View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Mr. Salgado's house represent to Triton when he is a boy?
(a) A magical place to explore and enjoy.
(b) A beautiful prison.
(c) Center of the universe.
(d) Home away from home.

2. At the start of the story, what does the narrator notice about the cashier?
(a) The cashier looks drunk.
(b) The cashier resembles him.
(c) The cashier is asleep.
(d) The cashier looks frightened.

3. In what language does the narrator try to speak to the cashier?
(a) Swahili.
(b) Sinhala.
(c) Spanish.
(d) Swedish.

4. How long has the narrator been out of Sri Lanka?
(a) Three years.
(b) More than twenty years.
(c) Twelve years.
(d) Less than a month.

5. What does Triton say when Mr. Salgado asks him if he has any schooling?
(a) He's been to school at the temple and is familiar with religious teachings.
(b) He's been to school, knows how to read and write, and speaks some English.
(c) He has no time for school because he's had to help raise his siblings.
(d) He has some schooling but he does not like the teachers.

6. How old is Triton when he goes to work for Mr. Salgado?
(a) Eleven.
(b) Seven.
(c) Twenty.
(d) Sixteen.

7. Why does the cashier turn off the outside lights?
(a) So he can take a ten-minute smoking break.
(b) To close early and go home to his family.
(c) To keep customers away while the problem is being resolved.
(d) So the monthly electric bill won't be as high.

8. How long has the cashier been out of Sri Lanka?
(a) A decade.
(b) Seven years ago.
(c) A year and a half.
(d) Fairly recently.

9. When Mr. Salgado takes a weekend trip to his cousin's tea estate, who is left in charge of the household?
(a) Triton.
(b) Joseph.
(c) A neighbor.
(d) Lucy-amma.

10. Among the many new tasks Mr. Salgado gives Joseph in preparation for his absence due to a trip, the most significant is ___.
(a) Taking inventories.
(b) Digging an irrigation ditch.
(c) Raking leaves.
(d) Baking cookies.

11. Why is the cashier impressed with the narrator?
(a) He is a vegetarian.
(b) He owns a restaurant.
(c) He attends Oxford.
(d) He used to be a marine biologist.

12. How far away is Sri Lanka from England?
(a) Two thousand eight hundred miles.
(b) A thousand miles.
(c) Four hundred miles.
(d) Six thousand miles.

13. Why are Triton and Joseph left alone at Mr. Salgado's house?
(a) Mr. Salgado takes Lucy-amma out for her birthday.
(b) Mr. Salgado is on vacation and Lucy-amma is in the hospital.
(c) Mr. Salgado is on a business trip and Lucy-amma is taking care of a dying relative.
(d) Mr. Salgado and Lucy-amma take separate trips at the same time.

14. The cashier tells the narrator that he, too, has a:
(a) Child.
(b) College education.
(c) Dream.
(d) House.

15. Who stumbles towards the narrator and the cashier as the two are engrossed in conversation?
(a) Police officer.
(b) Mutual friend.
(c) Distraught child.
(d) Drunk man.

Short Answer Questions

1. The cashier experiences technical difficulties with what?

2. The cashier says his Sri Lankan home is near what city?

3. When Triton takes a small red onion and cuts it into quarters, what does he intend to do?

4. When Triton gets up to investigate the source of the sound in the house, he finds Joseph in Mr. Salgado's room. What is the man doing there?

5. As the narrator begins to speak about his former life in Sri Lanka, he talks about a ______.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 585 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample