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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Paragraphs 9 - 15 .

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In paragraph 2, what does the narrator say she sometimes thinks her mother has no memory of from her youth?
(a) Double somersaults and heart-stopping catches.
(b) Cramming for tests and getting good grades.
(c) School dances and young love.
(d) Devouring books and writing poetry.

2. How did Anna's hands get burned during the disaster?
(a) Her blind fold was on fire when she removed it.
(b) She grabbed onto the tent just as it went up in flames.
(c) Her handle bars were struck by lightning.
(d) She grabbed onto a metal wire that was hot from the lighting.

3. Where does the narrator and her mother live?
(a) Vermont.
(b) New Hampshire.
(c) Maine.
(d) Rhode Island.

4. What happened during Harold and Anna's act just before they were able to clasp hands in midair?
(a) Anna went into labor.
(b) A strong wind blew the tent away.
(c) Lightning struck the main tent pole.
(d) A blizzard forced everyone to run for shelter.

5. What did Anna's second husband teach her to do while in hospital?
(a) Speak Spanish.
(b) Play chess.
(c) Walk again.
(d) Read.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does the narrator say the tabloids carried the story of their town's disaster?

2. Where did the narrator sometimes go when she was a child "just to sit" (para. 11)?

3. What stands "cast in concrete" (para. 3) to commemorate the accident?

4. What does the narrator point out in paragraph one about how her mother moves through the house?

5. What does the narrator think must have happened to her mother after she was taken to the hospital the day of the disaster?

(see the answer key)

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