The Across the Tracks Girl Comprehension Questions

(Enter answers on the line to left of questions.)

 

            _______   1.  Jerry’s girlfriend was a neighbor.                                             

                                    (T)rue or (F)alse         

 

            _______  2.   Jerry’s Mother thought “mixed dating” was?   ______

                                    a. dating a girl across the tracks

                        b. dating a Catholic or Democrat

c. dating someone from another school

d. dating someone of a different nationality 

                                               

            _______  3.   Jerry was repulsed by a classmate’s____?                               

                                    a.  Belching

                                    b.  Vomiting

                                    c.   Spitting

                                    d.  Boogering

 

            ________  4.  One of the girls who captured Jerry was:

a.       morbidly obese

b.      a  junior lady wrestler

c.       Mary Poppins

d.      13 years old, she’d failed twice

 

            ________  5.   Jerry tried to discover whether a girl liked him by  _______.

                                    a. asking his friends to ask her

                                    b. having his mother call her mother

                                    c. counting the times she lined up for lunch near him

                                   d. secretly watching her reflection in a mirror-like device 

 

            ________   6. Why did Jerry and his friends receive a punishment?

                                    a. They had been tardy returning from recess.           

                                    b. Someone had seen them harm girls on the playground..

                                    c. They had posted inappropriate graffiti in the teachers’ lounge.

                                    d. A Whoopy Cushion had been placed in the teacher’s chair.

 

            ________  7.   How did Jerry discover his teacher was bluffing?

                                    a. The knuckle rap didn’t hurt very much.

                                    b. His friends let out frightening unnatural screams.

                                    c. He knew corporal punishment was forbidden in 1950s grade schools.

                                    d. An  eyelid flickered.

 

            ________  8.   Why did Jerry survive the slapping blow inflicted on him by his teacher?

                                    a. He’d seen a wrestling match where the combatants stiffened their bodies.

                                   b. He used his Geography Book as a shield.

                                    c. He was a junior black-belt in Karate.

                                    d. His limp body was held in place by his desk.

 

            _________ 9. With what did Jerry compare the punishment?

                                    a. The Indiana electric-chair.

                                    b. A hangman’s noose.

                                    c. A guillotine.

                        d. A mouse-trap

 

            ________  10. What did the teacher additionally do to prevent classroom disorder?

                                    a.  Assigned one boy to “tell-on” talking  girls and one boy to tattle on boys.  .

                                    b. Turned all the chairs around to spy on students from behind for mischief. .

                                    c.  Used   program THE SHADOW KNOWS to frighten the class into proper behavior. 

                                    d. Assigned  seating so that  boys  sat beside  girls in adjacent rows

 

            _________ 11. What were the “raps of correction?”

                                    a.  Slang for (w)rappings of ribbon about the wrists in “handcuff” fashion for punishment

                                    b. Blows to the knuckles

                                    c.  A snare-drum beat made famous by a prison band

                                    d.  Gentle pats administered by a parent for “Fs” in conduct

 

            _________ 12. Sam Sneed was a ______.

                                    a. Golfer

                                    b. Rock’n Roll lead singer

                                    c. Famous radio star of a detective series

                                    d. A cartoon character akin to a fox who always sneezed

 

            _________ 13. What did Jerry NOT think about his punishment?

                                    a. It was just.

                                    b. The girls’ gang,  he deemed as the “She Devils,” should have been punished instead.

                                    c. The verdict of the school honor court, a jury of his peers, was unjust.

                                    d. The teacher had chosen an altogether humane punishment. 

 

            _________ 14. What punishment  did Jerry equate to the teacher’s?           

                                    a. water torture

                                    b. whipping

                                    c. stitching an open wound

                                    d. paddling

 

            _________ 15. Jerry yelled aloud  because  _______.

                                    a   the pain was severe

                                    b.  he wanted his friends to think the blows hurt

                                    c.  yelling before he was struck  might cause his teacher to ease the blows

                                    d. his stomach cramped as a result of the school lunch he ate before recess

 

            _________ 16. Why was Jerry slapped by his teacher?

                                    a. She was a robust woman practicing Martial Arts.

                                    b. Jerry was mistaken for his friend, Eddie Catchet,  the actual talker.

                                    c. Jerry’s talking in class required punishment. 

                                    d. The teacher missed her coffee that morning.

 

            _________  17. Who of the listed cowboy actors below reminded  Jerry of the punishment ?

                                    a. Tom Mix

                                    b. Hopalong  Cassidy.

                                    c.  Lash LaRue

                                    d.  Roy Rogers

 

            _________  18. What evil criminal did the teacher remind Jerry of?

                                    a.  John Dillinger

                                    b.  Goldfinger

                                    c.  The Boston Strangler

                                    d.  Charles Manson

 

            _________  19. Jerry's  plan for revenge upon the girl gang was to…

                                    a.   lying that the girls were seen smoking behind the janitor’s shed

                                    b.  put a fake grass snake in their lunch sacks

                                    c.  incarcerate them with “chicken-wire” inside the playground jungle-gym.

                                    d.  put chewing gum on their desk seat.

 

            _________ 20. To what did Jerry compare a student’s act of “booger- removal?” ____.

                                    a.  a surgical procedure requiring extreme dexterity.

                                    b.  a doctor’s prostate examination

                                    c.   removing a scab from a sore

                                    d.  mining with a screw-driver.

                       

                                   

 

                                    Word List

 

  1. primitive          crude, coarse, simple
  2. dutiful             obedient
  3. clandestine      secret
  4. feasibility        practicality
  5. scenario           situation
  6. adjacent           next to, beside
  7. obese               overweight
  8. vexed              troubled
  9. surveillance     spying
  10. misdemeanor   minor misdeed or petty crime
  11. felon                crook, lawbreaker
  12. maturation       growth, age
  13. ravenous          zealous
  14. incarceration    imprisonment
  15. retribution       revenge
  16. irrational          not logical, crazy
  17. obnoxious        distasteful, unlikable
  18. machete           large heavy knife used as tool
  19. resilience         elasticity
  20. guttural            throaty, harsh