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EXERCISE 1: Check Your Understanding
Choose the best response for each question.
1. At the beginning of the story, what did the landowner require of Khoai in order for Khoai to marry his daughter?
a. work hard for three years
b. bring the landowner a bamboo with 100 joints
c. earn a lot of money
d. win a fight against the village chief’s son
2. Why did the landowner tell Khoai that he needed to bring a bamboo with 100 joints?
a. He wanted to see if Khoai was strong and hardworking.
b. He was hoping that Khoai would forget about his daughter.
c. Bamboo is an important plant in Vietnam.
d. He didn’t want Khoai to succeed in marrying his daughter.
3. Who did Khoai meet in the bamboo forest?
a. the village chief
b. Buddha disguised as an old man
c. his grandfather
d. the landowner’s daughter
4. How was Khoai able to get a bamboo with 100 joints?
a. The old man taught Khoai magic words.
b. The old man showed him where to look.
c. The landowner tricked Khoai.
d. Khoai glued the pieces of bamboo together.
5. What happened after Khoai said “Stick together! Stick together!” the third time in the village?
a. The bamboo stuck together in one long piece.
b. The landowner got stuck to the bamboo.
c. The chief and his son got stuck to the bamboo.
d. The magic words did not work.
6. Why did Khoai say “Unstick! Unstick!” at the end of the story?
a. Buddha told him that it was time to say those words.
b. The landowner’s daughter said she would marry Khoai.
c. The people in the village became angry and attacked the landowner and the chief.
d. The landowner and the chief agreed to the marriage between Khoai and the landowner’s daughter.
EXERCISE 2: WORK WITH WORDS
Find the word in the story. Select the best definition for the context.
1. exhausted (par. 5 )
a. angry
b. confused
c. tired
d. sad
2. approached (par. 5 and par. 7 )
a. yelled at
b. got near
c. left
d. understood
3. proceeded (par. 11)
a. stopped
b. asked
c. continued
d. walked
4. illustrates (par. 20)
a. draws a picture of
b. criticizes
c. imagines
d. shows
EXERCISE 3: THINK CRITICALLY
Read and discuss the following questions.
1. At the end of the story, the author describes the landowner as “pained and ashamed”? Do you think he was genuinely sorry for his actions? Why or why not?
2. Do you think the landowner’s daughter wanted to marry Khoai? What were her feelings about the marriage? Support and explain your opinion.
3. Who is Buddha? Why is his presence important to the story?
4. The author, Long Doan, says that this is the most popular story in Vietnam. He says his mom told him the story when he was a child. Why do you think parents tell their children this story?
