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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 do Arn and Munny hide when they hear the sounds of a nearby battle during their make-believe game of war?
(a) In the theater where they had seen the movie earlier that night.
(b) In a pond near their house.
(c) In their rich next-door-neighbor's Mercedes.
(d) In the branches of a nearby Banyan tree.

2. Arn eventually discovers the real reason that the band is asked to play at several specific times each day. What is the reason?
(a) To keep the spirits of the soldiers high.
(b) To cover the sound of skulls being cracked as the Khmer Rouge murder captives.
(c) To make the field workers dance at regular intervals to amuse the soldiers.
(d) To keep the band members from running away into the jungle.

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

4. After asking Sombo many times why he is permissive with Arn and overlooks his breaking of the rules, Sombo reveals the reason. What does he say is the reason?
(a) He says that he was an orphan who was forced to steal in order to survive as well.
(b) He says that he knew Arn's father before he was killed and that he feels a responsibility to take care of Arn.
(c) He says that he has a special affinity for Arn because of his musical talent.
(d) He says that he hates what the Khmer Rouge make him do to punish children who break the rules, so he tries not to turn them in if he can help it.

5. What do the Khmer Rouge soldiers lack that makes the soldiers associated with the Prince doubt their power?
(a) Homogeneous uniforms.
(b) Grenades.
(c) Boots.
(d) Guns.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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?

2. What reason does Arn give for not eating the human liver that the Khmer Rouge soldier forces him to cook?

3. Who is in the picture that Arn hangs on his bedroom wall at the beginning of the novel?

4. What event precipitates the band members being fed real rice and being forced to practice their music all night long?

5. What does Arn say that convinces the new music teacher to make more of an effort to teach the children?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do the Khmer Rouge burn everyone's clothes and all of their material belongings?

2. How does Arn describe his village at the opening of the novel before the Khmer Rouge arrive?

3. What does Arn tell the reader about his family background within the exposition part of the story?

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

6. What do Arn and his little brother Munny do after they sneak in to see the American movie and what happens to make them hide?

7. How does the author use the juxtaposition between the kitchen girl's molestation of Arn and the comfort he then seeks within Mek's embrace? What is her purpose in using this juxtaposition?

8. 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?

9. How does Arn fix the problem of the new music teacher's apathy and what effect does this solution have on the band's members?

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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