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

2. What does the narrator say is "a sort of intoxication" for Bakha (11)?
(a) Women.
(b) British culture.
(c) The sun.
(d) Work.

3. What are the walls of the houses of the outcastes made of?
(a) Stone.
(b) Sheets of tin.
(c) Scavenged lumber.
(d) Mud.

4. What aspect of Bakha's appearance surprises Charat Singh?
(a) His sensitive face.
(b) His muscular form.
(c) His cleanliness.
(d) His proud expression.

5. What word does Bakha use to refer to British soldiers?
(a) Tommies.
(b) Redcoats.
(c) Pongos.
(d) Squaddies.

Short Answer Questions

1. After he is finally free of the crowd in the street, what does Bakha suddenly realize is at the root of all of his problems?

2. When the priest claims to have been "defiled by contact," what does Bakha assume (51)?

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

4. What does the narrator say prevents the crowd from accepting Bakha's apology?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the job that Bakha does after he has cleaned all of the latrines twice.

2. How does the incident with the crowd in the street draw to a close, finally?

3. Describe Bakha's morning before he leaves his family's house.

4. What does the description of the town as Bakha enters it emphasize, and how does this foreshadow what will happen later, when Bakha bumps into someone?

5. What rhetorical purpose is served by the long passage in which Pundit Kali Nath thinks about all of the foods he has recently eaten?

6. What altercation does Sohini get into at the well, and why does it happen?

7. Describe Bakha's father.

8. Describe Bakha's initial reaction to the man who accuses him of bumping him on the street.

9. Besides the accidental bumping, what seems to most offend the man and the crowd that gathers?

10. Which habits of Indian people does Bakha find crude and unsophisticated?

(see the answer keys)

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