Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Shame
Comprehension Questions
Bill Haley and
Comets : Vintage 1955
(Enter answers on the line
to left of each question.)
_______ 1. Jerry’s tone compares Bill Haley’s stage show
to:
a. a ballet performance
b. a Cub Scout Pack meeting
c. the Indy 500
d. fan behavior at a wrestling match
_______ 2. Jerry’s inference about women’s behavior at the
perfomance is?
a. like a PTA meeting
: b. being polite, subdued and appreciative
c. like a scene in the movie Little
Women
d. like a lady wrestlers’ training class
_______ 3.
The women were impressed by?:
a. the handsome
Comets
b. the range of Bill
Haley’s voice
c. the soft melodic
musical selections
d. the Comets gyrations
along with the drum beat, and repetitious raucous
lyrics
________ 4.
Jerry was the only male to jump on stage.
(T)rue or (F)alse.
________ 5.
The train trip
to
a. was uneventful
b. had a beer bottle break a window
c. was fraught with vagrants
d. ended in
hitch-hiking
________ 6.Why did Jerry want to hear Bill
Haley and the Comets?
a. he liked astronomy
b. he wanted to see “Haley’s Comet”
c. he was running away
hoping to be a rock star
d. Rock Around the Clock was a hit
________ 7. What
was the name of the movie featuring the Comets’ song?
a.
“Rock of Ages”
b. “Rocket to the Moon”
c. “Jingle
d. “Blackboard Jungle”
________ 8.
What was the year of Jerry’s trip?
a. when Jerry was in
eighth grade
b. when Jerry was in first grade
c. Jerry’s senior
year in high school
d. not mentioned in
the story
_________ 9.
What instrument did Jerry play?
a. the harmonica
b. Hawaiian
guitar
c. Ukulele
d.
trumpet
________ 10. Why did Jerry not like that instrument?
a. it was difficult to master
b. his neighbor played it better
c. it did not impress girls much
d. he didn’t like his music teacher
_________ 11.
Which was not a 50’s Rock song?
a. “Whole
b. “Tutti
Fruiti All Rutti”
c. “Hound Dog”
d. “Fly Me to the
Moon”
_________ 12.
Jerry learned the guitar from_____?
a. corresponding with Bill Haley
b. his neighbor, a guitar vituoso
c. a comic-book guitar course
d. a
_________ 13.
Why couldn’t Jerry copy Elvis?
a. he couldn’t memorize lyrics
b. he couldn’t move like Elvix.
c. he had a nasty hair colic
d. he had no acoustic guitar
_________ 14.
What was the “HiFi” Bug??
a. an incurable disease of the
50s
b. an insect common to
Brantwood
c. pursuit of the best audio
system
d. fan of Rock ‘n Roll music
_________ 15.
What made Jerry popular?
a he looked like
Buddy Holly
b. his basketball skill
c. his Elvis-like hair
d. he sounded like Bill Haley
_________ 16.
What did Jerry compare the trip to
a. a journey to the Moon
b. the movie Blackboard
Jungle
c. a family vacation
d. the Indy 500
_________ 17. The women at the show did not ___?
a. scream
b. get excited
c. sit demurely in their seats
d. rush the stage
_________ 18.
Which of the performers was not a Rock ‘n Roll star?
a. Elvis
b. Roy Orbison
c. Buddy Holly
d. Snooky Lanson
_________ 19. The Comets were _____?
a. a rhythm and blues group
b. a stringed quartet
c. folk singers
d. pioneer rock ‘n rollers
_________ 20. Why was the movie named
Blackboard Jungle?
a. it was a
film about a jungle
b. it was about rebellious students
c. it was about a pirate
d. it was about global warming
Rock ‘n Roll
Hall of Shame Vocabulary List
Word Synonym
1. cadence rhythm, tempo
2. adulation worship, adoration
3. deranged crazed,
irrational
- confluence meeting, junction
5. synergy cooperation
6.vibrato variation in pitch
7. catalyst impetus,
stimulation
8. heirloom inherited
keepsake
9. tweeter high
frequency speaker
10. woofer low frequency speaker
11. octave music
range of notes
12.discordant off-key, tuneless
13.genre style, type, class
14. raucous hoarse, harsh
15.visceral deep seated, emotional
- clone copy, duplicate
- paraphernalia belongings, apparatus
- seminal formative,
pioneering
- guttural husty,
deep, low
- en masse bodily
- colic hair
twist
The March 20, 1955 Movie
Posters Jerry must have seen
in the lobby of the Chicago Theater featuring the movie along
with Bill Haley and the Comets