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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. After the children in the band have had no rice for many days, the Khmer Rouge tell them they are getting a special dinner of banana peels, rice husks, and rotten pieces of food. Arn knows that this is usually the food given to which kind of farm animal?
(a) A horse.
(b) A goat.
(c) A pig.
(d) A chicken.

2. What reason does Arn give for it being a dangerous act for him to think about his sister or any of his other family members?
(a) Because it makes him angry at them for letting this happen.
(b) Because Mek is jealous of Arn's feelings about his family.
(c) Because getting his hopes up for a reunion with his family is a waste of time.
(d) Because the Khmer Rouge can see inside his head.

3. How does Arn describe the monks at the temple school?
(a) He says they are hard to communicate with since they've taken a vow of silence.
(b) He says they are corrupt and secretly take bribes from government officials.
(c) He says they are kind but that they make the children work all the time.
(d) He says they are mean and that they make the children work all the time.

4. What causes Arn to think that finally the Khmer Rouge may have won the metaphorical battle between himself and the soldiers?
(a) He loses his appetite and feels that even if he were given an entire meal, he would refuse to eat it.
(b) He realizes that he wants to please the soldiers more than he wants to stay alive.
(c) He thinks that he'd rather see any other child in the camp die than to die himself.
(d) He can no longer remember the faces of his family members.

5. Who tells Arn's aunt about Arn and Munny seeing the American movie?
(a) Sophea.
(b) Sojeat.
(c) Munny.
(d) Mali.

Short Answer Questions

1. Arn eventually discovers the real reason that the band is asked to play at several specific times each day. What is the reason?

2. When the Khmer Rouge soldiers take all of the captives' clothes and burn them, what clothing do they provide instead?

3. When Chantou gets mad that Arn is working as a vendor, what is NOT something she says he should be doing instead?

4. Why does the kitchen girl give Arn extra food?

5. What dance do Arn and Munny perform for the crowd outside the theater?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to the pregnant woman and her husband who are walking next to Arn within the mass exodus of all cities? What lesson does Arn learn from seeing what happens?

2. After Arn is chosen by Khmer Rouge leaders to play music in their band, Arn sees there are positive results and negative results of his being chosen. What are they and what does this show about one's fate under the rule of the Khmer Rouge?

3. When Arn's curiosity gets the better of him and he finally asks Sombo the reason for his permissiveness concerning Arn's behavior, what reasoning does Sombo provide and what is the author's purpose in portraying Sombo's character in this particular way?

4. When a new mail carrier comes into camp, he shares some news with Arn. What part of the news does Arn doubt and what is the significance of this doubt?

5. What ploy do the Khmer Rouge use to get the government soldiers to come to the airport and what happens once they arrive?

6. When a soldier from Arn's home village comes to camp, what does he offer Arn in exchange for some rice and what does Arn learn as a result of accepting his offered deal?

7. What is the author's purpose in including the character of the five-year-old child whom Arn finds feasting on the flesh of the dead?

8. What are the signs that lead Arn to think that perhaps the Mango Grove is a mass burial site used by the Khmer Rouge to inter their victims?

9. What is the significance of the escape from camp by the boy from Arn's village?

10. Who is the emaciated girl with the missing teeth and loose skin who arrives at Arn's camp and what does he learn from her?

(see the answer keys)

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