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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What type of Jewish ceremony do the people on Josef's ship hold during the journey?
(a) A naming ceremony.
(b) A bris.
(c) A bar mitzvah.
(d) A bat mitzvah.

2. Even though Fidel Castro announces to the Cuban people that they are now free to leave Cuba whenever they want, why is Isabel's mother still especially wary about the trip?
(a) She does not think her ill mother will survive the trip.
(b) She is pregnant.
(c) She believes that Fidel Castro's announcement is a trap.
(d) She worries that the family will starve during the trip.

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

4. What item falls out of Josef's pocket and is stomped on by a member of the Hitler Youth?
(a) His photograph of his grandfather.
(b) His glasses.
(c) His armband.
(d) His yarmulke.

5. The Nazis who storm Josef's family's home are never depicted directly by the author. Instead, what word is used to refer to them throughout the scene?
(a) Robots.
(b) Shadows.
(c) Mummies.
(d) Zombies.

Short Answer Questions

1. For what transgression do the Nazis say they are taking Josef's father into "protective custody" (3)?

2. Josef's family is traveling on a train in order to get on a ship headed for what country?

3. When Josef overhears two stewards talking about racing other boats to Cuba, how many other boats do they say are traveling their route?

4. Who takes Josef and the other children on a tour of the ship?

5. When a boy offers to show Mahmoud and his family somewhere they can sleep, how much money does he charge them for the information?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Isabel's kitten used by the author to send a message about hunger and fear?

2. Of everyone in Mahmoud's family, who comes the closest to losing his or her life when the apartment is hit by a missile?

3. How does Josef view the difference between life on the ship above decks and life on the ship below decks?

4. What are the only items that Isabel and the other passengers on the tiny boat have room to bring with them on the journey to Florida from Cuba?

5. How does the author go about portraying Mahmoud as an empathetic soul?

6. How does Josef feel about invisibility?

7. When Isabel and Ivan are incredulous that Lito had had many chances to leave Cuba over the years and had not done so, what reasons does Lito give for not leaving?

8. How is irony employed within the author's choice of the material that lines Isabel's boat?

9. Why does Mahmoud's family choose Germany as a place to run to when they leave Syria?

10. What does Mahmoud buy for his little brother Waleed at a shop in the Turkish refugee camp and what does he hope to achieve with his purchase?

(see the answer keys)

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