View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How did Smith believe the city was treated by the state?
(a) He felt the state tried to control the city.
(b) He felt the state placed too many requirements on the city.
(c) He felt the state put too much emphasis on the city.
(d) He felt the state took the city's tax money, but failed to provide adequate services.

2. Approximately what percentage of the fire department's calls were for actual fires?
(a) One-half.
(b) Three-quarters.
(c) One-quarter.
(d) One-third.

3. How did the boy sustain the injuries suffered in the incident at Home and Simpson streets in Chapter 2?
(a) He fell from his bike while riding.
(b) He was injured while playing ball.
(c) He was beaten.
(d) He was struck by a car.

4. To which publication did Dennis Smith write a letter that caught the attention of editors?
(a) Time magazine.
(b) New York Times.
(c) Washington Post.
(d) New York Times Book Review.

5. How did the firefighters save the life of the overdose victim on Hoe Avenue?
(a) By performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
(b) By performing CPR.
(c) By pumping his stomach.
(d) By shoving ice down his pants.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was responsible for the most malicious false alarms?

2. What kind of tool did the firefighters use to break down the door during the Kelly Street fire?

3. What was the name of the strong fireman who single-handedly replaced the hose at the end of Chapter 5?

4. According to the film Smith saw at a recent science fair, how much bigger than the earth is the sun?

5. Why did Smith insist on working in the South Bronx?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Smith describe the fire marshals sent to investigate the Intervale Avenue fire?

2. Why does Dennis Smith think firefighters--although regular people--are nevertheless somehow apart from others?

3. In what ways does Smith view the old-style machine politics as preferable to the current system?

4. Why does Smith say city workers were fleeing cities to live in the suburbs?

5. What does Dennis Smith think should be done with people who pull malicious false alarms, and why?

6. What did the South Bronx neighbors do in an attempt to stop malicious false alarms from the Hoe Avenue alarm box and was it effective?

7. What was Firefighter Jim's reaction to news of the arrests of Vietnam War protesters in Chapter 3?

8. Why, according to Dennis Smith, were so many false alarms were pulled in the South Bronx?

9. What did Dennis Smith observe about the attitude of the driver who hit the young boy and was then beaten by the crowd in Chapter 2?

10. Why does Smith tell his mother that he feels compelled to continue working in the dangerous South Bronx neighborhood?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,009 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample