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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who did not usually bother to wash up even before eating or sleeping?
(a) Mudlarks.
(b) Chimney sweeps.
(c) Ragmen.
(d) Everyone.

2. Who most often hosted lodging houses?
(a) Men.
(b) There was no host.
(c) Soldiers.
(d) Women.

3. What did one Jewish trader claim to have purchased?
(a) An old cloak belonging to the King.
(b) A knight's sword.
(c) An old cloak belonging to the Queen.
(d) A bishop's miter.

4. What did the city of London use several tons of per year?
(a) Coal.
(b) Tobacco.
(c) Corn.
(d) Flour.

5. How long had the crossing week Mayhew interviewed work as a crossing sweep at the time of the interview?
(a) 20 years.
(b) More than a decade.
(c) 30 years.
(d) A few months.

6. What did the two orphan girls whose story Mayhew told sell?
(a) Candy.
(b) Newspapers.
(c) Flowers.
(d) Themselves.

7. What was a job of last resort?
(a) Costermongers.
(b) Begging.
(c) Crossing sweeps.
(d) Chimney sweeps.

8. Why did Mayhew say many costermongers lived in sin?
(a) They were unmarried.
(b) They refused to acknowledge the crown.
(c) They never attended church.
(d) They stole merchandise.

9. With whom does Mike live with after he is an orphan?
(a) His teenage sister.
(b) No where.
(c) His aunt.
(d) His grandmother.

10. What did a publisher who Mayhew knew do for the boy who talked to Mayhew?
(a) Helped him get an apprenticeship.
(b) Give him odd jobs occasionally.
(c) Sent him to America.
(d) Adopted him.

11. How did wholesale suppliers cheat costers?
(a) Making the terms of sell difficult to understand.
(b) Adding hidden interest rates.
(c) Holding the stock until it was sold and selling to two different costers.
(d) Selling rotten produce or shortchanging them.

12. What would very occasionally happen to a dependable crossing sweep?
(a) He would be beat up by less scrupulous workers.
(b) He would be given such good tips he could retire.
(c) He would be given a job as footman or porter in a household.
(d) He would be hired by the city council to supervise other crossing sweeps.

13. How often did chimney sweeps bathe in times earlier than that of Mayhew?
(a) Never.
(b) Twice a week.
(c) Everyday.
(d) Seldom.

14. What were the low end lodging houses like?
(a) They were just adequate, a little heat and a roof.
(b) They were typical dwellings for lower middle class.
(c) In terrible condition with no heat and leaky roofs.
(d) They were usually clean with decent food.

15. How did coster runaway children usually support themselves?
(a) Joining the military.
(b) Living with another adult.
(c) Selling items on the street.
(d) Entering orphanages.

Short Answer Questions

1. What type of modern store did costermongers fill in 1800s London?

2. How were dustmen hired?

3. What kind of education did most costermongers have?

4. What was the most common tasks for which costers used math?

5. What did patterers deliver to their potential customers?

(see the answer keys)

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