Selection Test: What, of This Goldfish, Would You Wish?

What is Yonatan’s primary motivation for creating the documentary?

• To document the dreams people have been able to realize

• To show how ethnically diverse his community is

• To find the valuable fish so that he can ask for three wishes

• To create footage that can be used as social commentary

What does the word foreseeable mean as used in paragraph 5?

• Observed

• Anticipated

• Declared

• Promised

The author includes the information in paragraph 7 to show that —

• Yoni has doubts about whether his project will be a success

• Yoni does not hold prejudices against people who are different from him

• Yoni does not approve of the divisions and conflicts in his country

• Yoni has goals that extend beyond making money and becoming famous

Based on the description of Sergei’s past, readers can conclude that —

• A) his experiences in Russia made him fearful and paranoid

• B) his experiences in Israel made him feel lonely and worried

• C) his experiences deep-sea fishing made him confident and assertive

• D) his experiences with relationships made him feel distrustful and unlovable

What does the characterization of Sergei reveal that he values?

• Reliable companionship

• Complete isolation

• Being appreciated by others

• Living in a diverse community

Which two quotations from the selection best identify the tone of the story as informal?

• A Holocaust survivor with a number on his arm asked very slowly, in a quiet voice—as if he’d been waiting for Yoni to come, as if it wasn’t an exercise at all—he’d been wondering (if this fish didn’t mind), would it be possible for all the Nazis left living in the world to be held accountable for their crimes? (paragraph 5)

• Yonatan could hardly imagine what people were dreaming of in the development towns and the collectives along the northern border, in the West Bank settlements and Arab villages, the immigrant absorption centers full of broken trailers and tired people left to broil out in the desert sun. (paragraph 6)

• But the kid is slippery, and somehow between saying no and pushing the door closed, Sergei finds that the kid is in his house. (paragraph 12)

• Before the mind of Sergei Goralick really understands what it is his body has done, he seems to have taken the burner off the stove and hit the boy in the head. (paragraph 14)

• Sergei takes a deep breath. He steps out into the middle of the kitchen, out into the puddle. (paragraph 38)

In the last three paragraphs, the author uses a flash-forward to —

• make the rising action a surprise

• show how the conflict was resolved

• describe Sergei’s internal thoughts

• describe the success of Yoni’s project

Which quotation from the story best shows how the plot supports a theme of there being good in the world?

• Yonatan knew that if the project was going to have any weight, he’d have to get to everyone, to the unemployed, to the ultrareligious, to the Arabs and Ethiopians and American expats. (paragraph 7)

• That first wish, Sergei used up when they discovered a cancer in his sister. A lung cancer, the kind you don’t get better from. The fish undid it in an instant—the words barely out of Sergei’s mouth. (paragraph 29)

• In his mind, he was less sure, and all kinds of thoughts about other things he could have done with that wish continued to gnaw at him, half driving him mad. The third wish, Sergei hadn’t yet wished for. (paragraph 29)

• Superphotogenic. It was moving, the way he said it. Perfect, the way in which Munir wished his wish. Yoni knew even as he was filming that this guy would be his promo for sure. (paragraph 40)

In paragraphs 22–24, the author uses sarcasm most likely to —

• A) emphasize how the ability of the goldfish to do tricks keeps Sergei happy

• B) show how little Sergei has learned because of his isolation

• C) emphasize how Sergei’s poor language skills contribute to his misunderstanding

• D) show how dependent Sergei is on the goldfish for friendship

Which quotation from the selection best illustrates how the author built the story around irony?

• Folks would give their answers, and Yoni would edit them down and make clips of the more surprising responses. Before every set of answers, you’d see the person standing stock-still in the entrance to his house. (paragraph 2)

• No prep, no plotting, natural as can be, Yoni grabbed his camera and went out knocking on doors. (paragraph 5)

• But the kid is slippery, and somehow between saying no and pushing the door closed, Sergei finds that the kid is in his house. (paragraph 12)

• The one that looked straight into the camera and said, if he ever found a talking goldfish he wouldn’t ask of it a single thing. He’d just stick it on a shelf in a big glass jar and talk to him all day, it didn’t matter about what. (paragraph 41)