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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. Of the refugees boarding the dinghy with Mahmoud's family, what does the narrator say is the kind of person constituting the majority of the passengers?
(a) Young men.
(b) Young families.
(c) Young women.
(d) Middle-aged men.

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

3. 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) Fidel Castro.
(b) President Bru.
(c) President Bill Clinton.
(d) Senor Castillo.

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

5. Who suggests that two of the boat's passengers get into the water and hang onto the boat in order to reduce the risk of capsizing?
(a) Isabel.
(b) Lito.
(c) Papi.
(d) Mami.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What is NOT an item Mahmoud sees upon disembarking from the Greek Coast Guard boat?

3. To whom does Mahmoud give the deceased man's life jacket?

4. In the moments after Isabel and the other passengers see Miami, what event happens?

5. What is the name of the man who saves Josef's father and is later celebrated for his heroism at a reception on the ship?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. What details does Isabel remember about her grandmother Lita's death?

3. What does Isabel mean when she thinks that "Fidel Castro has Ivan's blood all over him" (224)?

4. What shocking detail does Mahmoud's father reveal to his family once they have been thrown into the water by their dinghy's destruction on the rocks?

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

6. 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?

7. On the second day of Isabel's journey, it is said that it seems to Isabel and Ivan that everyone has a job but the two of them. What jobs are being handled by the others?

8. What about Waleed's reaction to being held at gunpoint worries Mahmoud about his brother even more than before?

9. 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?

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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