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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When the priest claims to have been "defiled by contact," what does Bakha assume (51)?
(a) He must have touched the priest on his way past him.
(b) The priest is lying.
(c) There must be a third, as yet unseen, outcaste nearby.
(d) His sister must have touched the priest.

2. Why is the younger of the babu's sons so eager to get going during their conversation with Bakha and his friends?
(a) He does not want to risk ritual pollution.
(b) He knows that there are sweets waiting for him at home.
(c) He does not want to be late to school.
(d) He is afraid his mother will catch them talking to outcastes.

3. What is ironic about Bakha's friends teasing him about his interest in "fashun" (26)?
(a) They do not even know what the word means.
(b) They share this interest.
(c) They are the ones who first encouraged his interest.
(d) They are not trying to be cruel.

4. What is Bakha staring at when he hears the man complaining that Bakha has bumped into him?
(a) A woman sitting in a window.
(b) The huge advertising signs he cannot read.
(c) The colorful clothing of a Peshawari fruit-seller.
(d) A page of the Daily Mail newspaper laying in the street.

5. What does Charat Singh offer Bakha?
(a) A job in the cantonment.
(b) A bag of sweets.
(c) A hockey stick.
(d) A handful of coins.

6. Where did Bakha get his British jacket and overcoat?
(a) He found them in a rubbish bin.
(b) They were a gift from his uncle.
(c) They were prizes he won for playing hockey.
(d) He bought them with his tip money.

7. What does the narrator explain with the phrase "set a thief to catch a thief" (38)?
(a) The anger of the crowd around Bakha.
(b) The corruption of the Indian police.
(c) The aggression of the man Bakha bumped.
(d) The dishonesty of the street urchin.

8. What does the narrator say that the word "sahib" refers to (5)?
(a) "Companions."
(b) "Hindu sepoys."
(c) "Modern people."
(d) "Superior people."

9. What does Bakha do when he is finally at the top of the temple steps?
(a) Lies down and peers under the door.
(b) Sneaks quietly inside the temple.
(c) Balances on his toes and looks through a window.
(d) Stands at the edge where he can see through a crack in the wall.

10. What is Bakha's first response when he hears the priest cry out "Polluted, polluted, polluted" (50)?
(a) He freezes in terror.
(b) He stands at the top of the steps and yells back.
(c) He tries to hide.
(d) He runs down the steps.

11. What habit of Indian people in this time period was the basis of a derogatory description used by the British soldiers?
(a) Squatting to urinate and defecate on the ground.
(b) Using water to clear out their noses and sinuses.
(c) Blowing repeatedly on tea and hot food to cool it.
(d) Bathing in water polluted by human and animal waste.

12. On page 28, what does the narrator say prevails in the lives of the outcastes?
(a) Indifference.
(b) Suffering.
(c) Silence.
(d) Faith.

13. What is a tonga-wallah?
(a) A blacksmith.
(b) A carriage driver.
(c) A delivery person.
(d) A jockey.

14. What animals does the man that Bakha bumps in the street repeatedly compare Bakha to?
(a) A pig and a goat.
(b) A monkey and a dog.
(c) A dog and a pig.
(d) A goat and a monkey.

15. How many times does Bakha try to mount the temple steps before he has the courage to get all the way to the top step?
(a) 5.
(b) 3.
(c) 4.
(d) 2.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is a "sepoy" (5)?

2. Why does Bahka not immediately apologize when he is accused of bumping the man in the street?

3. What finally rouses Bakha from his bed at the beginning of the book?

4. Besides his hockey skills and sense of humor, what is Havildar Charat Singh well-known for?

5. What does the term "Jemandar" mean (3)?

(see the answer keys)

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