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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What business did Dorothy start in Chapter 5 that was fairly successful?
(a) A hair salon.
(b) A truck stop diner.
(c) A makeup business.
(d) A gun shop.

2. What did Jeannie do for a living during much of Smarsh's life?
(a) Worked as a real estate agent.
(b) Worked as a paralegal.
(c) Worked as a waitress.
(d) Worked as a court reporter.

3. What did Smarsh say in Chapter 5 that most people associate poverty with?
(a) Prosperity.
(b) City life.
(c) Ugliness.
(d) Rural life.

4. What movie did Smarsh cite as having paricularly harmful stereotypes of rural people in Chapter 4?
(a) Shane.
(b) Deliverance.
(c) Highlander.
(d) The OK Corral.

5. What did Ray do to Betty in Chapter 6 that could easily have killed her?
(a) Shot her in the arm.
(b) Made her drink too much alcohol.
(c) Poisoned her.
(d) Stabbed her in the foot.

6. What was Bob's main reason for coming to find Betty after she left him?
(a) He wanted his baby son.
(b) He wanted his baby daughter.
(c) He wanted Betty's share of the house.
(d) He wanted Betty's welfare check.

7. Where did Betty sometimes take Smarsh with her when there was no one to look after Smarsh as a child?
(a) The welfare office.
(b) Her doctor's appointments.
(c) The carnival.
(d) Work.

8. Smarsh says she is the the only female in her family who did not have which of the following?
(a) A violent or absent father.
(b) A cleaning service.
(c) A trust fund.
(d) A welfare check.

9. Who was Betty's "brainy" older brother?
(a) Carl.
(b) Chic.
(c) Arnie.
(d) Robert.

10. In Chapter 4, where does Smarsh's father take her and Matt on a vacation?
(a) To Florida.
(b) To the Black Hills of South Dakota.
(c) To California.
(d) To the Ozarks.

11. When did Smarsh say both her parents lost jobs and entered one of the hardest stretches of their lives?
(a) 2006.
(b) 2008.
(c) 2010.
(d) 2000.

12. Why did Aaron beat Betty when she was a child, as told by Smarsh in Chapter 4?
(a) Betty missed picking up a single nail in the yard from a carpentry project.
(b) Betty asked for shoes.
(c) Betty asked for a Christmas present.
(d) Betty asked for milk.

13. Who was Jeannie's new boyfriend in Part IV?
(a) Bob.
(b) Ronald.
(c) Marley.
(d) Jackson.

14. What kind of offense does Smarsh say just about every adult she knew had spent a night in jail for committing?
(a) Theft.
(b) Fraud.
(c) DUI.
(d) Homicide.

15. Which ex-husband of Betty's did Jeannie remember as a "belt-snapper?"
(a) Ed.
(b) Bob.
(c) Arnie.
(d) Frederick.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was Betty ashamed of doing in the early 1960s as a young and single mother?

2. What violent storms are most common in Kansas?

3. Who did Smarsh's father marry in Chapter 4?

4. What kind of prescription did Chris finally get after more than 25 years of struggling with addiction?

5. Which judge did Betty have a particularly friendly relationship with?

(see the answer keys)

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