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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When the author discovers a new development in a familiar part of town, he had a particular feeling toward seeing the development. What was the feeling he had?
(a) Anger.
(b) Joy.
(c) Fear.
(d) Dismay.

2. How did the author feel about his Hebrew classes?
(a) That he was put in the spotlight too often.
(b) Confident and secure in his knowledge and faith.
(c) That he lacked a genuine understanding of the faith and rituals.
(d) That he was a leader among his peers.

3. What was the author listening to when he last saw his childhood kitchen?
(a) The first Sabbath services from Belsen concentration camp.
(b) The sound of children happily playing in the streets before suppertime.
(c) His parents fight over money.
(d) The announcement of Dwight D. Eisenhower's election as president.

4. What did the big Italians sell and during what time?
(a) Yogurt during the spring.
(b) Baked apples during the fall.
(c) Watermelons during the summer.
(d) Roasted nuts during the winter.

5. Who is it the author always sees first when he enters Brownsville?
(a) The old women.
(b) The Negroes.
(c) The subway guard.
(d) The children.

6. What did the Jewish vendors sell roasted potatoes, baked apples and knishes from?
(a) A wood cart.
(b) A tin stove.
(c) A black oil barrel.
(d) A shiny metal cart.

7. Who did the author feel could intercede with God for him?
(a) His Rabbi.
(b) The Biblical Deborah.
(c) His mother.
(d) His father.

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

9. Where was city land all around Brownsville? What were those pieces of land used for?
(a) The neighborhood garden.
(b) The neighborhood waste site.
(c) Cutting and storing tombstones.
(d) A plot of land for squatters to camp.

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

11. What did the author spend his school days staring at in fear and anxiety?
(a) The clock.
(b) A notebook that sat on the teachers desk.
(c) The boy in the second row who would tease him during lunch.
(d) The ruler that was used to punish the students that hung on the wall.

12. What did the children buy from the Syrian vendors?
(a) Yaknit al-kama.
(b) Halvah.
(c) Manoushah.
(d) Couscous.

13. What would the author skip pages of his favorite book to read?
(a) The description of the characters eating black bread, salt and tomatoes.
(b) The description of the mountainous terrain the characters lived in.
(c) The description of the ship the immigrants came across the ocean on.
(d) The description of the homestead the characters were building.

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

15. What did the team receive if they won the competition between the "Army Navy" tests the civics teacher gave?
(a) A blue star.
(b) A free pass to the bathroom.
(c) A gold star.
(d) An automatic passing grade on a test.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the author connect New York rush hour with from his childhood?

2. What did the author's mother do to remember her parent's deaths?

3. What instrument did the author play as a child?

4. Who was Mrs. B said to have physical relations with?

5. What nickname did the author's father give him?

(see the answer keys)

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