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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When did the author feel the only time his favorite food could be eaten in "good conscience"?
(a) Saturday night.
(b) After he finished playing stickball.
(c) On his way home from school.
(d) Friday night.

2. What did the older neighbor boys do when they came home from work?
(a) Go out for a drink.
(b) Call on the author's cousin.
(c) Play instruments out on the street.
(d) Released pigeons.

3. What kind of dresses did Mrs. B wear?
(a) Ankle length flowery dresses.
(b) Stiff Nun's habits.
(c) Plain, old fashioned dressses.
(d) Billowing chiffon dresses.

4. In what battle did the brother of the author's cousin go missing?
(a) The Second Battle of Oituz.
(b) The Bergman Offensive.
(c) The Battle of Sarikamish.
(d) The Battle of Tannenberg.

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

6. When was the author's "great moment" of the Sabbath?
(a) When it was over.
(b) When the prayers were being said.
(c) When his father came home.
(d) When his mother placed the challah on the table.

7. What description does the author give Belmont Avenue?
(a) The "merriest street in Brownsville."
(b) The "loneliest street in Brownsville."
(c) The "brightest street in Brownsville."
(d) The "loudest street in Brownsville."

8. 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) Joy.
(b) Dismay.
(c) Fear.
(d) Anger.

9. What belief about Jews did the author grow up with?
(a) That they were destined to marry only out of duty.
(b) That they were destined to be bankers.
(c) That they were destined to be propertyless workers.
(d) That they were destined to be leaders of the country.

10. How did the author feel about being confirmed?
(a) He was positive it was what he wanted to do.
(b) He did it for his mother and out of tradition.
(c) He did it for the gifts.
(d) He did it out of peer pressure.

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

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

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

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

15. What time of day is the mind's "grazing time?"
(a) Bedtime.
(b) Dinner time.
(c) The time between dinner and bedtime in which only relaxing was done.
(d) Twilight.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What kind of books did the author go to his cousin's room to read?

3. Who did the author's father meet?

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

5. Did the author feel he could openly discuss his feelings about God?

(see the answer keys)

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