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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What happened to the letters Margaret received from Charles while he was in Korea?
(a) She gave them to Rick when he gets older.
(b) He threw them away one night.
(c) She shredded them.
(d) They were burned.

2. What was meant by the quote "didn't have no papers on him."?
(a) The hospital did not have papers on the dead baby.
(b) The baby was never christened.
(c) No records were kept of dead babies.
(d) The baby never existed.

3. Why did Rick love his 1969 convertible so much in high school?
(a) It allowed him to escape his small town.
(b) It made him feel equal to the other high school kids.
(c) The other guys loved it, so they paid attention to him.
(d) It allowed him to get the pretty girls.

4. Why did Margaret bury Rick's muddy sneakers?
(a) She believed he may be involved in the Sparks case.
(b) She did not want to clean them.
(c) She thought John Sparks used them.
(d) She wanted to protect him from the police.

5. What does Rick say about this book?
(a) That he wrote it for himself.
(b) That it is a story meant only for his family.
(c) That everyone should read it.
(d) That it is not important.

6. What was acceptable practice and what was not in the foothills?
(a) Fighting and drinking.
(b) Not to be able to read; not to be able to dance.
(c) Not to be able to read; not to be able to fight.
(d) Beating your childen and missing church.

7. What did Rick's grandmother die from?
(a) Cancer.
(b) Pneumonia.
(c) Heart failure.
(d) Kidney failure.

8. Why were Margaret's sisters better off in life than she was?
(a) They moved to better parts of the country.
(b) They became educated.
(c) They married better.
(d) They had fewer children to care for.

9. How did the weather make the war worse in Korea?
(a) It was boiling hot.
(b) It was always raining.
(c) It was terribly windy.
(d) It was freezing cold.

10. What was the house like that Rick's father brought them to when Rick was six years old?
(a) A mansion.
(b) Small, but in good shape.
(c) Just big enough for all of them.
(d) Big but decrepit.

11. What city's bombing did Rick mention that he writes about?
(a) Hiroshima.
(b) Oklahoma City.
(c) Pearl Harbor.
(d) Port au Prince.

12. What was "Dinner on the Ground"?
(a) A family outing.
(b) When father throws the food in anger.
(c) A church picnic.
(d) When the mothers allow the children to eat in front of the TV.

13. What did Margaret mean when she told Sam and Mark that Rick is "travelin'"?
(a) He was reading another book.
(b) He was daydreaming.
(c) He was taking a walk.
(d) He was having a seizure.

14. What did Rick find himself wishing for at the funeral home?
(a) Heaven.
(b) Another day with his grandmother.
(c) God.
(d) A way to spend more time with his mother.

15. What did Margaret eat when the children were small?
(a) What falls to the floor.
(b) What is given to her by others.
(c) Only bread.
(d) The scraps from their plates.

Short Answer Questions

1. How old was Charles when he died?

2. In general, how did Rick Bragg feel about religion as he always had?

3. What did Rick and Uncle Ed both acknowledge early on about Rick's future?

4. What war was Rick's father in?

5. When did Rick first meet his father?

(see the answer keys)

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