Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie Quiz

What’s the difference in Steven and Jeffrey’s points of view when doctors rush by during the “code” at the hospital?

• Steven panics and asks questions, and Jeffrey is calm.

• Steven is calm, and Jeffrey panics.

• Jeffrey is annoyed, and Steven is extremely hyper and excited.

• Jeffrey is extremely hyper and excited, and Steven is annoyed.

Which of the following two quotes from the text supports their contrasting responses in the previous question?

• Just then a whole squadron of medical people ran by the open room door, carrying all sorts of equipment and shouting directions at each other.

• Jeffrey, what’s that? Is there a fire? Should I get you out of here?

• I was sure then: A code is when a patient’s heart stopped.

• He didn’t even look away from the TV. It’s just a code Steven, it happens all the time.

• Jeffrey and I were watching Shrek on video when all of a sudden an alarm started clanging away.

The title of the novel is Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie because it is symbolic of:

• a girl group called Dangerous Pie that travels to perform for kids with cancer.

• a guy plays in a band called Dangerous Pie to attract girls.

• a talented drummer dealing with life in middle school, including interactions with girls, after learning his younger brother has cancer.

• a guy that plays the drums, girls that are associated with him, and a concoction of coffee grounds, raw eggs and their smashed shells, uncooked bacon, and three matchbox racecars.

Read the following sentence: “Finally, my parents were getting past the interrogation phase.” Which two words have the same meaning as interrogation?

• Questioning

• Inquiry

• Yelling

• Silent treatment

• Ignoring

The line “If he had known what was coming up for his day, he would have been begging me to smuggle him to school in my backpack,” ...

• foreshadows Jeffrey having a bad experience at the hospital.

• demonstrates an example of a person vs. technology conflict.

• demonstrates how sneaky Jeffrey is by sneaking into backpacks.

• foreshadows Jeffrey having more fun than Steven.

When Mr. Alper responds to the idea of the benefit concert raising money for the family, he has a “teeth-gritted grimace of a sumo wrestler about to charge” and argues with Steven. He doesn’t want to accept the help because ___

• it hurts his pride that he needs help providing for his family.

• he hates it when Steven “taps” the drums.

• he has tickets to see One Republic.

• he resents the band.

When Steven gets "knocked out of the Zone", he says that one of his sticks "went tumbling across the room at about 90 miles an hour". Steven uses this hyperbole to emphasize:

• how embarrassed he was in front of Renee.

• how fast he can drive.

• how talented he is at drumming.

• how fast he was playing and how quickly the sticks flipped out of his hands.

In the following excerpt: "Then I dove on those papers like Sherlock Holmes on a cappuccino binge." Steven compares himself to Sherlock Holmes to demonstrate:

• that the situation is humorous.

• how much he loves detectives.

• his anger at his dad.

• his intense search for the papers.

Read the following excerpt. "...and it hit me: I had been in a dreamworld for a day and a half. But just because you get distracted by the silver lining for a little while, that doesn’t mean there’s not still a huge dark cloud behind it." An idiom is a popular figure of speech. What does the idiom "silver lining" mean?

• the appearance of the small rim around Steven’s drumsticks

• the positive side of an unfortunate situation

• something shiny and metallic in color

• when something bad happens

Jeffrey's prognosis is a little over 50%, but not by much. What does prognosis mean as used in this sentence?

• the type of cancer he has

• the doctor's decision

• the likelihood of him falling off the stool

• a forecast of the likely outcome of a situation