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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 does the old man fear since the shark had taken about forty pounds of flesh off the marlin?
(a) That there would soon be other sharks.
(b) That fishermen would say he found the marlin dead and floating in the water.
(c) That people would think he had eaten part of his catch.
(d) That he would not win a prize for catching the largest marlin.

2. What two spots does Santiago hit on the first brown shark?
(a) The jaw and the fins.
(b) The brain and the eye.
(c) The underbelly and the dorsal fin.
(d) Both eyes.

3. How old was the boy the first time he went fishing with Santiago?
(a) 15 years old.
(b) 5 years old.
(c) 7 years old.
(d) 10 years old.

4. How does he get something to eat?
(a) He eats some of the rotting sardines and hopes it does not make him sick.
(b) He cuts a slice out of the marlin.
(c) He puts the small line into the water and catches a tuna.
(d) He catches seaweed and shakes the small shrimp out of it.

5. Because Santiago always wakes the boy every morning, what does the boy call him?
(a) My alarm clock.
(b) My tormentor.
(c) My big problem.
(d) My morning visitor.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why do the sharks finally go away?

2. What is Santiago doing when the boy returns to his shack?

3. Obviously a very large fish that is caught on Santiago's line. What does the fish do all night long?

4. What does Santiago mean when he says that he must think because that is all he has left?

5. How does the boy act defensively about Santiago as the fishermen look at the marlin's skeleton?

Short Essay Questions

1. While sleeping in the boat, what are Santiago's dream like?

2. Identify a few passages in the story that indicate the pride of Santiago.

3. Describe the last moments that define the valor of the great marlin.

4. Describe Santiago's meal on the second day and why he was so pleased after he ate.

5. Relate the speech the boy makes to show his estimation of Santiago as a fisherman.

6. Santiago recalls that he used to sing on the turtle boats, whereas now he talks out loud to himself. When does he think the talking began?

7. Show how Hemingway uses the literary form of personification as Santiago thinks about the great fish he has hooked.

8. Describe the relationship between Manolin and Santiago.

9. It was noon when the old man hooked the fish and four hours later he thinks about something odd. What is it?

10. What new indication tells Santiago and the reader that this is a truly remarkable fish after the moonlight jump?

(see the answer keys)

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