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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 Santiago dream of?
(a) The women he has known in his youth.
(b) The fights he had when he was young.
(c) Africa and the lions on the beach.
(d) Fishing in a new, large boat.

2. What indicates the old man's pride?
(a) He always wears a new shirt.
(b) His shame at having such a patched up sail.
(c) At first refusing to eat what the boy has brought him.
(d) Shame at not having enough yellow rice and fish to share with the boy.

3. When the marlin slows and is steady, Santiago finally gets some sleep. What does he dream of instead of lions?
(a) Arm wrestling with the marlin.
(b) A vast school of porpoises.
(c) Cutting his hand on the fishing line.
(d) A flight on a plane.

4. Santiago is far out at sea and the fish is from deep waters. What comparison does Santiago make?
(a) They are like to gladiators in the arena.
(b) There is no one to help either of them.
(c) Both of them are old and past their prime.
(d) They must weigh about the same.

5. Why does the boy stop fishing with Santiago?
(a) His parents do not want him to go to sea.
(b) His parents think Santiago's boat is unsafe.
(c) His parents force him to go with a lucky boat.
(d) His parents think Santiago has bad character.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Santiago spots the shark, what does he know about the predator?

2. Santiago is pinned down and the line is rushing out around his back and through his hand, cutting them. What makes him think about the boy?

3. How long had Santiago gone without catching a fish?

4. What brings the shark towards Santiago's boat?

5. What happens by midnight as Santiago returns to the land?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do you know that Santiago only intended to fish for one day when he left to go far out into the sea?

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

3. By nightfall, Santiago recognizes a change in direction. Explain how he knows that.

4. Why did Santiago give up arm wrestling?

5. Toward the end of the second day, Santiago assesses his situation and thinks he has several new advantages. What are they?

6. How does Santiago show his resolution as he holds the line and thinks about all the things the fish might do?

7. What happens when the first shark attacks the marlin?

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

9. It is now the next day and Santiago had brought no provisions for a meal at sea. What does he have to eat?

10. How does the man-of-war bird help Santiago catch an albacore?

(see the answer keys)

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