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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. Where does Brent stay when he arrives at his destination?
(a) The Sheraton.
(b) A youth hostel.
(c) A campground.
(d) A Dutch family's home.

2. What does Grandma wear on her head for the drive?
(a) A beautiful silk scarf.
(b) A wig from the Eisenhower era.
(c) A purple hat to match her dress.
(d) A baseball cap.

3. What meaning does the whale whirligig have for Grandma?
(a) The ocean is the keeper of life.
(b) Life will continue to "spin" after her death.
(c) The dead want the living to laugh.
(d) Nature follows a cycle of life and death.

4. After finishing his journal entry, where does Tony look?
(a) At the blackboard.
(b) At his math book.
(c) At his radio cord.
(d) At the clock.

5. Whom does Brent sit beside in the dining hall?
(a) An eighteen year old German student.
(b) Two Canadian cyclists.
(c) An attractive eighteen year old French girl.
(d) An older, bearded gentlemen.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what setting does Brent go about building the third whirligig in Chapter 7?

2. Why does Tony scratch under his shirt at the end of Chapter 6?

3. What does Grandma refuse to admit about her health?

4. According to Tony, what is wonderful about throwing up?

5. With whom does Tony pretend to have a conversation throughout Chapter 6?

Short Essay Questions

1. Which whirligig is at Tony's summer campground? How does Tony feel about the whirligig?

2. Up until this point in his life, Brent has never had any interests other than looking cool. What new interests are now filling Brent's spare time? What role models have helped him establish these other interests?

3. What does Brent resolve to do as he reads his star guide book? How is he already accomplishing his goal with the whirligigs?

4. As Brent steps into the hostel's dining hall, he sees a bearded man playing a concertina for the guests. Why does Brent admire this man? What is Brent thinking as he watches the bearded man entertain?

5. What does Tony finally write in his journal? What does he do to emphasize the truth in his entry?

6. Emil makes a comment to Brent that his father had told him that teachers live forever through their students. When Brent hears this, what person in his past comes to mind? What do her words mean to Brent at the time she speaks to him? What realization has Emil's sharing brought to Brent?

7. What are some of Jenny's parents' actions that lead them away from their Jewish heritage? Why do they try to forget their roots?

8. What does Grandma know at the beginning of the journey that Jenny does not know? What makes the ride even more poignant with Jenny?

9. How does the boy's interest in the whirligig affect Brent?

10. In Chapter 6, what task has the fifth grade teacher assigned that is difficult for her student Tony? Why is the assignment so hard?

(see the answer keys)

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