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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 actor was interviewed in the Playboy issue, read by Smith in Chapter 7?
(a) Marlon Brando.
(b) Elliott Gould.
(c) Jack Nicholson.
(d) Donald Sutherland.

2. What holiday was being celebrated on Smith's day off in Chapter 7?
(a) Memorial Day.
(b) Easter.
(c) Labor Day.
(d) Fourth of July.

3. Why was Pat, Dennis' wife, willing to accept his remaining in a dangerous profession?
(a) She knew he was doing what he thought was right for the whole family.
(b) She knew his job was stable.
(c) She was proud that her husband was brave.
(d) She knew his salary would steadily increase and support the family.

4. What kind of entertainment did the firefighters and children experience during the ice cream party in Chapter 9?
(a) Steel drums and African dance.
(b) African dance and Irish dance.
(c) Calypso and breakdancing.
(d) Pop music and tap dancing.

5. What did the woman do to the man whose Intervale Avenue apartment burned in Chapter 7?
(a) She pointed a gun at him.
(b) She went after him with a knife.
(c) She threw a lamp at him.
(d) She went after him with a machete.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did the cockroaches symbolize in Smith's view?

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

3. What kind of living quarters did Dennis Smith grow up in?

4. What job did Smith take when he quit high school?

5. At what age did Smith drop out of school?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How did Smith convince himself of the need to respond to all calls when he found himself getting fed up with the arson incidents?

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

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

5. 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?

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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