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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. Which of Josef's family members is left behind when the ship leaves the Cuban harbor?
(a) Josef's mother.
(b) Josef's cousin.
(c) Josef's sister.
(d) Josef's father.

2. When Isabel thinks of her family's journey as a song, she thinks that what events would constitute the first verse?
(a) The riots and the bartering for gasoline.
(b) The tanker and the storm.
(c) The trip from Cuba to the Dominican Republic.
(d) The trip from the Bahamas to Florida.

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

4. What is NOT one thing Josef realizes just after his father's rescue from the ocean?
(a) His little sister is by herself somewhere.
(b) His mother is unconscious.
(c) His infant brother is missing.
(d) His father is not the same man he had been before the concentration camp.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Ivan's brother Luis do just before Ivan's body is buried at sea?

2. What kind of engine is powering Isabel's boat?

3. What is NOT listed among the items provided by the tourists who help Isabel and the other passengers?

4. 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?

5. What action does Waleed take throughout the entire robbery by the taxi driver, causing Mahmoud to worry about his emotional well-being?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Isabel realizes that each part of the journey has been like the verse of a song, what results does she come up with when thinking of the various verses the song would include?

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

3. How does Josef's mother's plan for getting a sleeping potion for her husband Aaron go awry?

4. 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?

5. What change occurs in Josef's mother's personality once the MS St. Louis leaves Cuba?

6. What occurs when Isabel and her family realize they have landed on the Bahamas?

7. What is Josef's mother's plan for procuring a sleeping potion to help calm her husband Aaron down?

8. For what reasons does Lito take on the role of leading Ivan's funeral ceremony?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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