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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 is the name of the only other boy at the Children's Center who was formerly a child soldier besides Arn?
(a) Koong.
(b) Sojeat.
(c) Ravi.
(d) Runty.

2. What sets Arn apart from the rest of the group and causes his fame to grow by the day?
(a) He never complains about the hours of practice he must endure to master the xylophone.
(b) He is more obedient than the other boys, so the Khmer Rouge reward him by spreading the word about his talents.
(c) He is more handsome than the other boys in the band.
(d) He plays musical instruments, sings, and dances, all while smiling.

3. 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 refuses to share his extra rice with Arn.
(c) Sombo swears at him and spits on the ground when Sombo asks to go wherever Sombo is being taken by the high-ranking soldier.
(d) Arn sees Sombo strike Siv in the face for being clumsy.

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 rhinoceros.
(c) A hippopotamus.
(d) A tiger.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What two factions are represented by the radio stations they listen to on Sombo's radio?

2. 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?

3. Why does Sombo leave Arn and the other boys to fend for themselves?

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

5. When Arn has a touching moment with the baby monkey but then snaps its neck and wonders why he has done this terrible thing, what conclusion does he come to?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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