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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. During his childhood subway train rides to "the city," what told the author that he was on his last leg home?
(a) The Borough Hall Station.
(b) The Brooklyn-Clark Station.
(c) The East River.
(d) The east and west side express lane junctions.

2. What does the author connect New York rush hour with from his childhood?
(a) The hour the town slept.
(b) The hour that moved the slowest.
(c) The hour before supper.
(d) The hour the women worked frantically.

3. Where does the author step off the train when he first enters Brownsville?
(a) 35th Street.
(b) Rockaway Avenue.
(c) Main Street.
(d) Broadview Avenue.

4. What was the author's favorite school experience?
(a) His weekly visits with the speech pathologist.
(b) Saying the pledge of allegiance daily.
(c) Visiting the assembly hall.
(d) Walking past the girls' bathroom.

5. What did the author do every time he walked into the civics teachers classroom?
(a) Looked for his name on the blue chart.
(b) Looked for the girl with the red hair.
(c) Made sure there wasn't "pop quiz" written on the board.
(d) Made a bee-line for his seat.

6. What still lines Belmont Avenue that was there during the author's childhood?
(a) Garbage.
(b) Pots of flowers.
(c) Sewage.
(d) Pushcarts.

7. When the narrative begins, how many years has it been since the author left to live in "the city?"
(a) Three Years.
(b) Ten Years.
(c) Five Years.
(d) Thirteen Years.

8. How did the author feel about the women who sat around his dinner table on Friday nights?
(a) He was infatuated with one of them so he would listen in rapture to them.
(b) They were they joy in the home.
(c) They were too noisy and would escape the house.
(d) He got lost in their conversations but still sat there and listened.

9. What instrument did the author play as a child?
(a) The clarinet.
(b) The trumpet.
(c) The piano.
(d) The violin.

10. What feelings does the author experience when he gets off the train?
(a) Rage, dread and unexpected tenderness.
(b) Fear, loathing, and disgust.
(c) No feelings at all.
(d) Hope, lightheartedness and joy.

11. Who was Mrs. B said to have physical relations with?
(a) The math teacher.
(b) The English teacher.
(c) The principal.
(d) The physical education teacher.

12. What nickname did the author's father give him?
(a) Yankel.
(b) Heshie.
(c) Kaddish.
(d) Lazer.

13. Where does the author believe only truly free people are from?
(a) Russia.
(b) Poland.
(c) New York City.
(d) England.

14. What did the children buy from the small Italians?
(a) Shaved Ice.
(b) Strawberries.
(c) Sodas.
(d) Pasta.

15. Where did the author think he lived as a child?
(a) The most lonely place in the world.
(b) The best place a child could grow up.
(c) The end of the world.
(d) The place most suited to his family.

Short Answer Questions

1. At what age are Jewish boys "confirmed?"

2. What drove the author's mother to work so hard?

3. What belief about Jews did the author grow up with?

4. What did the three dressmakers and the author's mother speak of that made the author upset?

5. Where was the author's father offered a homestead while he was working for the Union Pacific Railway?

(see the answer keys)

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