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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 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 wade through a swamp.
(b) He knows he will have to climb the tallest mountain of three peaks on the horizon.
(c) He knows he will have to cross a river.
(d) He knows he will have to cross a series of three bridges.

2. 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?
(a) Because there are poisonous snakes that lurk at the bottom of the pond.
(b) Because the soldiers won't let them.
(c) Because they might get disoriented and drown.
(d) Because their stomachs are empty.

3. When the Vietnamese soldiers kill everyone in the village by drawing them out with offers of free rice, why does Arn look at each dead person's face as he walks through the village?
(a) He wants to see what expressions they had on their faces when they died.
(b) He wants to count how many males they killed versus how many males they killed.
(c) He is looking for any member of his family.
(d) He doesn't know why he wants to look at their faces, but he does.

4. Arn knows there are wild animals in the jungle that may eat him, so he climbs a tree to sleep. What animal does he suspect has spent the night under his tree when he sees the grass lying down?
(a) A leopard.
(b) A tiger.
(c) A rhinoceros.
(d) A hippopotamus.

5. When his sister kisses Arn's ear, what is NOT something he says the sensation feels like?
(a) Heaven.
(b) Butterfly wings.
(c) Angels.
(d) Rustling leaves.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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?

2. What happens the first time Arn plays volleyball?

3. When Arn asks a nurse what month and year it is, she replies that it's March 1979. He then figures out he has been away from home for how long in total?

4. What event causes Arn to question whether Sombo is still his friend or not?

5. Why does Sombo get mad when he sees Arn dragging his gun behind him due to its great weight?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. Describe the parting of Arn and Mek. What is its significance within the course of the narrative?

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

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

5. How does the white rabbit enter the narrative of the story and what is its significance?

6. 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?

7. The theme of fame arises once again when the leader with the white shorts notices Arn due to the attention he has gotten for his music and dancing, so he tells Arn to come to his house to entertain at his party. What message is being sent about fame in this scene?

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

9. Conditioning is the automatic response of one's body that happens over a period of time when one is subjected to repeated negative and/or positive reinforcement in order to facilitate a particular response. The soldiers tell Arn and Siv that he has a new job for them, lead them to a temple, make them watch as they murder the elderly prisoners there, and order Arn and Siv to urinate on the bodies of the dead and dying old men. Arn thinks that there is no way he'll be able to comply, but when he looks down, he sees that urine is pouring out of his body onto the dead men's heads. What is the author's purpose in including this incident?

10. Once Arn wakes up from being nursed back to health by the three girls in Thailand, how does the motif of sound come into play?

(see the answer keys)

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