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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Rodriguez say would be the disadvantage of bilingual education?
(a) It would limit the things he could study in school.
(b) It would make him lazy about learning English.
(c) It would mean he was only in class with other people who spoke Spanish.
(d) It would make it easier to cheat on tests.

2. What does Rodriguez's teacher tell him about reading and complicated ideas?
(a) People who do not read cannot have complicated ideas.
(b) He needs to read 5,000 books to have a complicated idea.
(c) He needs to read 2,000 books to have a complicated idea.
(d) Reading will teach him complicated ideas.

3. How does mass help his family?
(a) They all go out to eat afterwards and have a good time.
(b) They pray for family closeness.
(c) They all participate in the mass together.
(d) They go to mass together, even as they are growing more distant.

4. What does Rodriguez say education does to the scholarship boy?
(a) It teaches him to be less unique and more like other people.
(b) It teaches him to stand up for himself.
(c) It teaches him to fight for justice.
(d) It teaches him to look down on people who are not educated.

5. What does Rodriguez learn about sin?
(a) Sins are bad, and he should confess them to the priest.
(b) Sins are things that non-religious people do.
(c) Sins are good, and he should try to have more of them.
(d) Sins are not a big deal, and he should not worry about them.

6. Why is the picture of Christ with a punctured heart important?
(a) It is the first gift his family gets from a priest.
(b) It symbolizes everything his family believes about God.
(c) It frightens Richard and gives him nightmares.
(d) It symbolizes the intersection of church, school, and home.

7. What does Rodriguez's family call him?
(a) Pocho.
(b) Paco.
(c) Pokey.
(d) Poncho.

8. In Aria, Chapter 3, why does Rodriguez's family tease him?
(a) Because he reads too many books.
(b) Because he cannot speak Spanish very well.
(c) Because they think he is ugly.
(d) Because he is bad at sports.

9. How does Rodriguez feel about learning English?
(a) Guilty, because he feels like he has damaged his family's close relationship.
(b) Bored, because he does not really want to learn it.
(c) Frustrated, because he does not learn it very well.
(d) Proud, because it is a hard language to learn.

10. What does Rodriguez call the English-speaking people his family interacts with?
(a) Non-Mexicans.
(b) Gringos.
(c) Foreigners.
(d) Otros.

11. What does Rodriguez say he gains because of learning to speak English?
(a) Better grades.
(b) More friends.
(c) A place in public society.
(d) A chance to go to college.

12. What is Rodriguez told about reading the Bible?
(a) Read it in the classroom with someone to guide him.
(b) Read it every day.
(c) Do not read it at all.
(d) Read it at mass on Sunday.

13. How does Rodriguez describe himself as a child?
(a) Socially disadvantaged.
(b) Comfortable with English- and Spanish-speaking people.
(c) A wild troublemaker.
(d) Spoiled and bratty.

14. What does Rodriguez say about bilingual education and the language of "separateness"?
(a) Students will learn better if they feel they are separate from English-speaking students.
(b) Other languages reinforce the idea that the students are separate from the larger society.
(c) Bilingual students feel separated from their education in an English-only classroom.
(d) Bilingual education should reinforce the separation of the two languages.

15. What was Rodriguez like as a student?
(a) A troublemaker who was bored in class.
(b) A bookworm who admired his teachers.
(c) A slow learner who worked very hard.
(d) The kind of student to whom everything came easily.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does Rodriguez believe English should be spoken?

2. How does a newspaper affect Rodriguez's reading habits?

3. How does Rodriguez describe his life as a child?

4. How well can Rodriguez speak English when he starts school?

5. Does Rodriguez believe that not speaking English well has consequences for his parents?

(see the answer keys)

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