View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why did the author run?
(a) To escape his block.
(b) To train for handball.
(c) To be the first to play follow the leader.
(d) To escape the junkyard dogs.

2. What did the author like best about Highland Park Reservoir?
(a) It was where the girls went to sun themselves.
(b) It was quiet.
(c) It was away from home.
(d) It was cooler than the rest of the neighborhood.

3. During the second year of The Great Depression, how long had it been since the author's father had work?
(a) Nine months.
(b) Two weeks.
(c) Nine weeks.
(d) Three years.

4. What did the author want more than anything?
(a) To leave Brownsville.
(b) To be a good son.
(c) To be a "good Jew."
(d) To be a good handball player.

5. What was the Rabbi reluctant to do at Mrs. Solovey's funeral?
(a) Say the necessary prayers inside the synagogue.
(b) Allow a viewing.
(c) Allow her to be burried in the synagogues cemetary.
(d) Say the necessary prayers over her grave.

6. What has replaced an entire block of drugstores and candy shops in the neighborhood?
(a) Factories.
(b) Department stores.
(c) Restaurants.
(d) Second-hand furniture shops.

7. What did Mrs. Solovey's coffin look like?
(a) It was wrapped in a Star of David flag.
(b) It was ornately carved.
(c) It was black and plain.
(d) It was a plain wooden box.

8. Where was the turn off to "all things good" the author's sixteenth summer?
(a) The turnoff to the Italian neighborhood.
(b) Eastern Parkway.
(c) Pitkin Avenue.
(d) Chester Street.

9. What was the greatest mystery about the Soloveys?
(a) Why they were living in Brownsville.
(b) Why they moved so much.
(c) Where they were originally from.
(d) What they fought over.

10. Why don't the children sleep inside?
(a) The cockroaches made it impossible to sleep in their bedrooms.
(b) The bedrooms are closed off to save energy.
(c) It was too hot.
(d) Their parents rent out their rooms.

11. Was Mr. Solovey a friendly man?
(a) He was friendly when he was in the drugstore.
(b) No.
(c) He was friendly when he wasn't in the drugstore.
(d) Yes.

12. How did Mrs. Solovey commit suicide?
(a) She jumped from the fire escape.
(b) She jumped in front of the El train at Rockaway Station.
(c) She jumped of the Brooklyn Bridge and drowned in the East River.
(d) She sealed the doors and windows and let the gas stove run.

13. What time frame did the author always imagine himself walking through New York in?
(a) The 1880's.
(b) The 1900's.
(c) The 1850's.
(d) The 1890's.

14. What street was the author's house on?
(a) Broadview Ave.
(b) Rockaway Ave.
(c) Chester Street.
(d) Pitkin Street.

15. Why did the author play the violin for the barber?
(a) So he could listen to the old men talk politics.
(b) So he could get free haircuts.
(c) So he could learn how to become a barber.
(d) So he could read the racy news magazines.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did the author feel about summertime?

2. What was the author afraid of?

3. Why did the C.P. Organizer say the author couldn't join the Socialist party?

4. Who was the author's favorite of his Socialist party friends?

5. What name does the author keep calling God?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 548 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample