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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. What happens to cause Arn to say that now "even the earth is our enemy" (126)?
(a) Their rice girl steps on a land mine and loses her leg.
(b) When they bury their dead, the earth expels their bloated bodies.
(c) Vietnamese soldiers leap out of a ditch to attack their group.
(d) The vegetables they plant won't grow.

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

3. What does the hospital look like where Arn arrives when he gets off the bus?
(a) It is a big stucco building with lots of windows.
(b) It is a tent with open sides.
(c) It is a mud hut with a thatched roof.
(d) It is a brick building that looks like a prison.

4. When the group comes upon a little hidden village and the men beg Sombo and the boys not to hurt them, what does one of the men offer Sombo as a gift?
(a) A sweet potato.
(b) A banyan tree fruit.
(c) A drink of fresh water.
(d) A bottle of Coca-Cola.

5. When Arn becomes delirious with hunger, he sees the monkey family and then his own family and they chant words to him over and over. What are those words he hears them chant?
(a) "See you again."
(b) "Peace be with you."
(c) "Come for us soon."
(d) "Why didn't you save us."

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. When Missus Gotobed warns the children that the refugee camp on the other side of the fence is dangerous, why does Arn still walk back and forth along the fence one day?

4. Where does Mr. Pond end up taking Sojeat, Ravi, and Arn when he asks them to climb in the trunk of his car?

5. When Arn, Kha, and Siv are allowed to go in the pond to wash, they try to sink to the bottom, partly in order to escape the world above the water. Why can they not sink very far down for very long?

Short Essay Questions

1. Arn and Missus Gotobed, the headmistress of the Children's Center, become furious with Mr. Pond for his behavior on two separate occasions for two different reasons. How do those reasons differ?

2. When the Khmer Rouge put Arn and 19 other boys into a platoon they call Little Fish with the Big Sting, what thought of Arn's acts as foreshadowing for the coming carnage?

3. At the start of his stay in the hospital, how does the author demonstrate that Arn has contracted Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from his time under the rule of the Khmer Rouge?

4. What is the author's purpose for including Arn's comment that "now even the earth is our enemy"? (126)

5. Why do Arn, Siv, and Kha kick dirt over their excrement after they eat the sweet potato Arn brings back from the leader's house?

6. What words does the dying lady in the village spit at Arn and why do her words hurt him so much?

7. For what reasons does Arn choose Sojeat and Ravi as his two favorites when Mr. Pond asks him for two names?

8. Why does Arn turn over all of the dead bodies of the villagers to look into their faces?

9. After Sombo leaves the group to take Koong to a Thai hospital, the kids all argue about which they should go. Arn goes in the opposite direction and they see, but do not care. What reason does Arn give for their apathy?

10. Why does Arn begin to shake after he boards the bus with the other refugees?

(see the answer keys)

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