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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the minimum height for a fireman in New York?
(a) 5'4".
(b) 6'0".
(c) 5'9".
(d) 5'7".

2. Why were merchants good to firefighters (i.e., by giving them discounts) under the old system?
(a) They expected the firemen to be forgiving during inspections.
(b) They were required to offer discounts to firemen.
(c) They wanted to get faster response times during emergencies.
(d) They expected the firemen to protect them from arson.

3. What was the first call the department took the day after the Saint Patrick's Day parade?
(a) A child locked inside an apartment alone.
(b) A child locked inside a bathroom alone.
(c) An overflowing bathtub flooding an apartment beneath.
(d) A stove fire.

4. What did the cockroaches symbolize in Smith's view?
(a) Disease.
(b) Uncleanliness.
(c) Fear.
(d) Poverty.

5. What did the welfare inspector recommend to the welfare agency after the visit?
(a) He recommended a decrease in benefits when he saw the television.
(b) He recommended an increase in benefits so that the children could get winter coats.
(c) He recommended an increase in benefits so the family could have more to eat.
(d) He recommended no change in benefits.

6. Why were the five adults and two children unable to escape the burning building?
(a) Because the fire on the floors below stopped them.
(b) Because the fire escape was broken.
(c) Because a partial roof collapse blocked their way.
(d) Because the doors were locked from the outside to kep drug addicts out.

7. How did Smith view the fire department's amusement park trip for neighborhood children?
(a) He believed it was ultimately a waste of time.
(b) He believed the kids who attended were not the ones who needed help the most.
(c) He believed it improved relations and made the children less likely to pull false alarms.
(d) He believed most of the children were cynical about the trip.

8. What job did Smith take when he quit high school?
(a) Delivering for a Chinese restaurant.
(b) Driving a cab.
(c) Delivering food.
(d) Delivering flowers.

9. While responding to an apartment fire on Simpson Street in Chapter 7, what did the firefighters see two teenagers carrying down the stairs?
(a) A radio and toaster oven.
(b) A television and toaster oven.
(c) A radio and television.
(d) A television and phonograph.

10. Approximately how many children were at the ice cream party in Chapter 9?
(a) 300.
(b) 120.
(c) 200.
(d) 250.

11. How many shots did the police officer fire at the fleeing youth in front of the fire station in Chapter 6?
(a) Three.
(b) Two.
(c) Five.
(d) One.

12. How must firefighters find the rewards in their profession?
(a) They must seek them out each in his own way.
(b) They must seek rewards from their fellow firefighters.
(c) They must look to society's veneration of firefighters.
(d) There are no rewards in the profession.

13. How old was Smith when he filled out an application to the fire department?
(a) Eighteen.
(b) Twenty-five.
(c) Twenty-two.
(d) Twenty-one.

14. Why did Smith not want to leave the South Bronx?
(a) He was determined to become a captain.
(b) He felt the neighborhood needed him.
(c) He received extra pay for working in a tough neighborhood.
(d) He thought other places would be boring.

15. What did the naked man on Southern Boulevard wield as a weapon?
(a) A baseball bat.
(b) A whip.
(c) A butcher knife.
(d) A handgun.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was Billy O'Mann griping about when talking about empty lots near the fire station?

2. Why did Smith not eat hamburgers when fellow firefighters prepared them for the station dinner?

3. For which radical group was the group of Park Avenue residents raising money in the magazine article read by Smith in Chapter 7?

4. Why did Smith say he disagreed with fellow firefighters' prejudices, but also understood them?

5. Where did Smith take the application test?

(see the answer keys)

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