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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is NOT an item Mahmoud sees upon disembarking from the Greek Coast Guard boat?
(a) Dead bodies.
(b) A pile of life jackets.
(c) Food kiosks.
(d) A rocky shore.

2. Who pulls Isabel hurriedly into the boat in order to save her from being attacked by the shark who has bitten Ivan?
(a) Isabel's mother Mami.
(b) Isabel's father Papi.
(c) Senor Castillo.
(d) Lito.

3. Why is Belgrade, Serbia an unsafe place for Mahmoud and his family?
(a) Many people in Serbia are Islamophobic.
(b) The Serbian police are raiding hotels looking for illegal refugees.
(c) The Serbian police shoot first and ask questions later.
(d) Many Serbians are employed as informers for the government.

4. In what sea are Mahmoud and his family stranded after their dinghy bursts against the rocks?
(a) The Mediterranean.
(b) The Atlantic.
(c) The Baltic.
(d) The Dead Sea.

5. In what activity are Isabel and the other boat passengers engaging when Ivan is attacked by a shark?
(a) They are trying to decide what to tell the authorities in Florida.
(b) They are planning Ivan's upcoming birthday.
(c) They are composing a song about the journey.
(d) They are trying to name the boat.

6. What major revelation does Isabel's mother make while the boat's passengers are waiting to see the lights of Miami?
(a) She is pregnant with another child.
(b) She is in labor.
(c) She wants a divorce after they reach Florida.
(d) She has lost her baby.

7. What island is the intended destination when Mahmoud and his family set out on the rubber dinghy?
(a) Athens.
(b) Sicily.
(c) Lesbos.
(d) Cypress.

8. Who sews Ruthie's stuffed bunny back together before she can see it headless?
(a) Otto Scheindick.
(b) Josef's mother.
(c) Captain Schroeder.
(d) Josef.

9. To what location does a taxi driver offer to drive Mahmoud and his family if they give him 24,000 Syrian pounds?
(a) Macedonia.
(b) Crete.
(c) Serbia.
(d) Lesbos.

10. When Isabel's boat is sinking and all the passengers are bailing furiously, what kind of craft approaches them suddenly?
(a) A U.S. Coast Guard boat.
(b) A rescue ship sent by Amnesty International.
(c) A Puerto Rican merchant ship.
(d) A Cuban Coast Guard boat.

11. 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) 90.
(d) 60.

12. Who rescues Josef's father Aaron from the sea after Aaron jumps overboard?
(a) A Cuban policeman.
(b) Josef.
(c) Ruthie.
(d) A Puerto Rican doctor.

13. 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 ask the ship's psychiatrist to visit him.
(b) She will leave him alone for an hour so he can soothe himself.
(c) She will restrain him on the cabin bed.
(d) She will visit the doctor and procure a tranquilizer for him.

14. What is eventually the only part of Isabel's family's boat that remains unsplintered?
(a) The engine housing.
(b) The lining depicting Fidel Castro.
(c) The benches.
(d) The prow.

15. Who appears next to Josef's ship and manages to convince authorities to release his two daughters from the ship?
(a) The girls' aunt.
(b) The girls' brother.
(c) The girls' mother.
(d) The girls' father.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Mahmoud cries with "exhaustion and misery" (192) while floating in the sea and wants "to do it all over again," what is NOT something he includes on the list of things he would do differently?

2. In what location does Josef's mother spend all her time on the ship since leaving Cuba?

3. What type of humor is Mahmoud's father Youssef's trademark?

4. When Isabel and her family learn where they have actually landed in their boat, what does an official tell them will happen if they come all the way ashore?

5. What does Officer Padron do when the passengers of Josef's ship rush the ship ladder?

(see the answer keys)

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