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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. Though at first Arn is furious with Mr. Pond for taking chances that lead to him being shot by a Thai guard, Mr. Pond then reveals news that makes Arn ecstatic. What is that news?
(a) He says he has done some investigation and is convinced that Arn's little brother Munny is not dead after all.
(b) He says he has won the Thai lottery and that he will spend the money helping Arn find his family.
(c) He says he has found Arn's mother and is bringing her to reunite with Arn.
(d) He says he is taking Arn, Sojeat, and Ravi to America with him.

2. 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?
(a) It is not yet ripe.
(b) It is been partially digested by an animal and he finds it in animal excrement.
(c) It is rotten and infested with maggots.
(d) It is been pecked at by many birds.

3. What happens to cause Arn to say that now "even the earth is our enemy" (126)?
(a) Vietnamese soldiers leap out of a ditch to attack their group.
(b) Their rice girl steps on a land mine and loses her leg.
(c) When they bury their dead, the earth expels their bloated bodies.
(d) The vegetables they plant won't grow.

4. Using the method of time measurement that Arn and the other captives must use, eight harvests means he's been held captive for how long?
(a) 2 1/2 years.
(b) 3 years.
(c) 1 1/2 years.
(d) 5 years.

5. 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?
(a) That he'll be left on his own since now sometimes the group moves in the nighttime and he has come close to being left behind.
(b) Sleep since it is now filled with nightmares.
(c) Sombo since he now comes in the night to tell Arn disturbing stories of his childhood.
(d) The fire going out because of the danger of villagers who may have escaped coming to kill them for revenge.

Short Answer Questions

1. Arn hallucinates, seeing a rabbit as large as he is and this illusion seems to lead the way to Thailand. What color is the rabbit he hallucinates?

2. When he is mistaken for a member of the Khmer Rouge by one of their leaders, what is Arn's reaction?

3. When Arn has fallen so ill that he's afraid he will die, an American man comes to the hospital. What does Arn do in order to get the man's attention?

4. What event causes Arn to question whether Sombo is still his friend or not?

5. Why does Arn start to suspect that Koong is Sombo's new favorite boy?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Arn hears the conflicting reports on Sombo's radio, with the Voice of Angka saying that a victory for the Khmer Rouge is imminent and the American station saying that the Vietnamese are in control of the East and are taking more land every day, Arn doesn't know which report to believe. He does, though, hold on to one fact that he hears. What is that fact and why does he choose to keep it in mind?

2. 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?

3. What is the author's purpose for including Arn's comment that "now even the earth is our enemy"? (126)

4. How does the scene of the Vietnamese soldiers walking through the village calling out to the people echo a scene from the first chapter of the novel? What is the effect of that allusion?

5. Describe the parting of Arn and Mek. What is its significance within the course of the narrative?

6. What words does the dying lady in the village spit at Arn and why do her words hurt him so much?

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

8. When Arn determines that he has been away from his home village for two and a half years, how does he reach this conclusion?

9. What new privileges does Arn receive while acting as the leader's assistant of sorts and what feelings do these new privileges inspire in him?

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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