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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did Rick go home for in the year that he was in Haiti?
(a) The birth of Sam's son.
(b) Christmas.
(c) Thanksgiving.
(d) Grandma's death.

2. Why did Rick lose his job at the Birmingham paper?
(a) He chose to cover only certain stories.
(b) He had a fight with his boss.
(c) He called out sick a lot.
(d) He became too full of himself.

3. What did Rick's new friends at Harvard teach him?
(a) You can't go through life looking back at the past.
(b) You can't go through life wishing things were different.
(c) You can't go through life hating people who had it easier than you.
(d) You can't go through life hating people.

4. Rosario told Rick that he confronted the armed man in his store for what reason?
(a) Rosario cannot trust that the robber will take the money without shooting him.
(b) Rosario has been robbed so many times that he just wants to shoot them.
(c) Rosario worries that the robber will shoot up the store.
(d) Rosario knows the police won't help.

5. What was the one gift that Rick wanted more than anything to give his mother?
(a) A car.
(b) A house.
(c) A new wardrobe.
(d) A vacation.

6. In writing about sports, what did Rick come to realize were the only types of stories that he wanted to write?
(a) The ones in which people struggle.
(b) Death.
(c) Car racing.
(d) Football.

7. Why did the serial diner keep committing the same crime?
(a) He wanted to be in jail where he got three meals a day.
(b) He believed it makes him famous.
(c) He liked the attention.
(d) He did not want to be alone.

8. How long did Rick work for the L.A. Times?
(a) One week.
(b) One winter.
(c) One year.
(d) One month.

9. What did the woman tell Rick who he met at a seminar at the end of the book?
(a) That material items cannot fulfill dreams.
(b) That she should not put on hold the nice things in life.
(c) That from him she learned not to be ashamed of where she came from.
(d) That one must forget the past and move on.

10. What are the cemeteries like in Haiti?
(a) Empty because they burn the bodies.
(b) So full the caretakers don't know where they put people.
(c) Well kept as life is sacred.
(d) Guarded as no one is allowed in.

11. What happened in 1991 that Rick got to experience that terrified him deeply?
(a) A murder in a grocery store.
(b) A riot in Miami.
(c) A train wreck with many left dead.
(d) A young boy getting killed in an accident.

12. What was Margaret's response when Rick told her that he got the Fellowship?
(a) "Be sure to bring clean clothes."
(b) "Does that mean you won't be visting me."
(c) "I knew you would honey."
(d) "Lord God, you'll freeze to death."

13. What did Rick never do alone?
(a) Drink.
(b) Go to the movies.
(c) Go out to eat.
(d) Eat jellybeans.

14. Why didn't Rick take the job he wanted at the St. Petersburg Times?
(a) His brother was in trouble again, so he had to go home.
(b) His new girlfriend asked him not to.
(c) An old friend wanted him to return to the Anniston Star.
(d) His momma got sick, so he had to go home.

15. What kind of questions did Rick often find himself answering to the students at Harvard?
(a) Questions about Haiti.
(b) Questions about racism.
(c) Questions about his stories.
(d) Questions about the South.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why did momma move out of her new house?

2. What did Rick tell him momma that he wrote about?

3. After Rick's second trip to Haiti, what promotion did he receive?

4. What storm stopped Rick from leaving for his Fellowship on the day he was supposed to?

5. How did Margaret react to her trip to New York City?

(see the answer keys)

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