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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 item does Josef's little sister Ruthie carry with her at all times?
(a) Her teddy bear.
(b) Her stuffed rabbit.
(c) Her stuffed turtle.
(d) Her blanket.

2. When Mahmoud and his family meet the smuggler at the designated meeting point, when does he say the boat will leave?
(a) Next week.
(b) Right now.
(c) In an hour.
(d) Tomorrow.

3. What do Mahmoud and his brother Waleed do when they see two boys robbing another boy of a loaf of bread?
(a) They make noise in hopes of distracting the robbers.
(b) They hide and then sneak away.
(c) They challenge the robbers.
(d) They find a policeman.

4. How many Jewish men must gather to form a minyan in order to comply with Jewish law in the holding of a bar mitzvah?
(a) At least 10.
(b) At least 22.
(c) At least 7.
(d) At least 5.

5. Whose face is featured prominently on the floor of Isabel's boat?
(a) Joseph Stalin.
(b) Pablo Escobar.
(c) Fidel Castro.
(d) Che Guevara.

Short Answer Questions

1. Before leaving Mahmoud and his family so they can get some sleep, what item does the boy tell them they must procure before the next leg of their trip?

2. In what year does the telling of Josef's narrative begin?

3. Who gives Mahmoud's father directions that will keep the family away from major sites of fighting?

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

5. What is NOT a way in which Josef's father has changed since being imprisoned in a concentration camp?

Short Essay Questions

1. List some of Isabel's and the other boat passengers' expectations of what life will be like in America.

2. What happens the first two times Isabel's father tries to journey to America from Cuba?

3. 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?

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

5. 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?

6. How is the the ship Josef's family boards shown by the author to be paradoxical?

7. What is the clave?

8. What is ironic about Josef's feelings following his bar mitzvah?

9. What U.S. policies change and make it harder for Cuban people to seek refuge in the United States?

10. How does Josef feel about invisibility?

(see the answer keys)

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