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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the era in which the author's childhood took place?
(a) World War Two.
(b) World War One.
(c) The 1920's.
(d) The Great Depression.

2. What did the author's family regularly do after their Friday night discussions?
(a) Go for a walk around the neighborhood.
(b) Listen to music.
(c) Play conasta.
(d) Read the newspaper.

3. What nickname does the author give the second street?
(a) The "short street."
(b) The "sweet street."
(c) The "show street."
(d) The "slow street."

4. The author's childhood school is still standing in the neighborhood, how does the school feel to the author?
(a) Like home.
(b) Like a castle.
(c) Cold and damp.
(d) Like a hospital.

5. Who did the author's father meet?
(a) Fellow freelance artists.
(b) Fellow freelance writers.
(c) Fellow freelance painters.
(d) Fellow freelance musicians.

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

7. Who could the author hear crying in the streets at night as a child?
(a) The neighborhood cats.
(b) The evicted tenants of the neighborhood.
(c) The woman down the street who's cat ran away.
(d) The man who had just lost his wife.

8. To the author's mother, what was the gateway to romance?
(a) Fashion.
(b) Riches.
(c) Status.
(d) Religion.

9. Did the author's mother believe her son's generation would succeed?
(a) No.
(b) She thought that if they didn't follow the traditions, they would fail.
(c) She felt that Socialism would lead everyone to succeed.
(d) Yes.

10. What is seltzer to the poor Jews?
(a) A luxury.
(b) Something only the wealthy could acquire.
(c) Used as a medicine.
(d) Worse than their drinking water.

11. How did the author describe the Episcopalian church in the neighborhood?
(a) Daunting.
(b) Rundown.
(c) Romantic and ethereal.
(d) Quite plain.

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

13. What did the street always smell faintly of?
(a) The candy from the wholesaler's windows.
(b) The garbage left on the curb.
(c) The sewage from the squatter's lot.
(d) Freshly baked bread.

14. At what age are Jewish boys "confirmed?"
(a) Fifteen.
(b) Twelve.
(c) Thirteen.
(d) Eighteen.

15. What were the author's lasting feelings about his school years?
(a) A feeling of success.
(b) A hopeful feeling of accomplishment.
(c) A feeling of inadequacy.
(d) A lifelong sense of being judged.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where did the author run away from his father?

2. What association did the New York World hold for the author?

3. What can the author see in every ground floor kitchen window?

4. What description does the author give Belmont Avenue?

5. What did the women of Brownsville force their children to do?

(see the answer keys)

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