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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. After the tragedy, Arn goes to see the Khmer Rouge soldier boy who has told Arn and the other Little Fish that they are not real soldiers. What does he do before he goes to see this boy?
(a) He paints his face with blood.
(b) He changes into an all-black uniform.
(c) He borrows everyone's rifles and hangs them all across his body.
(d) He puts on white shorts and takes off his shirt.

2. 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 sleeps alongside Koong.
(c) Sombo now speaks roughly to Arn, while speaking sweetly to Koong.
(d) Sombo now gives Koong extra food.

3. The group of child soldiers led by Sombo and referred to as Little Fish with the Big Sting is comprised of how many children?
(a) 10.
(b) 40.
(c) 80.
(d) 20.

4. Just before the radio's batteries die, what do they hear the voice of Angka saying in the news report?
(a) That victory is near and that the Cambodian army will soon conquer Vietnam.
(b) That Vietnamese soldiers are no longer to be shot at since they have joined forces with the Khmer Rouge.
(c) That all Khmer Rouge soldiers are ordered to flee to Thailand if they can.
(d) That children are no longer allowed to act as soldiers for the cause.

5. Mr. Pond's question to Arn about which two boys are his favorite elicits a response naming Sojeat and Ravi, even though Arn admits to the reader that his actual favorite boy is Runty. Why does he not list Runty among the names he tells Mr. Pond?
(a) Because Runty does not like Mr. Pond.
(b) Because Runty is scared all the time and is not good at volleyball.
(c) Because Arn suspects they are going to do something dangerous and he does not want Runty to get hurt.
(d) Because earlier that day Runty told Missus Gotobed that Arn had said a bad word.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens the first time Arn shoots his gun?

2. One time when Sombo's group passes another platoon in the woods, he recognizes that platoon's rice girl. Who is it?

3. Mek and Arn differ in their assessment of what their parting means. What are their two separate feelings about their separation?

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

5. Thinking he hears gunfire one night at the hospital, Arn awakes with a start and reaches for his gun. What is actually making the sound that he mistakes for gunfire?

Short Essay Questions

1. When the leader allows Arn to ride his white horse to a neighboring camp to deliver a letter, why does Arn not run away?

2. How does the scene of the Vietnamese soldiers walking through the village calling out to the people echo a scene from the first chapter of the novel? What is the effect of that allusion?

3. How does the author present the theme of the unnatural when Kha tells Arn and Siv that if they stay hidden, they can watch the girls bathe in the nude?

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

5. What is the author's purpose in including the two conflicting accounts of the war emanating from Sombo's radio?

6. 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?

7. When Arn hears the conflicting reports on Sombo's radio, with the Voice of Angka saying that a victory for the Khmer Rouge is imminent and the American station saying that the Vietnamese are in control of the East and are taking more land every day, Arn doesn't know which report to believe. He does, though, hold on to one fact that he hears. What is that fact and why does he choose to keep it in mind?

8. When Arn determines that he has been away from his home village for two and a half years, how does he reach this conclusion?

9. Why does Arn distrust the radio reports he hears at the hospital?

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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