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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Barbara can not afford gas money because of the $30 she has to spend on a ___________ for her restaurant job.

2. Having spend her life with ____________ struggling people, the author is not happy about getting the assignment.

3. Many of the businesses in town seem to place ads in the paper ____________ so as to always have applicants.

4. The author most dislikes the visible __________ at the restaurant where she works since they complain and never leave good tips.

5. The management at the restaurant try to keep Barbara __________ at every moment of her shift, even when it's slow.

Short Essay Questions

1. What is surprising to Barbara about the many places to which she has applied for a job?

2. What will Barbara drive when she is a part of this experiment in working for minimum wage?

3. What will Barbara not rely on in order to get a job and to support herself, as one of the rules of her experiment?

4. How long a period of time will the author spend in each location?

5. What kind of job does Barbara say that she will take, money-wise, at least at the start of the experiment?

6. What does Barbara think, at the start of the experiment, will be the biggest challenge during this assignment?

7. Once Barbara begins to let go of her elitist attitude, what does she realize about the workers around her?

8. Describe the first apartment that Barbara finds when she is out looking for her first new 'home' for the assignment.

9. What does the bad tempered cook like to do sometimes back in the kitchen, according to Barbara?

10. What statement does the author make which leads to her getting the assignment to write this book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the biggest beliefs the author holds about the way a person can better themselves in the world is that education can allow a person to do anything and to be something more.

Part 1: How does the author's educational level help her in the process of this project?

Part 2: Why do you think the other workers around the author don't realize she is more educated than them?

Part 3: Why do you think the author expected the others she worked with to notice her educational level? What does this say about the author?

Essay Topic 2

Many times, the workers Barbara is with seem resigned to the life in which they have been a part.

Part 1: Why do you think the workers Barbara meets don't really understand that things could be better?

Part 2: Why do you think the workers around Barbara don't know their rights and don't believe them when Barbara tells them what they should expect?

Part 3: Why do you think the workers aren't motivated to do more for themselves?

Essay Topic 3

Barbara begins to recognize that her thinking is shifting when she becomes upset over the littlest things.

Part 1: Why do you think Barbara is beginning to get upset over the littlest things are her jobs?

Part 2: In what ways do some of the places of employment try to make the employees feel responsible for their work?

Part 3: Do you think it's healthy for an employee to become stressed out about the work they have done? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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