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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why did the author listen to the singers?
(a) He liked to hear the different parts of the music.
(b) He liked to see the blonde girl in the choir sing.
(c) He preferred singers over instruments.
(d) He liked to hear the echoes of voices against the brick.

2. Who did the author call "The Chicken Lady?"
(a) Mrs. Baruch.
(b) Mrs. Deutscher.
(c) Mrs. Rosenthal.
(d) Mrs. Klein.

3. Was Mr. Solovey a friendly man?
(a) No.
(b) Yes.
(c) He was friendly when he wasn't in the drugstore.
(d) He was friendly when he was in the drugstore.

4. What did the author like best about Highland Park Reservoir?
(a) It was away from home.
(b) It was where the girls went to sun themselves.
(c) It was cooler than the rest of the neighborhood.
(d) It was quiet.

5. Who were the author's friends?
(a) The boys who lived on Pitkin Street.
(b) The boys from his Hebrew classes.
(c) The characters from his books.
(d) The characters in the Bible.

6. What did the author and his mother admire as they walked past Belmont Avenue?
(a) The jars of colored water in the drugstore.
(b) The meats hanging in the delicatessen window.
(c) The fruits and vegetables.
(d) The architecture of the new buildings going in.

7. The author needed something urgent at the end of the chapter, The Block and Beyond, Pages 109-131. What did he need?
(a) To see his mother.
(b) To say his final goodbyes.
(c) To use the facilities.
(d) To see his father.

8. What language does the author share with Mrs. Solovey?
(a) French.
(b) Polish.
(c) Hebrew.
(d) Russian.

9. What name does the author keep calling God?
(a) Elohim.
(b) Jehovah.
(c) Yeshua.
(d) El Elyon.

10. What did the fat brother that owned the barber shop put through the delicatessen window?
(a) A motorcycle.
(b) The skinny brother.
(c) A customer.
(d) A barrel.

11. What did Mr. Solovey wear that was unusual to the author?
(a) A wedding band.
(b) Lederhosen.
(c) A black alpaca trench coat, even in the summer.
(d) Patent leather shoes.

12. What was the author's first idea of summer?
(a) Life could slow down.
(b) This was the summer he was going to master follow the leader.
(c) The summer could speed up.
(d) This was his summer to find a girlfriend.

13. What was the greatest mystery about the Soloveys?
(a) Why they moved so much.
(b) What they fought over.
(c) Why they were living in Brownsville.
(d) Where they were originally from.

14. What let the author know how he felt after he read his prayer book?
(a) By the thoughts he had the rest of the day.
(b) By the discussions he had with his mother.
(c) By the feeling in his chest.
(d) By the song in his head.

15. How did Mrs. Solovey commit suicide?
(a) She jumped in front of the El train at Rockaway Station.
(b) She sealed the doors and windows and let the gas stove run.
(c) She jumped from the fire escape.
(d) She jumped of the Brooklyn Bridge and drowned in the East River.

Short Answer Questions

1. What could you see someone doing into the late hours of dusk in Brownsville?

2. What word does the author use to describe many of the places in Pages 77-109?

3. What did the women of Brownsville expect to receive from the drugstore owner?

4. When the author played handball, was it for fun?

5. How did the author feel it meant to be a Jew?

(see the answer keys)

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