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

2. When he is mistaken for a member of the Khmer Rouge by one of their leaders, what is Arn's reaction?
(a) He sits down on the grass and cries.
(b) He considers running away from camp.
(c) He yells at the leader, telling him that he is a captive.
(d) He vows to get even with this leader someday.

3. One time when Sombo's group passes another platoon in the woods, he recognizes that platoon's rice girl. Who is it?
(a) His little sister Sophea.
(b) His older sister Jorami.
(c) His older sister Maly.
(d) His older sister Chantou.

4. What new job does the child leader give the Little Fish so that they can prove their loyalty to Angka?
(a) They must cook all of the food for every soldier in the camp for one week without eating anything themselves.
(b) They must fetch the water for every soldier in the camp for one week without drinking any of it themselves.
(c) They must leap from the trenches they have dug and draw enemy fire.
(d) They must climb onto the tanks of the Vietnamese army and drop grenades inside.

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) "Come for us soon."
(b) "Peace be with you."
(c) "Why didn't you save us."
(d) "See you again."

Short Answer Questions

1. Using the method of time measurement that Arn and the other captives must use, eight harvests means he's been held captive for how long?

2. Besides the fact that Arn was a child soldier and Sojeat and Ravi were not, what other main difference is there between his background and theirs?

3. What special food does Arn steal from the leader's house party so that he can share it with Siv and Kha when he returns to camp?

4. Why does Sombo return to the hidden village to kill everyone who lives there?

5. What instructions does Arn's sister give him when he is able to sneak out to see her in the night?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

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

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

5. 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?

6. 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?

7. 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?

8. 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?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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