The Pushcart War Practice Test

Recognize how characters solve problems with simple, improvised tools. Carlos comes up with a pea shooter, a device that fires small peas as ammunition. This fits the story’s playful ingenuity and resourceful mood, showing how the pushcart fighters defend themselves without resorting to heavy weapons. The design works because it’s inexpensive, easy to assemble from everyday items, and quiet enough to use without drawing a lot of attention. The other options don’t fit the scene: dried peas are the ammunition, not the weapon, and the alternatives would clash with the book’s tone of clever, non-lethal tactics. So, the weapon Carlos devised is the pea shooter.