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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. How did Smith's wife compare his job to that of a soldier's in Vietnam?
(a) It was safer in Vietnam.
(b) In Vietnam, soldiers only had to serve for a year.
(c) Soldiers were better-paid.
(d) There was more job security as a soldier.

2. Why was Smith sent to the hospital after the Prospect Avenue fire?
(a) He broke his ankle leaving the building.
(b) He suffered slight burns.
(c) He sustained smoke damage to his throat.
(d) He suffered injuries from falling debris.

3. What do arsonists sometimes do when they leave the scene of a fire?
(a) They gather evidence of arson and take it away.
(b) They leave booby traps to hurt firefighters.
(c) They call the fire department anonymously.
(d) They do not call the fire department to report the fire.

4. What was the name of the strong fireman who single-handedly replaced the hose at the end of Chapter 5?
(a) Billy Valenzia.
(b) Knipps.
(c) Benny Carroll.
(d) Royce.

5. What happened to Dennis as a child involving cockroaches?
(a) He had accidentally eaten a cockroach hidden in food.
(b) He had drunk from a bottle and almost swallowed a cockroach.
(c) He had discovered dozens of cockroaches in the refrigerator.
(d) He had woken up at night to find himself covered with cockroaches.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which firefighter died shortly before the time Chapter 2 takes place?

2. Which magazine asked Smith to write about firefighters?

3. To which kind of call was the firefighter responding when he was killed, prior to the events in Chapter 2?

4. Approximately how many calls did Engine Co. 82 respond to the year before the book was written?

5. Why did the firefighters not enter the burning apartment building in Chapter 5?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did the firemen do when they got the second teenager out of the Intervale Avenue apartment building, which was torched in the arson attack in Chapter 1?

2. What did Katherine Anne Porter mean by "a book will find its author" and how did that apply to Dennis Smith?

3. What does Dennis Smith think should be done with people who pull malicious false alarms, and why?

4. How does the fire department announce the death of a fellow firefighter in the line of duty?

5. How does Smith describe the fire marshals sent to investigate the Intervale Avenue fire?

6. Why does Smith tell his mother that he feels compelled to continue working in the dangerous South Bronx neighborhood?

7. Why do you think Dennis Smith found the act of writing the book as exciting as responding to fire calls?

8. Why does Dennis Smith think firefighters--although regular people--are nevertheless somehow apart from others?

9. In reflecting on the boys who chanted hate-filled slogans at the firefighters in Chapter 4, Smith reflects that "people don't hate other people." What does he mean by that?

10. Why did some of the men defend Chief Marks despite the fact that he was known for yelling at the firefighters?

(see the answer keys)

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