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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. What was Billy O'Mann griping about when talking about empty lots near the fire station?
(a) He thought the city should allow firefighters to park there so their cars do not get stolen.
(b) He thought parks should be built in the lots.
(c) He thought new buildings should be constructed on the lots.
(d) He thought the station should be expanded onto those lots.

2. Why was Dennis upset about the visit from the welfare inspector?
(a) He was afraid the inspector would find the hidden television.
(b) The inspector spoke to his mother harshly.
(c) He thought his friends would see the inspector and he was ashamed about being poor.
(d) He was afraid the family would be denied more benefits.

3. How was the bleeding woman who ran into the station for help injured in Chapter 9?
(a) Her boyfriend assaulted her.
(b) Her stepfather attacked her with a beer bottle when she resisted a sexual assault.
(c) Her mother assaulted her.
(d) She was involved in a car accident.

4. What free perk did New York firemen get?
(a) Free admission to parks.
(b) Free rides on the subway.
(c) Free taxi rides.
(d) Free clothes.

5. How must firefighters find the rewards in their profession?
(a) They must seek them out each in his own way.
(b) They must seek rewards from their fellow firefighters.
(c) They must look to society's veneration of firefighters.
(d) There are no rewards in the profession.

Short Answer Questions

1. What holiday was being celebrated on Smith's day off in Chapter 7?

2. What ethnic group was now predominate in the formerly Irish neighborhood in which Smith grew up?

3. Where did Smith take the application test?

4. What is the Irish way of making tea, as described by Smith in Chapter 7?

5. Why were the teens carrying the items out of the Simpson Street apartment building?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Smith suggest that perhaps even with guidance, South Bronx resident Tina de Vega may still have ended up on drugs and prostituting herself?

2. Why were some of the firefighters unwilling to help out at the department's occasional parties for neighborhood kids?

3. How did Dennis Smith feel as a child when the welfare inspector visited his family?

4. What were Smith's initial views of firefighting before he joined the department?

5. Why were the men uneasy as they begin the training drill in Chapter 6?

6. Describe the character of Lieutenant Collins.

7. Does Smith feel that society has become more violent over the years, and if so, why?

8. 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?

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

(see the answer keys)

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