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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When did the United States explode a hydrogen bomb in the Eniwetok atoll?
(a) January 3, 1945.
(b) April 4, 1959.
(c) September 15, 1954.
(d) November 1, 1952.

2. Who was a person Bryson got to meet on one of these trips with his father?
(a) Ed Sullivan.
(b) Willie Mays.
(c) Captain Kangaroo.
(d) Lyndon Johnson.

3. For what characteristic was Bryson's father known?
(a) He was cheap.
(b) He was a great bowler.
(c) He was artistic.
(d) He was a great dancer.

4. What craft looked like fun at first but ended up being messy and frustrating?
(a) Creepy Crawlers.
(b) Play-Doh.
(c) Building models.
(d) Paint by Numbers.

5. What was a household item that people were buying in the 1950s?
(a) Espresso machine.
(b) Dishwasher.
(c) Toaster.
(d) Trash compactor.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did life in the 1950s make people feel?

2. Who was the Bryson family's dentist?

3. What was outlawed in almost every state?

4. In what month was Bryson born?

5. Who was the girl in Bryson's neighborhood that everyone wanted to see naked?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were the results on children of the U.S. bomb testings and what happened when the tests were moved underground?

2. Who was the one girl that all the neighborhood boys wanted to see naked and how did Bryson miss out on this momentous occasion?

3. What was the ritual Bryson had with his mother every Friday evening?

4. Who was Joseph R. McCarthy and what was his role in the fear of Communism that spread across America?

5. What was Bryson's mother's main personality quirk?

6. What were some of the ways that boys could see glimpses of naked women?

7. What were the results of the hydrogen bombs dropped by the United States in 1952 and 1954?

8. How did the Thunderbolt Kid get his powers and what were the circumstances of the Thunderbolt Kid getting his costume?

9. What sorts of things did Bryson and other kids do to help pass the long days?

10. What was Bryson's notion of how slowly time passed for kids?

(see the answer keys)

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