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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. Why were merchants good to firefighters (i.e., by giving them discounts) under the old system?
(a) They expected the firemen to protect them from arson.
(b) They wanted to get faster response times during emergencies.
(c) They expected the firemen to be forgiving during inspections.
(d) They were required to offer discounts to firemen.

2. Why were the five adults and two children unable to escape the burning building?
(a) Because the fire on the floors below stopped them.
(b) Because the fire escape was broken.
(c) Because the doors were locked from the outside to kep drug addicts out.
(d) Because a partial roof collapse blocked their way.

3. What did Smith see in Fireman Billy-o as he held the baby who died in the fire?
(a) Despair.
(b) Depression.
(c) His humanity.
(d) Hatred.

4. What ethnic group was now predominate in the formerly Irish neighborhood in which Smith grew up?
(a) Dominicans.
(b) Blacks.
(c) Chinese.
(d) Puerto Ricans.

5. How old was Smith when he filled out an application to the fire department?
(a) Eighteen.
(b) Twenty-five.
(c) Twenty-one.
(d) Twenty-two.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Why was Pat, Dennis' wife, willing to accept his remaining in a dangerous profession?

3. How did being interviewed by Cynthia affect Smith's mood in Chapter 9?

4. What one gift did Smith want more than anything as a child?

5. How many men competed for firemen positions that day?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what key way does Smith say the modern firefighting exams are different from those of the past?

2. How did the firefighters react to the call in Chapter 7 in which they tended to a man who almost overdosed on drugs?

3. How did Smith distinguish between acts of shoplifting and looting within poor neighborhoods?

4. Is the poverty seen by Dennis Smith in the South Bronx different than the poverty in which he grew up?

5. Why did Smith view being a firemen as a sign of success when he was a child?

6. Despite the death of the baby in the last fire in the book, Smith was more committed than ever to remaining a firefighter. What did he see at that fire that reinforced his tremendous loyalty to his fellow firemen?

7. In what way can the training firemen undergo never be completely sufficient?

8. How did the elementary student, Cynthia, approach her interview with Smith in Chapter 9?

9. Did Smith feel that the rich New Yorkers mentioned in Chapter 7, who were raising money to bail out Black Panthers, had any real understanding of need?

10. What was Smith's attitude toward the man hanging around at the Union Avenue fire in Chapter 10? How did he feel about the man screaming that the firemen were not taking fire victims to the hospital because they didn't care about black people?

(see the answer keys)

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