View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When the Vietnamese soldiers kill everyone in the village by drawing them out with offers of free rice, why does Arn look at each dead person's face as he walks through the village?
(a) He wants to see what expressions they had on their faces when they died.
(b) He is looking for any member of his family.
(c) He wants to count how many males they killed versus how many males they killed.
(d) He doesn't know why he wants to look at their faces, but he does.

2. The second time Arn joins the volleyball game, he plays skillfully and everyone claps. Why does he do so well at the game this time around?
(a) Because he has conditioned himself to control his fear of flying objects.
(b) Because he has replaced the regular volleyball with a rubber ball that is easier to maneuver.
(c) Because he has been practicing all day every day and has even been sneaking out at night to practice.
(d) Because he has asked Sojeat and Ravi ahead of time to set up some good plays for him to build from.

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?
(a) He screams as loud as he can as the man passes by Arn's bed.
(b) He casts a pleading look at the man as he passes by Arn's bed.
(c) He intentionally falls off his bed into the man's pathway.
(d) He throws his breakfast across the room.

4. Why does Sombo return to the hidden village to kill everyone who lives there?
(a) Because he thinks they told the Vietnamese his group's location.
(b) Because he goes back to steal their food and they put up a struggle, so he kills them.
(c) Because he is worried that if he does not, the villagers will sneak into their camp and kill them first.
(d) Because he has become thirsty for blood after a lack of battle for so long.

5. Why does Arn decide he wants to become good at volleyball once he sees this is the most popular game at the Children's Center?
(a) Because he wants to spend his time doing something productive so that he can forget about missing his family.
(b) Because he used to play it back in his home village and he feels nostalgic about it.
(c) Because he thinks he'll be good at it since during battles he's had to watch the sky for flying artillery.
(d) Because he sees that whoever is good at the game becomes important in the eyes of the other kids.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Missus Gotobed warns the children that the refugee camp on the other side of the fence is dangerous, why does Arn still walk back and forth along the fence one day?

2. Why does Arn save most of the candy Mr. Pond gives him in order to give it to Sojeat and Ravi?

3. What happens the first time Arn shoots his gun?

4. When the Little Fish receive automatic rifles, a tragedy happens. What is it?

5. What new job does the child leader give the Little Fish so that they can prove their loyalty to Angka?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Arn turn over all of the dead bodies of the villagers to look into their faces?

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

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

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

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

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

7. 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?

8. How is the theme of family shaped and twisted within the narrative when the camp erupts into chaos at the news that the Vietnamese soldiers are close?

9. Conditioning is the automatic response of one's body that happens over a period of time when one is subjected to repeated negative and/or positive reinforcement in order to facilitate a particular response. The soldiers tell Arn and Siv that he has a new job for them, lead them to a temple, make them watch as they murder the elderly prisoners there, and order Arn and Siv to urinate on the bodies of the dead and dying old men. Arn thinks that there is no way he'll be able to comply, but when he looks down, he sees that urine is pouring out of his body onto the dead men's heads. What is the author's purpose in including this incident?

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 2,256 words (approx. 8 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample