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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. A toddler-sized Bo is depicted as thinking, "YOU are not my papa" (115) after what event?
(a) His father beats him severely.
(b) His father becomes a Communist.
(c) His father beats Bo's mother severely.
(d) His father marries again.

2. When the nurse brings in a tray of surgical instruments, Bui feels her heart take what action?
(a) Drop.
(b) Move into her throat.
(c) Go black.
(d) Skip a beat.

3. How old was Thi when her parents separated?
(a) 13.
(b) 21.
(c) 7.
(d) 19.

4. Bui describes her family as fleeing from one country and starting over in another during what decade?
(a) The 1950s.
(b) The 1980s.
(c) The 1970s.
(d) The 1960s.

5. Bo recalls how in the midst of starvation, his mother had sometimes been able to buy a small piece of what type of meat to share only with Bo?
(a) Liverwurst.
(b) Sausage.
(c) Pork.
(d) Beef.

6. What two armies forced the Vietnamese people to uproot their rice in order to plant jute?
(a) Chinese and Korean.
(b) Chinese and Japanese.
(c) Korean and Indonesian.
(d) French and Japanese.

7. Who is Travis?
(a) Bui's father.
(b) Bui's uncle.
(c) Bui's nephew.
(d) Bui's husband.

8. In what year does Thi move with her husband and son from New York City to a new place?
(a) 1999.
(b) 2002.
(c) 2013.
(d) 2006.

9. In what year did Japan send troops to "block Chinese supply routes" (102)?
(a) 1942.
(b) 1950.
(c) 1923.
(d) 1940.

10. The city of Hai Phong is how far away from the border of China?
(a) 500 kilometers.
(b) 100 kilometers.
(c) 200 kilometers.
(d) 50 kilometers.

11. What does Bo do while Ma is working at her first job in America?
(a) He puts together circuit boards from home.
(b) He works as a tutor from home.
(c) He hangs out in the backyard.
(d) He stays home with the children.

12. Bo says that when he was how old, his father had fallen in love with a neighbor?
(a) 3.
(b) 8.
(c) 12.
(d) 5.

13. What kind of darkness does Thi remember inside her childhood home?
(a) Ominous.
(b) Claustrophobic.
(c) Stifling.
(d) Soothing.

14. Bui tells Nguyen that she had gotten good grades and taken what other action in order to get scholarships?
(a) Worked three jobs.
(b) Been the valedictorian of her class.
(c) Run for Class President.
(d) Performed hundreds of hours of community service.

15. In what California city was the high school Bui helped to open?
(a) Oakland.
(b) Sacramento.
(c) Los Angeles.
(d) San Francisco.

Short Answer Questions

1. The action Bui's heart takes when she sees the surgical instrument is the same she remembers from a time when Bo had talked openly about what subject?

2. In the preface of The Best We Could Do, Bui states that the "seeds of this book were planted" in what year?

3. Thi witnesses which person get spat on as he is called a racial slur?

4. In what location does Tam hide when things are tense in the house?

5. What is Bui seeking when she meets with Viet Thanh Nguyen?

(see the answer keys)

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