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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When a boy offers to show Mahmoud and his family somewhere they can sleep, how much money does he charge them for the information?
(a) 500 Syrian pounds or about $2.50 American dollars.
(b) 2,000 Syrian pounds or about $10 American dollars.
(c) 1,000 Syrian pounds or about $5 American dollars.
(d) 6,000 Syrian pounds or about $30 American dollars.

2. In what year does Isabel's narrative from Havana, Cuba begin?
(a) 2001.
(b) 1983.
(c) 1994.
(d) 1959.

3. When Ivan says that one thing he wants to do in America is watch American television, what show does he cite?
(a) Seinfeld.
(b) Wheel of Fortune.
(c) The Simpsons.
(d) South Park.

4. What does Mahmoud buy for his brother Waleed in one of the shops at the refugee camp in Turkey?
(a) A stuffed zebra.
(b) A stuffed Teletubby.
(c) A stuffed teddy bear.
(d) A stuffed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

5. Isabel knows that Ivan and his father are actually building a boat in order to travel where?
(a) To Mexico.
(b) To Canada.
(c) To the United States.
(d) To the Dominican Republic.

6. When Shabbos arrives, the bulletin board on Josef's ship announces that the social hall will be converted into a what?
(a) A synagogue.
(b) A dance floor.
(c) A medical clinic.
(d) A reception hall.

7. When the narrative rejoins Josef in 1939, each member of the family is now wearing what item?
(a) A prisoner number placard.
(b) A Star of David armband.
(c) A Star of David tattoo.
(d) A red jacket.

8. Isabel's grandfather Lito makes her angry on the boat by telling her that her father is a what?
(a) A fool.
(b) A deadbeat.
(c) A liar.
(d) A thief.

9. What are piropos?
(a) Beaches.
(b) Flirtatious compliments Cuban men say to women on the street.
(c) Coats.
(d) Fried dough pockets filled with meat.

10. How does Isabel's father sustain the wounds that she is cleaning when the narrative rejoins her?
(a) He falls off a ladder at his job.
(b) He is shot in the melee of the riots.
(c) He is beaten by police.
(d) He is beaten by a mugger.

11. Then narrator describes the fast-approaching tanker heading toward Isabel's boat as eventually getting so loud that it sounds like a what?
(a) A stream of freeway traffic.
(b) A jet engine.
(c) A tornado.
(d) A hurricane.

12. What is NOT among Fidel Castro's oft-repeated list of the three greatest achievements of the Cuban Revolution?
(a) Public health.
(b) Sports.
(c) Education.
(d) Agriculture.

13. When Josef and the children are below deck during their ship tour, Schiendick and his friends begin to sing a song with anti-Semitic lyrics. What is the subject of the song?
(a) German blood.
(b) The Third Reich.
(c) Jewish blood.
(d) The Fuhrer.

14. What is Josef's father's profession at the start of the novel?
(a) Lawyer.
(b) Reporter.
(c) Tailor.
(d) Doctor.

15. The horrific historical event called Kristallnacht means what in the English language?
(a) The night of reverence.
(b) The night of hopelessness.
(c) The night of broken glass.
(d) The night of pointy reckonings.

Short Answer Questions

1. What item does Josef's little sister Ruthie carry with her at all times?

2. How many Jewish men must gather to form a minyan in order to comply with Jewish law in the holding of a bar mitzvah?

3. For what reason has Josef's family recently moved to a smaller apartment in Berlin upon the opening of the novel?

4. What is the age difference between Isabel and Ivan?

5. Isabel's best friend Ivan is also her what?

(see the answer keys)

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