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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In A Simple Solution to an Impossible Problem, what does Oskar recall doing when dad calls on September 11, 2001?
(a) Picking up the receiver and hanging back up.
(b) Answering the phone and crying.
(c) Leaving the room.
(d) Listening to the answering machine pick up.

2. How fast is the Sixth Borough drifting away from New York in the story?
(a) Half a mile a year.
(b) 1 meter a year.
(c) 1 millimeter a year.
(d) 1 foot a year.

3. Why is Oskar nervous about meeting Ruth Black?
(a) She lives atop a skyscraper.
(b) He hasn't gone alone to an apartment in some time.
(c) She lives way out in Staten Island.
(d) He worries he does not look his best.

4. Which best describes the location of the Sixth Borough?
(a) It sits adjacent to the Bronx.
(b) It is a penninsula jutting off of Brooklyn.
(c) It is a strip of land between Brooklyn and Queens.
(d) It is an island very close to Manhattan.

5. In his letter in A Simple Solution to an Impossible Problem, what does Stephen Hawking admit wishing that he could be?
(a) A waiter.
(b) An athlete.
(c) An actor.
(d) A poet.

6. How does Thomas Schell, Sr., describe his son's voice on the September 11th messages?
(a) Loving.
(b) Calm.
(c) Scared.
(d) Sad.

7. What continent, according to Thomas Schell, Jr. is now the home of the Sixth Borough?
(a) Antarctica.
(b) Europe.
(c) South America.
(d) Australia.

8. Which of the Blacks that Oskar visited informed his mom of the search?
(a) Abby.
(b) A.R.
(c) Abe.
(d) Ruth.

9. How many survivors, including Thomas, are recovered by soldiers after the bombing in Why I'm Not Where You Are?
(a) 4.
(b) 6.
(c) 10.
(d) 2.

10. What does Grandma refuse to share with Thomas in Why I'm Not Where You Are?
(a) Her money.
(b) Her body.
(c) Her anger.
(d) Oskar.

11. Why does Oskar want to know how his father died?
(a) So he can stop having nightmares.
(b) So that they can put it on the death certificate.
(c) So he can stop inventing ways.
(d) So he will know what to tell people.

12. What type of lock does the key go with?
(a) A safety deposit box.
(b) An old automobile.
(c) A door.
(d) A large chest.

13. What label does Oskar apply to himself during The Sixth Borough?
(a) Manhattanite.
(b) Optimist.
(c) Pacifist.
(d) Scientist.

14. What natural occurrence does Ruth Black talk about in Alive and Alone?
(a) Static storms.
(b) St. Elmo's Fire.
(c) Lunar eclipses.
(d) Solar flares.

15. Which of the following is not evidence cited by Thomas Schell, Jr. of these existence of the Sixth Borough?
(a) Holes in the Central Park Zoo.
(b) The pH levels of the reservoir,
(c) A placard found on the bottom of the Hudson.
(d) Two names carved on a tree.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Oskar respond to A.R. Black's announcement that he is quitting the search?

2. How long does Thomas later learn the first bombing of Dresden lasted?

3. Why does A.R. Black have to speak to the woman at Agnes Black's building for Oskar?

4. How does Thomas burn the skin off his hands in Why I'm Not Where You Are?

5. Which of the following is a borough of New York that Oskar determines he has never visited at the beginning of The Sixth Borough?

(see the answer keys)

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