The Testing

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-5

Reading Check

1. How do Cia’s clothes change at graduation?

2. Who developed the new potato?

3. Who is Cia’s best friend from home?

4. How do Cia and other candidates from her area get to Tosu City for The Testing?

5. How many parts does The Testing have?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does information about an old law about treason change the candidates’ understanding of The Testing?

2. Why is Cia’s family conflicted about her being chosen for The Testing?

3. Why have no Five Lakes students been chosen for The Testing in years?

Paired Resource

Elizabeth Wathuti's Speech at the United Nations

• This 6-minute video appeals to leaders and the world to address climate change immediately.
• The speech connects to themes of The Environment, Its Destruction, and Human Dependence and Dystopia and Youth Resistance.
• What message about the environment does this speech share with The Testing? How does Cia’s environment resemble the world that Wathuti fears?

“Hope Is the Thing With Feathers”

• This poem by Emily Dickinson compares hope to a bird that “perches in the soul” and keeps many of us warm.
• Dickinson’s poem offers connections to The Environment, Its Destruction, and Human Dependence.
• Despite the desolation of the wars, how have people and nature demonstrated hope in the novel?

Chapters 6-11

Reading Check

1. What happens to candidates when they seek medical attention?

2. What does Cia infer when no one comes to her room after the group test?

3. How many of the 108 candidates remain after the group test?

4. Where does Tomas believe the starting point for the practical exam will be?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Dr. Barnes respond to Ryme’s death, and what does this reveal about The Testing?

2. Summarize Malacihi’s death and the others’ response to it. What does his death show about the competition?

3. When in the team of five, why does Cia choose not to go into any problem room?

4. How does Michal help Cia before the practical exam?

5. Why doesn’t Cia trust the oasis?

Chapters 12-16

Reading Check

1. What do Cia and Tomas find that speeds up their travel?

2. What does Cia find hidden in the bracelets?

3. How do Cia and Tomas test whether the road is safe?

4. Who do Cia and Tomas meet in the maze in the city?

5. Who attacks Cia when she is looking for water alone?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Cia choose to help other candidates when it seems increasingly clear that The Testing rewards ruthlessness?

2. How does the time Cia was apart from Tomas and Will affect the three?

Paired Resource

Wilderness Survival

• This article includes stories about and advice for surviving in the wilderness.
• Thematic connections include The Environment, Its Destruction, and Human Dependence.
• Which of the tips in this article do Cia and Tomas use? What further advice about surviving The Testing would you give them?

“Ten Young Activists Shaping the World the Way They Want”

• Amnesty International presents information about young activists from different countries working to effect change on issues they care about.
• Thematic connections include The Environment, Its Destruction, and Human Dependence; The Ends Justifying the Means; and Dystopia and Youth Resistance.
• Based on the article, which of the youth activists reminds you of Cia? Explain your reasoning.

Chapters 17-22

Reading Check

1. What does the man behind the fence give to Cia, surprising her?

2. Who kills the mutated humans in the city?

3. How many candidates are ultimately chosen for University?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is the man behind the fence helping Cia?

2. How does Cia help Tomas finish the last 10 miles?

3. What is the significance of Zeen’s transit communicator?

Recommended Next Reads 

Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau

• In this sequel to The Testing, Cia faces the awful truth about the lengths the United Commonwealth goes to during the process of The Testing. She struggles with knowing whom to trust and what next steps to take during her time at the University.
• This novel offers thematic connections to The Environment, Its Destruction, and Human Dependence; The Ends Justifying the Means; and Dystopia and Youth Resistance.
• Shared topics include growing up, friendship, trust, and the environment.
• Independent Study on SuperSummary

The Book of Joan by Lidia Yuknavitch

• In 2049, Earth is almost impossible to live on, most people have fled to a spacecraft, and wars rage over what remains. A young woman, Joan of Dirt, possesses powers that can help protect the earth and shape the future of the world.
• This novel offers thematic connections to The Environment, Its Destruction, and Human Dependence; The Ends Justifying the Means; and Dystopia and Youth Resistance.
• Shared topics include the environment, friendship, and difficult choices.
• The Book of Joan on SuperSummary