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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. How are Helmut's winters described?
(a) Cold at the train station.
(b) Cozy in the cellar.
(c) Lonely in the dark room.
(d) Sleepless overall.

2. How is Helmut's ability as a darkroom technician described?
(a) Average.
(b) Incompetent.
(c) Slow but progressive.
(d) Accurate and skillful.

3. Who commits suicide just days after Helmut's last photo?
(a) Churchill.
(b) Hitler.
(c) Helmut.
(d) Papi.

4. What is Helmut's new job in 1945?
(a) He takes tickets from passengers at the train station.
(b) He is the owner of a photo shop.
(c) He is Berlin's historian.
(d) He digs trenches and piles rubble.

5. What are Lore's nightmares about?
(a) Strangers blocking their way to Oma's.
(b) German Nazis taking her parents away.
(c) The end of the war is not really here.
(d) Americans taking their food.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens to Mutti and Papi after the second bombing?

2. What is Helmut's reaction during the second bombing?

3. When does Lore begin to trust Tomas?

4. Who are Gladigau's most common clients?

5. What does the confrontation at the train station indicate about the Third Reich's concerns?

Short Essay Questions

1. What changes does Lore's family go through during the war?

2. Germany is in the midst of war and has been for several years. The second bombing that Helmut experiences is the worst so far. Describe the new changes and routine to which the inhabitants of Berlin must adapt.

3. When Germany takes Paris, there is a large celebration. Mutti and Papi attend but they do not ask him to go. When they return they meet him at the train station and leave looking like a happy family. Explain Mutti and Papi's actions.

4. At night, when the bombs are close, Helmut shouts at the noise. Why does he feel this need? What does it do for him?

5. Helmut loses his parents and Gladigau is away. Helmut is often cold, hungry, and completely alone. How does he feel about the war at this stage?

6. Helmut finally gets to join the army. What does this imply about the state of Germany at this point in the war?

7. Helmut is cast to the side with the weak during physical education. Helmut tries to "prove himself" for whom and why?

8. Helmut notices the city is emptying. More people are leaving on the trains and less are returning. This is a mystery and Seiffert never explicitly offers an explanation. Why not?

9. When the farmer's son taunts Lore and pushes her down, the twins throw rocks at him. What does this show about the children?

10. When Lore is sure Tomas is asleep, she buries the last remaining keepsakes of Vati. Why does she do this when they seemed safe in her apron?

(see the answer keys)

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