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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 9.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why did Smith's mother hide the television under a bedspread?
(a) Welfare recipients were not allowed to have TVs or phones.
(b) She was afraid the TV would be stolen.
(c) The TV was broken.
(d) She did not want her children watching TV.

2. According to Smith, how should kids who pull malicious false alarms be treated?
(a) They should be given guidance care by social services.
(b) They should be returned to their parents.
(c) They should be sent to an institution for a year.
(d) They should be warned of the consequences of false alarms.

3. How would firefighters have designed a building differently to make firefighting easier, according to Smith?
(a) They would have designed better staircases.
(b) They would have had more fire escapes.
(c) They would have restricted the height.
(d) They would have eliminated elevators.

4. What did the firefighters find on Freeman Street during one of the calls in Chapter 3?
(a) A burning car.
(b) A man injured in a fight.
(c) A burning store.
(d) A car accident.

5. What happened to Dennis as a child involving cockroaches?
(a) He had drunk from a bottle and almost swallowed a cockroach.
(b) He had discovered dozens of cockroaches in the refrigerator.
(c) He had accidentally eaten a cockroach hidden in food.
(d) He had woken up at night to find himself covered with cockroaches.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why did the John Birch Society want a local teacher in Washingtonville fired?

2. What is Washingtonville's main claim to historical significance?

3. Approximately how many firefighters died each year in New York at the time the book was written?

4. To which classical literary figure does Smith refer when describing the wounds on the young girl assaulted by her stepfather in Chapter 9?

5. How did Smith's wife compare his job to that of a soldier's in Vietnam?

(see the answer key)

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