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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. What does Mami say it is time for, once she puts a stop to the brewing argument on the boat?
(a) Paddling.
(b) A water break.
(c) Praying.
(d) A truce.

2. What phrase does Mahmoud think to himself over and over once he is hit by tear gas at the hands of Hungarian soldiers?
(a) "Please no."
(b) "I can't breathe."
(c) "I'm going to die."
(d) "I can't die here."

3. What item do Isabel and Amara work together to break away from the boat so they can throw it overboard and reduce the rapidity of the capsizing process?
(a) The portrait of Fidel Castro.
(b) The engine.
(c) A bench.
(d) The cooler.

4. In the moments after Isabel and the other passengers see Miami, what event happens?
(a) Their boat motor dies.
(b) Luis jumps off the boat and starts to swim.
(c) Their boat starts sinking.
(d) They bury Ivan at sea.

5. In what location does Josef's mother spend all her time on the ship since leaving Cuba?
(a) In the cafeteria.
(b) On the sundeck.
(c) In her cabin.
(d) In the dance hall.

Short Answer Questions

1. After whom is Josef named?

2. What action does Waleed take throughout the entire robbery by the taxi driver, causing Mahmoud to worry about his emotional well-being?

3. Of the refugees boarding the dinghy with Mahmoud's family, what does the narrator say is the kind of person constituting the majority of the passengers?

4. Why is Belgrade, Serbia an unsafe place for Mahmoud and his family?

5. As the passengers are chanting in desperation, who does Josef see lingering in the doorway and smiling?

Short Essay Questions

1. Whenever Mahmoud or his father wonder where Mahmoud's mother is, where do they inevitably find her and what is she doing?

2. What shocking detail does Mahmoud's father reveal to his family once they have been thrown into the water by their dinghy's destruction on the rocks?

3. Though the narrator states that a few of the refugees Mahmoud sees when boarding the dinghy have backpacks or plastic bags, how are most of the refugees carrying their belongings?

4. For what reason does Dr. Aber, the father of Renata and Evelyne, tell the girls to disembark from the ship without bringing any of their belongings?

5. What reaction do the other passengers of the MS St. Louis have to Renata and Evelyne being allowed to leave the ship to join their father?

6. How does Mahmoud save his infant sister Hana from drowning after the family's dinghy bursts upon the rocks?

7. For what purpose does Josef leave his father Aaron alone in the family's cabin when his mother is asleep?

8. How does Josef's mother's plan for getting a sleeping potion for her husband Aaron go awry?

9. What happens to Mahmoud's family on the way from Belgrade to the Hungarian border?

10. What is the reason given for the firemen on the ship engaging in bad behavior while the ship is docked in Cuba and what are they said to be doing?

(see the answer keys)

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