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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why is Dad enraged and fearful after the experience with the crow?
(a) Because he realizes that Shawn is helpless and impossible to protect.
(b) Because the crow may induce a seizure in Shawn.
(c) Because his ex-wife left Shawn alone with him.
(d) Because it is humiliating to have to be afraid of a crow.

2. How much money does Sydney McDaniel claim it takes to educate each ineducable child in Seattle?
(a) Hundreds of thousands of dollars.
(b) Twenty-five thousand dollars per year per child.
(c) Thirty-five thousand dollars per year per child.
(d) A million dollars per decade.

3. Why does Shawn say that he doesn't really have a body?
(a) Because his life has always just been in his head.
(b) Because he has never been able to see what he looks like.
(c) Because his body doesn't work right.
(d) Because he has cerebral palsy.

4. What does Shawn's father always do to Shawn when he comes to visit?
(a) Bends his thumbs backward.
(b) Makes Shawn sit up straighter in his wheelchair.
(c) Brings a vanilla cookie.
(d) Reads the first stanza of the award-winning poem.

5. How many times has Shawn's father said his name aloud in his presence?
(a) Six times.
(b) Twenty-six times.
(c) Ninety-six times.
(d) Sixteen times.

6. Why did Shawn think that he understood what death looked like before the dog died?
(a) Because his hospital roommate died when he was seven.
(b) He had read books in which people died and he has a good imagination.
(c) Because he heard his mother describe he death of a relative.
(d) He had seen people "die" on television.

7. While making the PBS Special at Shawn's classroom, Sydney McDaniel claims that people will not place ineducable children where?
(a) Expensive hospices.
(b) Impersonal group homes or institutions.
(c) Low quality foster care.
(d) Expensive hospitals.

8. What color are the dog's eyes?
(a) Black.
(b) Blue.
(c) Brown.
(d) Gray.

9. In the stanza of the poem in Chapter 6, what part of Shawn's body shows signs of trouble?
(a) His head.
(b) His neck.
(c) His eyes.
(d) His mouth.

10. When Sydney becomes famous for the poem, what famous person does he meet?
(a) The governor.
(b) The pope.
(c) The mayor.
(d) The Dalai Llama.

11. What does Cindy do when the dog is hit by the car?
(a) Swerves and doubles back.
(b) Calls for help on the cell phone.
(c) Continues driving.
(d) Picks up the dog and strokes its face until it dies.

12. What word or concept is confusing to Shawn until he sees it written out?
(a) Mozart.
(b) Lighter.
(c) Bow legged.
(d) Euthanasia.

13. What kind of prize does his father win?
(a) Newberry.
(b) Emmy.
(c) Pulitzer.
(d) Nobel.

14. Why does the school district send out a school psychologist each year?
(a) To satisfy the standardized test requirement.
(b) Because Shawn is diagnosed as psychologically damaged.
(c) Because Shawn must pass the test before being promoted.
(d) To administer tests to Shawn for IEPs.

15. Why does Shawn say that he loves his seizures?
(a) They are reality.
(b) They do not hurt.
(c) They made him famous.
(d) He is being sarcastic.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 5 when Shawn's mother dresses him up, what does Shawn object to wearing?

2. Why does Shawn get confused about some aspects and experiences of life?

3. At the premiere reading of the poem, who is referred to as "Bing-Bong"?

4. In Chapter 8, Shawn says that his father's books, poems, newspaper and magazine articles and his job teaching literature at college always made him think of his father as what?

5. Who teaches Shawn to read?

(see the answer keys)

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