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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. What does the old woman lie to Lore about to get money?
(a) Correct directions to Oma's.
(b) Where the nearest Red Cross food line is.
(c) A way to get train tickets.
(d) That paraffin will kill the lice.

2. How do Helmut's parents deny his birth defect?
(a) They see a second doctor.
(b) They ignore Helmut as he grows up.
(c) They tell Helmut it is all in his mind.
(d) The parents push him to be normal.

3. Who helps Helmut obtain consistent food?
(a) A veteran.
(b) The local baker.
(c) The train station guard.
(d) Another man who has lost his family.

4. When does Helmut begin to take pictures of Berlin again?
(a) When the refugees and veterans fill the streets of Berlin again.
(b) During the summer months.
(c) Immediately after the bombings take place.
(d) During the winter months.

5. What is Tomas' tattoo most likely to be?
(a) A prisoner's marker.
(b) A cross.
(c) The Jewish marker from the Holocaust.
(d) A Nazi marker.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Lore's role in the family?

2. Where is Helmut born?

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

4. Who are Gladigau's most common clients?

5. What does Helmut notice during the family beach vacation?

Short Essay Questions

1. At the beginning of the war efforts, Helmut is intent on joining the army. Despite his arm, he is adamant about joining. Why is the army so vital in Helmut's life?

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

3. Other than Lore, what do the children know of the current situation?

4. The new train station guard does not like Helmut immediately. Only after knowing Helmut's current situation, does he help Helmut. Why does the train station guard act this way? What does that say about the bombings in Berlin?

5. When the family eats their soup, Juri shyly offers his bread to Tomas. What does this indicate about Juri and his family?

6. Gladigau is first Papi's, then Helmut's employer. Gladigau does more than just pay his workers. How is Gladigau an important figure, especially to Helmut?

7. Refugees come through Berlin and some speak of a brutal Soviet army the size of a continent. Others deny their truths and say it is not so. Why is it hard to know what is true and what is not? Who is right?

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

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

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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