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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 sweet does Ram Charan bring from his sister's wedding to share with his friends?
(a) Sugar plums.
(b) Modaks.
(c) Laddus.
(d) Candied pumpkin.

2. When Rakha taunts Bakha and refuses to give up the broom, how does Bakha feel?
(a) He thinks Rakha is just being a child and still loves him.
(b) He worries that Rakha's personality will isolate him from others.
(c) He is shocked at the wave of hatred he feels for his brother.
(d) He is filled with jealousy over his father's favoritism.

3. What does Bakha criticize his brother for when they are eating?
(a) Being greedy with the food.
(b) Dropping food on the floor.
(c) Eating with dirty hands.
(d) Chewing with his mouth open.

4. How does Bakha feel about Charat Singh, most of the time?
(a) He wishes that Charat Singh were his father.
(b) He is nervous about the man's temper.
(c) He is suspicious of Charat Singh's motives.
(d) He admires Charat Singh and is grateful to him.

5. Why does the little boy refuse to come down into the alley to defecate?
(a) He does not want to be near an outcaste.
(b) He wants his mother to bribe him with sweets.
(c) He is shy about doing it in public.
(d) He thinks it is a rude way to treat Bakha.

Short Answer Questions

1. What instruction does Charat Singh give Bakha about the hockey stick?

2. What was the family's purpose in putting Bakha on the floor when he was so ill?

3. What does the narrator note is ironic about Charat Singh's exclamation "Oh, work, work, blow work!" (91)?

4. What does Bakha do after he sits down in the alley where he has been unable to get any attention from the houses?

5. What is implied by Bakha's feeling like a "giant" when he looks back at the outcastes' colony after fleeing his home?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do the sweepers all spend so much time outdoors, even when they are not working?

2. When Bakha is lying under a tree outside the barracks, what does he decide about taking so much time away from work?

3. What does Bakha tell himself about his decision to go to Ram Charan's sister's wedding, and what are his true motives?

4. Although Bakha is honored by Charat Singh's actions, in what sense are they also condescending and dismissive of Bakha's humanity?

5. What surprises Bakha about the hockey stick Charat Singh gives him, and how does he react?

6. When Bakha is on his way to see Charat Singh about the hockey stick, what strange feeling does he have about the errand?

7. How does Bakha react to Chota's suggestion that the friends "catch hold" of the priest one day (84)?

8. What is the significance of Bakha asking Ram Charan to toss him a sugar plum instead of taking it himself?

9. Describe some of the common elements in Bakha's dreams when he falls asleep in the alley.

10. Even before Charat Singh gives Bakha the hockey stick, what does he do that causes Bakha to feel very honored?

(see the answer keys)

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