for not eating the human liver that the Khmer Rouge soldier forces him to cook?

5. What reason does Arn give for it being a dangerous act for him to think about his sister or any of his other family members?

Short Essay Questions

1. What ploy do the Khmer Rouge use to get the government soldiers to come to the airport and what happens once they arrive?

2. Why do the Khmer Rouge burn everyone's clothes and all of their material belongings?

3. How is the theme of generosity demonstrated in the scene when the children are finally fed rice in anticipation of their first performance for the Khmer Rouge soldiers?

4. When Arn's curiosity gets the better of him and he finally asks Sombo the reason for his permissiveness concerning Arn's behavior, what reasoning does Sombo provide and what is the author's purpose in portraying Sombo's character in this particular way?

5. When Arn finally realizes the true purpose of the band's music, he is shocked and saddened. What is that purpose and how does it transform Arn's idea of the music he plays with the other members of the band under Mek's guidance?

6. What are the signs that lead Arn to think that perhaps the Mango Grove is a mass burial site used by the Khmer Rouge to inter their victims?

7. How does Arn describe his village at the opening of the novel before the Khmer Rouge arrive?

8. When a soldier from Arn's home village comes to camp, what does he offer Arn in exchange for some rice and what does Arn learn as a result of accepting his offered deal?

9. How does Arn fix the problem of the new music teacher's apathy and what effect does this solution have on the band's members?

10. What does Arn tell the reader about his family background within the exposition part of the story?

(see the answer keys)

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