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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What about Mr. Salgado captivates young Triton when they first meet?
(a) His ever-present smile.
(b) His gentle voice.
(c) His colorful shirts.
(d) His unusual glasses.

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

3. As a young servant for Mr. Salgado, Triton's regular duties include what?
(a) Milking cows and gathering eggs.
(b) Serving tea and sweeping floors.
(c) Organizing books and catching fish.
(d) Watering plants and taking food to the poor.

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

5. Why does Triton run away from home?
(a) His mother wants him to become a temple priest, but he refuses.
(b) He is tired of the daily beatings he receives from his uncle.
(c) He is the oldest of twelve kids and he wants to get away from the daily chaos.
(d) He burns a roof at his school and fears his father's wrath.

6. How does Joseph feel and act towards Triton?
(a) He treats him kindly.
(b) He largely ignores him.
(c) He resents him.
(d) He takes him under his wing.

7. Alone in the house, Triton falls asleep. When he is awakened by a sound, what does he think it is?
(a) Mr. Salgado returning.
(b) A robber.
(c) Wind knocking a window open.
(d) Stray cat.

8. The region of Sri Lanka that the cashier comes from is once what?
(a) A sanctuary for plant scientists.
(b) A diver's paradise.
(c) A coffee-producing economic center.
(d) A seafood cornucopia.

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

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

11. Who used to own the car that belongs to the narrator at the start of the story?
(a) Miss Nili.
(b) Lucy-amma.
(c) Mr. Salgado.
(d) Joseph.

12. What does the cashier confirm to the narrator?
(a) His cousin teaches him a few words spoken in Sri Lanka.
(b) There is a good Sri Lankan restaurant thirty miles away.
(c) There is a huge community of Sri Lankans in London.
(d) He is from Sri Lanka.

13. Who is Lucy-amma?
(a) The old cook-woman.
(b) The young girl next door.
(c) The local school teacher.
(d) The neighborhood matchmaker.

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

15. When the narrator and cashier meet, what is happening in Sri Lanka?
(a) War.
(b) Floods.
(c) Reconciliation.
(d) Invasion.

Short Answer Questions

1. One night, Triton dreams that there is a demon in the house, and in the morning he oversleeps. What does he tell Mr. Salgado that morning?

2. What vehicle does the narrator own when the story opens?

3. In the story, who is Joseph?

4. The cashier tells the narrator that he, too, has a:

5. When Mr. Salgado returns from his trip and finds Joseph first missing and later drunk, what does he do?

(see the answer keys)

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