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

2. While trying not to look at Ivan's lifeless body, Isabel thinks about the fact that who has "Ivan's blood all over him" (224)?
(a) President Bru.
(b) Senor Castillo.
(c) Fidel Castro.
(d) President Bill Clinton.

3. What is NOT listed among the items provided by the tourists who help Isabel and the other passengers?
(a) Bags of chips.
(b) Aspirin.
(c) Life jackets.
(d) Bottles of water.

4. 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 next try to seek refuge in the Dominican Republic.
(c) The ship will cruise the Canadian coast, appealing to the Prime Minister.
(d) The ship will cruise the American coast, appealing to President Roosevelt.

5. Mahmoud's family makes the decision not to wait in Athens to acquire what items?
(a) Work permits.
(b) Official travel permits.
(c) Passports.
(d) Visas.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is Lito alarmed when a passenger shoots at the sharks in the water with his pistol?

2. 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?

3. When Isabel first sees the lights of Miami, what does she think she is seeing instead?

4. When the head of the ship's committee tells the passengers that the ship will be heading back to Europe, what are the two phrases chanted by the passengers?

5. How many euros does the taxi driver transporting Mahmoud and his family demand at gunpoint?

Short Essay Questions

1. What reason is given for why Isabel has never been to church?

2. What happens to Mahmoud's family on the way from Belgrade to the Hungarian border?

3. How are the roles of father and son reversed within the scene when Schiendick leaves Josef and his family alone in their cabin after tormenting them?

4. What reaction do the other passengers of the MS St. Louis have to Renata and Evelyne being allowed to leave the ship to join their father?

5. How does Mahmoud save his infant sister Hana from drowning after the family's dinghy bursts upon the rocks?

6. Why does Isabel not want to look at the face of her dead best friend Ivan?

7. Though the narrator states that a few of the refugees Mahmoud sees when boarding the dinghy have backpacks or plastic bags, how are most of the refugees carrying their belongings?

8. For what reason does Dr. Aber, the father of Renata and Evelyne, tell the girls to disembark from the ship without bringing any of their belongings?

9. Whenever Mahmoud or his father wonder where Mahmoud's mother is, where do they inevitably find her and what is she doing?

10. What is the reason given for the firemen on the ship engaging in bad behavior while the ship is docked in Cuba and what are they said to be doing?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,348 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample