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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. To which classical literary figure does Smith refer when describing the wounds on the young girl assaulted by her stepfather in Chapter 9?
(a) Gaia.
(b) Electra.
(c) Medea.
(d) Medusa.

2. How did Smith try to impress people after dropping out of school?
(a) By claiming he was studying to be a botanist.
(b) By claiming he was studying business.
(c) By claiming he was saving money to tour Europe.
(d) By claiming he planned to become manager of the store one day.

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

4. Why did Smith not eat hamburgers when fellow firefighters prepared them for the station dinner?
(a) He had to live on hamburgers during his poverty-stricken childhood.
(b) He needed to lose weight.
(c) He felt they weren't healthy enough.
(d) He was a vegetarion.

5. What did Smith foresee when he first applied to become a firefighter?
(a) Stability and security.
(b) A high salary.
(c) A chance to make a difference.
(d) An uneventful job.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why did Smith think his school principal and mother were wrong to lament his dropping out?

2. What was the cause of the fire the men responded to at Union and 166th Street in Chapter 10?

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

4. Why did it take the firemen longer than usual to reach the large fire on Intervale Avenue in Chapter 10?

5. Why did the city fence off the empty lots near the fire station?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the character of Lieutenant Collins.

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

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

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

5. Why did Smith think it was useless to argue with the sneering youths hanging around a fireman's car in Chapter 10?

6. How did contemplating the changing seasons make it easier for Smith to deal with the dangers of his job?

7. 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?

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

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

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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