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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 tragedy, Arn goes to see the Khmer Rouge soldier boy who has told Arn and the other Little Fish that they are not real soldiers. What does he do before he goes to see this boy?
(a) He paints his face with blood.
(b) He puts on white shorts and takes off his shirt.
(c) He changes into an all-black uniform.
(d) He borrows everyone's rifles and hangs them all across his body.

2. What simile does Arn use to describe his sister's appearance when he sees her?
(a) Like a tiny old woman.
(b) Like a tired mother.
(c) Like a whisper of air.
(d) Like an overworked horse.

3. What event causes Arn to question whether Sombo is still his friend or not?
(a) Arn overhears Sombo telling another soldier how annoying he finds Arn's behavior.
(b) Arn sees Sombo strike Siv in the face for being clumsy.
(c) Sombo refuses to share his extra rice with Arn.
(d) Sombo swears at him and spits on the ground when Sombo asks to go wherever Sombo is being taken by the high-ranking soldier.

4. When Arn asks a nurse what month and year it is, she replies that it's March 1979. He then figures out he has been away from home for how long in total?
(a) Three years.
(b) Five years.
(c) Four years.
(d) Seven years.

5. Who nurses Arn enough to bring him back to consciousness once he reaches Thailand?
(a) A group of three Thai girls.
(b) Arn's three older sisters.
(c) Siv, Kha, and Mek.
(d) Three boys from Little Fish with Big Sting.

Short Answer Questions

1. Thinking he hears gunfire one night at the hospital, Arn awakes with a start and reaches for his gun. What is actually making the sound that he mistakes for gunfire?

2. What happens to cause Arn to say that now "even the earth is our enemy" (126)?

3. At one point, Arn becomes so hungry and thirsty and eats fruit off the ground even though there is something wrong with it. What's wrong with it?

4. Arn says there are many things to be afraid of at night, and now he has one more thing to be afraid of after they have shot everyone in the village below. What is that thing?

5. When Arn finds Sophea lying motionless, he considers killing her to save her from rape, from murder at another's hands, or from being eaten by wild animals. He doesn't, instead choosing to take what action?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the white rabbit enter the narrative of the story and what is its significance?

2. Arn and Missus Gotobed, the headmistress of the Children's Center, become furious with Mr. Pond for his behavior on two separate occasions for two different reasons. How do those reasons differ?

3. When the leader allows Arn to ride his white horse to a neighboring camp to deliver a letter, why does Arn not run away?

4. Why does Arn begin to shake after he boards the bus with the other refugees?

5. When the Khmer Rouge put Arn and 19 other boys into a platoon they call Little Fish with the Big Sting, what thought of Arn's acts as foreshadowing for the coming carnage?

6. After Sombo leaves the group to take Koong to a Thai hospital, the kids all argue about which they should go. Arn goes in the opposite direction and they see, but do not care. What reason does Arn give for their apathy?

7. Once Arn wakes up from being nursed back to health by the three girls in Thailand, how does the motif of sound come into play?

8. Why do Arn, Siv, and Kha kick dirt over their excrement after they eat the sweet potato Arn brings back from the leader's house?

9. For what reasons does Arn choose Sojeat and Ravi as his two favorites when Mr. Pond asks him for two names?

10. What is the author's purpose in including the two conflicting accounts of the war emanating from Sombo's radio?

(see the answer keys)

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