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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. Lan had moved out of the family home due to problems with whom?
(a) Thi.
(b) Bich.
(c) Ma.
(d) Bo.

2. Ma alleges that Bo had been taking what action during the birth of one of their children?
(a) Drinking at the bar.
(b) Attending the movies.
(c) Chopping wood.
(d) Gambling.

3. Thi states that to understand her father's personality, she needs to understand what happened to him during what time period?
(a) When he was a little boy.
(b) When he was a teenager.
(c) When he was an infant.
(d) When he was a young man.

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

5. What adjective does Thi use to describe the "demons" (68) from her parents' pasts that had haunted Thi's childhood home?
(a) Unexorcised.
(b) Deceptive.
(c) Evil.
(d) Relentless.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the oldest of Bui's sisters?

2. When Bui feels a particular emotion after the birth of her son, a "wave of" (22) what emotion for Ma washes over her?

3. For what reason is Bo unable to teach in America?

4. When the nurse brings in a tray of surgical instruments, Bui feels her heart take what action?

5. The city of Hai Phong is how far away from the border of China?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Bui incorporate foreshadowing in her creation of The Best We Could Do?

2. What is the strongest emotion Thi feels toward Bo toward the end of her adolescence?

3. How does the doctor respond to Thi's question about her child's birth?

4. What lesson does Thi learn through undertaking a major change in 2006?

5. What major change do Thi and Travis undertake in 2006 and why?

6. What event within her adolescence does Thi describe as "living the dream" "for an immigrant kid" (24)?

7. What is one element of Ma's parenting that Bui depicts as being different for each one of her children?

8. What dangerous action does Bo take regularly throughout Thi's childhood?

9. What food always brings comfort to Thi and why?

10. How does Bui use visual elements to underscore her feelings about the doctor's answer to her question in the hospital?

(see the answer keys)

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