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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What phrase does Mahmoud think to himself over and over once he is hit by tear gas at the hands of Hungarian soldiers?
(a) "I can't breathe."
(b) "I'm going to die."
(c) "I can't die here."
(d) "Please no."

2. Just before Mahmoud tumbles from the boat into the sea, someone at the front of the dinghy yells that he sees what objects?
(a) Rocks.
(b) Rescue boats.
(c) Lighthouses.
(d) Lightning strikes.

3. After Amara and Isabel's action that reduces the drag on the boat, who tells them that they have doomed every passenger on the boat?
(a) Señor Castillo.
(b) Lito.
(c) Luis.
(d) Señora Castillo.

4. What does Ivan's mother Señora Castillo do just before Ivan's body is buried at sea?
(a) She touches Ivan's chest.
(b) She gives Ivan a hug.
(c) She takes Ivan's hand.
(d) She kisses Ivan's forehead.

5. When Josef's ship's engines roar to life for the first time since arriving in a Cuban harbor, where do the passengers believe the ship will be going next?
(a) Germany.
(b) Poland.
(c) Lesbos.
(d) Cypress.

6. For whom does Josef tear his clothing in recognition of his own loss of the person?
(a) Josef's cousin.
(b) Josef's father.
(c) Josef's sister.
(d) Josef's mother.

7. How many refugees are expected to board the inflatable rubber dinghy used by the smugglers hired by Mahmoud's father?
(a) 12.
(b) 30.
(c) 60.
(d) 90.

8. When Captain Schroeder assures the passengers of Josef's ship that they will not return to Germany, what other plan does he say he will be enacting?
(a) The ship will attempt to let the passengers off on the island of Lesbos.
(b) The ship will cruise the Canadian coast, appealing to the Prime Minister.
(c) The ship will cruise the American coast, appealing to President Roosevelt.
(d) The ship will next try to seek refuge in the Dominican Republic.

9. What does Ivan's brother Luis do just before Ivan's body is buried at sea?
(a) He touches Ivan's chest.
(b) He kisses Ivan's forehead.
(c) He gives Ivan a hug.
(d) He takes Ivan's hand.

10. What item do Isabel and Amara work together to break away from the boat so they can throw it overboard and reduce the rapidity of the capsizing process?
(a) The cooler.
(b) The portrait of Fidel Castro.
(c) A bench.
(d) The engine.

11. When Josef's father Aaron barricades the door of the family's cabin, what is Josef's mother's plan to calm him?
(a) She will restrain him on the cabin bed.
(b) She will visit the doctor and procure a tranquilizer for him.
(c) She will ask the ship's psychiatrist to visit him.
(d) She will leave him alone for an hour so he can soothe himself.

12. In what location does Josef's mother spend all her time on the ship since leaving Cuba?
(a) In the dance hall.
(b) In her cabin.
(c) On the sundeck.
(d) In the cafeteria.

13. When it gets too dark to navigate, what strategy does Isabel advocate for?
(a) Using the flashlight on their single cell phone to light their path.
(b) Stopping and waiting for dawn.
(c) Using their single cell phone to call the Coast Guard.
(d) Using the stars for navigation.

14. How long does it take Josef's ship to sail from Havana to within viewing distance of Miami?
(a) Less than two hours.
(b) Less than forty-eight hours.
(c) Less than a day.
(d) Less than six hours.

15. When Josef's father is in the throes of a mental breakdown, he tells Josef that each night at the concentration camp, the prisoners were forced to watch one prisoner do what?
(a) Be buried alive.
(b) Drown.
(c) Commit suicide by gunshot.
(d) Burn.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what sea are Mahmoud and his family stranded after their dinghy bursts against the rocks?

2. When Mahmoud and his family finally reach Greece, no one is celebrating and Mahmoud says he knows why. What reason does Mahmoud give for the refugees' lack of celebration?

3. Mahmoud's family makes the decision not to wait in Athens to acquire what items?

4. The narrator remarks that despite the number of dead bodies Mahmoud has seen, the experience of "seeing death" (180) never stops being what?

5. Which of Josef's family members is left behind when the ship leaves the Cuban harbor?

(see the answer keys)

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