I Have Lived a Thousand Years

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. As Bubi describes in Chapter 1, what does he see in Budapest that causes him to immediately purchase a ticket home?

A) German tanks and the swastika flag.

B) Hitler’s special police, running amok.

C) A letter from a Jewish mystic that warns of bad things to come.

D) A makeshift Nazi headquarters.

2. Ahead of the Nazi raid of their village, where does Bitton-Jackson’s father bury the family’s most precious jewelry?

A) In the synagogue yard

B) In their neighbor’s flowerbed

C) In the cellar

D) In the local graveyard

3. Before leaving their village in Chapter 5, Laura gets special permission to do what task before they go?

A) To visit her sister in the hospital, who cannot be moved

B) To visit her old schoolyard, one last time

C) To visit her parents’ graves

D) To visit the local bakery

4. Bitton-Jackson helped Mrs. Kálmán’s daughter (Márta) with what subjects in school?

A) German and history

B) German and math

C) Math and biology

D) Math and social studies

5. In Chapter 10, Serena panics on the night before the Jews are forced to leave the ghetto. She has an outburst and begins breaking which of the following items?

A) Eggs

B) Windows

C) Mirrors

D) Fine China and crystal

6. When Celia gives Laura a clump of black ration bread in Chapter 14, causing Laura to vomit, how does Suri respond?

A) She cries, unable to eat it.

B) She says the must learn to eat it to survive.

C) She also throws up, as a result.

D) She sits there, numb to the chaos around her.

7. What is the irony about Laura eating the pottage infested with worms in Chapter 18?

A) Laura had a special fear of worms.

B) Laura had always hated pottage.

C) Laura had told the SS guard that she would be going on a hunger strike.

D) Laura had always been a finicky eater.

8. What sort of epidemic breaks out in Camp Plaszow, which reduces the inmates to “raglike dolls” (97)?

A) Diarrhea

B) Listeria

C) Diphtheria

D) Scurvy

9. What is the reason why the SS rounds up German civilians to be shot in Chapter 20?

A) They had attempted to free a group of Jewish prisoners.

B) They had attempted to assassinate Hitler.

C) They had stolen guns and other weapons from the SS camps.

D) They were looting SS storehouses full of food.

10. What is the name of the infirmary in Auschwitz where sick prisoners can stay for up to one month?

A) Blockälteste

B) Stammlager

C) Sonderkommando

D) Revier

11. Which of the following is not one of the items of food that Bitton-Jackson was given upon arrival at Augsburg?

A) Pretzel

B) Sauerkraut

C) Soup

D) Dumplings

12. In Augsburg, Bitton-Jackson is assigned a job working on an assembly line that does what?

A) Assembles shoes from recycled parts

B) Assembles small, complex instruments

C) Assembles guns and other weaponry

D) Assembles clothes to be worn by inmates

13. Bitton-Jackson regrets that she will not be able to say goodbye to Mr. Scheidel before leaving Augsburg. Why is that?

A) He vowed he could get her family safely home after they left the camp.

B) He always gave her the least worm-infested pottage in the kitchen.

C) He was secretly Jewish, and occasionally they would recite the Talmud together.

D) He smuggled in crusts of bread and bits of paper for her to write poetry.

14. In Chapter 37, Bitton-Jackson is asked by a man speaking “strange Yiddish” if everyone in the boxcar is Jewish. Why does this man have a “strange” accent?

A) He’s Italian.

B) He’s American.

C) He’s French.

D) He’s German.

15. Why does Bitton-Jackson initially not want to go to America?

A) She fears the Nazis are still there.

B) She does not want to eat American cuisine.

C) She fears they would always be treated like foreigners there.

D) She worries she will miss her hometown.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating textual details to support your response.

1. The minor figure of Jancsi Novák—the “heartthrob” of Bitton-Jackson’s school—is only in the book through Chapter 4. How does Jancsi contribute to the larger message of the book?

2. Why is the last chapter of I Have Lived a Thousand Years called “The Statue of Liberty”? Discuss the reason and how it relates to Bitton-Jackson’s larger message around hope.