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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. Why does Arn save most of the candy Mr. Pond gives him in order to give it to Sojeat and Ravi?
(a) He has learned how to give people things in hopes they will return favors later.
(b) He wants to be able to talk to someone else about how good the candy is.
(c) He is made sick by the richness of the candy but doesn't want it to go to waste.
(d) He wants Mr. Pond to know that he is not selfish.

2. What instructions does Arn's sister give him when he is able to sneak out to see her in the night?
(a) She tells him to ask Sombo if she can join their group as their new rice girl.
(b) She tells him to run away and to meet her at the mountain camp where two of their other sisters are living.
(c) She tells him not to be too brave and to hide from the bullets so she can see him again.
(d) She tells him to listen to Sombo and to practice the art of war continually so that he may stay alive.

3. What happens the first time Arn and and another Little Fish go to drop grenades into the tanks of the Vietnamese soldiers?
(a) The other boy gets scared and doesn't join Arn in climbing onto the tank, but Arn fulfills the mission.
(b) Arn is successful at the mission but the other boy's foot is blown off.
(c) Arn gets scared and doesn't climb onto the tank and the other boy gets hurt as a result.
(d) Arn and the other boy are both successful and feel very proud of their accomplishment.

4. When the Little Fish receive automatic rifles, a tragedy happens. What is it?
(a) Arn shoots another boy from the dance group accidentally.
(b) One of the boys from the dance group shoots Sombo accidentally.
(c) Sombo leaves the group in disgust, saying the kids are being made to commit suicide.
(d) One of the boys from the dance group shoots himself accidentally.

5. Arn says there are many things to be afraid of at night, and now he has one more thing to be afraid of after they have shot everyone in the village below. What is that thing?
(a) Sombo since he now comes in the night to tell Arn disturbing stories of his childhood.
(b) That he'll be left on his own since now sometimes the group moves in the nighttime and he has come close to being left behind.
(c) The fire going out because of the danger of villagers who may have escaped coming to kill them for revenge.
(d) Sleep since it is now filled with nightmares.

Short Answer Questions

1. For the first few days in the hospital, Arn is given a certain food to keep him alive. What is that food?

2. What is Koong's function within Sombo's group?

3. What is the name of the only other boy at the Children's Center who was formerly a child soldier besides Arn?

4. What is Arn's reaction to seeing his sister again?

5. When he is allowed a special privilege by the leader, what does he find himself doing for the first time in three years?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the theme of family shaped and twisted within the narrative when the camp erupts into chaos at the news that the Vietnamese soldiers are close?

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

3. 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?

4. 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?

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

6. 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?

7. 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?

8. 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?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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