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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. By 2 a.m. after the explosion, how many other fire brigades from all over Kiev raced to the plant?

2. After the explosion, how many safey valves were open in Unit Four control room?

3. By what time did Interior Ministry troops wearing chemical warfare suits and respirators block access to the Chernobyl plant?

4. When was the first Soviet atomic bomb detonated on the steppes of Kazakhstan?

5. At what time did a purple cone of iridescent flame leap 150 meters into the air around Chernobyl's ventilation stack?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Alexander Esaulov's job in 1986?

2. How was the area cleaned up after a massive explosion occured inside the perimeter of Chelyabinsk-40 in 1957?

3. What was the emergency bunker like at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant?

4. How did Toptunov qualify as a senior reactor control engineer?

5. When did Brukhanov come home briefly, and what news did he bring?

6. Where was Toptunov born and how did he grow up?

7. What did Yuvchenko and Tregub find when they tried to manually turn on the taps of the emergency high-pressure cooland system aand food the reactor core with water?

8. Why did Dyatlov struggle to manage the operators and engineers of Chernobyl?

9. What was happening with Unit Four on Saturday evening?

10. When did people in Pripyat begin to realize something was happening?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Higginbotham provides background information about events leading to the Chernobyl disaster. How does Higginbotham present background information? Why are backstories important in Midnight in Chernobyl?

Essay Topic 2

The citizens of Pripyat were not evacuated immediately after the nuclear disaster. Why did it take so long to issue an evacuation order?

Essay Topic 3

Imagery is a literary device authors use to describe something using the five senses to help readers experience what a character is experiencing. How does Higginbotham use imagery to help readers imagine the disaster and the events he relates in Midnight at Chernobyl?

(see the answer keys)

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