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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. The narrator's parents no longer want her to play with whom?
(a) Selam.
(b) Farah.
(c) Yewa.
(d) Hadiya.

2. During one vacation, Selam asks the narrator ___________________________.
(a) If hamburger is pork.
(b) If she wants to learn French.
(c) If she has ever kissed a boy.
(d) If she knows how to water ski.

3. Why is the bus unable to leave as scheduled?
(a) The weather is too perilous.
(b) The driver can't be found.
(c) There is engine trouble.
(d) The roads out of the city are blocked.

4. This story is about the divide between ____________________________.
(a) Catholics and Baptists.
(b) Democrats and Republicans.
(c) Muslims and Christians.
(d) men and women.

5. Who saves Jubril after he has passed out in a field?
(a) A policeman.
(b) A Muslim man.
(c) The bus driver.
(d) A priest.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the following do Selam and the narrator NOT do when they see each other from their apartments?

2. One day, the narrator's parents inform her that she can no longer spend time with whom?

3. What had a girl named Hadiya told Selam at school one day?

4. Why does the village chief get so angry at Jubril?

5. How did Yusuf die?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who are the narrator and Selam and what is their relationship?

2. How do the policemen who take the sick man off the bus represent the corruption that exists in the country?

3. What is the main point of the story, "What Language is That"?

4. What is the core source of all the violence that takes place in the story?

5. What does the narrator do during the days after being restricted from playing with Selam?

6. Why are the passengers on the bus infused with a sense of urgency?

7. What is at the base of all the trivial conflicts in the story?

8. How does Akpan's choice of second person narration affect the reader?

9. What is notable about the story "What Language is That?"

10. What is the narrator's father's advice to Selam regarding eating pork?

(see the answer keys)

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