The
Comprehension Questions
(Enter answers on
the line to left of each question.)
_______ 1. Jerry’s tone compares the bathroom to:
a. Garden of Eden
b. Roman Spa
c. WWI and WWII
d. hospital operating room
_______ 2. Jerry infers that unwashed hands are_?
:
a. unsuitable for
writing themes
b. the sign of a macho-man
c. simply a nuisance
d. carriers of polio germs
_______ 3. Jerry’s invention used _____?
a. Radio Shack electronic parts
b. A NASA gas detector
c. Army surplus gadgets
d. parts from a hardware store
________ 4. Jerry’s conducted a washroom test?
(T)rue or (F)alse.
________ 5. Jerry entered his invention in ___.
a.
b. the national patent registry
c. Mr. Wizard’s science show
d. a scientific study of scatology
e. none of the above
________ 6. Scatology is the study of ___?
a. Biology
b. particle physics
c. excrement
d. cats who scat
________ 7. What did Jerry not think about the boy he heard in the bathroom?
a. “felt his pain”, sympathized with him
b. likened him to a brave soldier
c. he might have a medical flaw
d. it was actually the custodian
________ 8. What radio show did Jerry think of?
a. Rin Tin Tin
b. Crime Does Not Pay
c. War Stories
d. The Shadow
_________ 9. Which disease was not mentioned?
a. typhoid
b. hemorrhoids
c. polio
d. diarrhea
________ 10. How did Jerry time his alarm?
a. interviewing friends
b. using himself as a test case
c. consulting a gastroenterologist
d. hiding in a stall with a stopwatch
_________ 11. Jerry compared defecation to ____?
a. depth charges and torpedoes
b. a Humpty Dumpty rhyme
c. a teacher he despised
d. a defector (a deserter, traitor)
_________ 12. Why did Jerry want the device?
a. it would make him famous
b. to win a science fair award
c. to prevent disease
d. to embarrass classmates
_________ 13. What did the stall sitter do?
a. failed to flush the toilet
b. collapsed on the floor
c. failed to wash his hands
d. studied for a spelling test
_________ 14. What is meant by B.M. in the A.M.?
a. Billy Morgan in his Auto-Mobile
b. Beginning Math and Arith-Metic
c. after breakfast scatology
d. a belt-busting morning breakfast
_________ 15. Jerry compared unwashed hands to _?
a shaking hands with toilet paper
b. shaking hands with fecal matter
c. shaking hands with polio germs
d. all of the above
_________ 16.What was not considered as an alarm?
a. his Schwinn bike horn
b. a flashing red light
c. a scolding voice
d. a sign posted on the door
_________ 17. What was Jerry’s handwashing enforcer?
a. class bully standing by the sink
b. the alarm mechanism
c. a poster revealing abusers
d. restroom agent spying on the unwashed
_________ 18. How would Jerry’s alarm work?
a. using flushing and washing signals
b. an odor detector in the stalls
c. door-bell button on soap dispenser
d. recoil of a spring-loaded toilet seat
_________ 19. Why did the stricken toilet sitter enrage Jerry ?
a. he knew his hands were filthy yet he failed to wash them
b. Jerry was sorry for the sitter
c. the sitter helped serve lunches
d. he’d seen the sitter pick his nose
_________ 20. What resulted from Jerry’s idea?
a. he received the Jonas Salk award
b. nothing
c. this story will make others think about bathroom handwashing
d. the story sickens readers
e. c. and d.
The
Vocabulary List
Word Synonym
1. deft skillful
2. commode toilet
3.
discriminator selection device
4.
myriad innumerable
5.
decibel measure of sound
6.
din loud discordant noise
7. alimentary
canal entire body food tube
8. defecation waste elimination
9.
contrivance mechanical device
10.
gadgetry crude mechanisms
11.
scatology study of excrement
12.
fecal pertaining to body waste
13.
carnage slain
flesh
14.
pile single hemorrhoid
15.
hemorrhoids sores
16.
urethra bladder tube
17.
prostrate gland
18.
typhoid communicable disease
19.
incognito disguised
20.
epiphany divine revelation
Above: Never Patented Hand Washing Enforcer Invention Design (circa 1953)
Restroom Door Posting of Handwashing Abusers