Hiroshima Quiz

1. Which of the following is not a symptom of radiation sickness.
1. hair loss
2. low blood count
3. sinus infections
4. spot hemorrhages

2. Who or what is “Mr. B”?
1. head of the neighborhood association
2. toshio nakamura’s friend
3. a B-29 bomber
4. Japanese fishing vessel

3. Which of the following does Hersey believe about his six characters?
1. they are some of the luckiest of the survivors
2. they are some of the unluckiest of the survivors
3. they are a fairly representative sample of people
4. they are fairly unified in their views about the bomb

4. Which character is completely uninjured by the bomb?
1. Toshio Nakamura
2. Dr. Fujii
3. Miss Sasaki
4. Father Kleinsorge

5. A keloid is a type of which of the following?
1. scar tissue
2. burn
3. infection
4. chemical used in the atomic bomb

6. What is Miss Sasaki’s occupation at the time that the bomb is dropped?
1. a clerk in the personnel department of the East Asia Tin Works.
2. A surgeon at the Red Cross Hospital.
3. A newspaper journalist.
4. A childcare provider working from her home.

7. Where was Miss Sasaki when the bomb exploded?
1. at home with her children
2. at her desk at work.
3. pushing a cart down the street with a friend.
4. reading a magazine in bed.

8. Miss Sasaki endures years of pain because of her crippled legs, an injury caused by the bomb. She still devotes her life to raising her siblings, helping her family, and eventually becoming
1. a hibakusha
2. a nun
3. a doctor
4. an American citizen
9. Miss Sasaki made a wonderful statement at a ceremony honoring her years of work. It was:
1. “One should only look forward and never back to give one’s life meaning.”
2. “It was the atomic bomb that changed my life forever.”
3. “When my fiancé deserted me, I asked, ‘why me?’”
4. “Family and responsibility are more than anyone can bear.”

10. Where was Dr. Fujii when the bomb exploded?
1. at home with his children
2. at his desk at work.
3. pushing a cart down the street with a friend.
4. on the deck of his house/hospital overlooking the Kyo River

11. Why does Dr. Fujii benefit in the postwar years?
1. The influx of Americans into Japan helps his clinic.
2. After his clinic is destroyed, he is able to collect a large insurance policy.
3. He starts a hospital for Japanese soldiers, which is subsidized by the government.
4. He inherits a large sum of money from his father, who died in the explosion.

12. What does Dr. Fujii do after the war?
1. builds a clinic for older people.
2. Spends most of his time partying.
3. Operates on Miss Sasaki’s leg.
4. Operates on some of the Hiroshima Maidens.

13. One fact that is NOT true about Dr. Fujii is:
1. he is forced to work hard after the bomb.
2. he gets very close to his family after the bomb.
3. he is a sort of a “playboy.”
4. he ends up years later, dying lonely and disconsolate.

14. Where was Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura when the bomb was dropped?
1. at home with her three children
2. at her desk at work.
3. pushing a cart down the street with a friend.
4. reading a magazine in bed.

15. Mrs. Nakamura struggles with radiation sickness most of her life, but makes ends meet by:
1. taking in piecemeal sewing work.
2. working when she can at a chemical company.
3. both A and B.
4. none of the above.

16. What item considered to be the “symbol of her livelihood” does Mrs. Nakamura drop into the cement tank in front of her house?
1. her wedding ring.
2. A silk kimono
3. A rosary necklace.
4. a sewing machine.

17. In this book, Mrs. Nakamura seems to symbolize:
1. the many Japanese for whom the bombing was not personal, yet a huge hurdle in their lives to overcome.
2. the Japanese who rallied against the bomb and demanded the government take care of them.
3. the Japanese who hated Americans for the rest of their anguished lives.
4. the Japanese who wanted to become like Americans in every way.

18. Where is Father Kleinsorge at the moment the bomb is dropped?
1. in his room reading a Jesuit magazine.
2. Reciting his morning prayers.
3. Sleeping on the sunporch.
4. Having breakfast with a friend.

19. Where is Father Kleinsorge when he awakens after the explosion?
1. in bed on the third floor of the mission house.
2. In a nearby river, squeezed between two timbers.
3. In the vegetable garden of the mission.
4. Lodged beneath a demolished church.

20. Which of the following is correct about Father Makoto Takakura?
1. He is one of the Reverend Tanimoto’s colleagues
2. He is a Jesuit who perished in the explosion
3. He is a Jesuit who refuses to leave the mission house
4. It is Father Kleinsorge’s new Japanese name

21. Father Kleinsorge ends up
1. living injury and sickness free the rest of his life.
2. leaving the priesthood and starting a career in business.
3. suffering from radiation sickness the rest of his life.
4. leaving Hiroshima to return to his home in Germany.

22. Where was Dr. Sasaki at the time of the dropping of the atomic bomb?
1. A. in his room reading a Jesuit magazine.
2. Reciting his morning prayers.
3. Sleeping on the sunporch.
4. Walking down a hallway in the Red Cross Hospital

23. Which of the following is one of Dr. Sasaki’s regrets about his time at the hospital?
1. a patient whom he neglected died because of superficial wounds.
2. He was unable to help cure Miss Sasaki’s leg infection.
3. The hospital cremated bodies in mass graves with no labels.
4. The hospital prioritized those with light wounds over those who were severely wounded.

24. Dr. Sasaki’s defense against the horrors of the atomic blast aftermath was to:
1. go to bars and abuse alcohol.
2. go to the center of the blast and pray.
3. lose himself working long and hard hours.
4. leave Hiroshima and work in America as a plastic surgeon.

25. Where is Reverend Mr. Tanimoto when the bomb explodes?
1. at home with his children
2. at his desk at work.
3. pushing a cart down the street with a friend.
4. on the deck of his house/hospital overlooking the Kyo River

26. How does the Rev. Mr. Tanimoto save himself from the blast?
1. he jumps between two large rocks.
2. His desk protects him from most of the blast.
3. He ends up taking an earlier than usual train to work.
4. The blast throws him into the river so the water protects him.

27. Why does Mr. Tanimoto volunteer to become head of the Neighborhood Association?
1. He is thought of as being sympathetic to Americans.
2. It is a good way to spread his religious message to the local people.
3. He thinks it will help him raise money for his peace project.
4. The Japanese government provides housing subsidies to city volunteers.

28. Who are the Hiroshima Maidens?
1. The convent of nuns that Miss Sasaki joins
2. A sewing group started by Mrs. Nakamura
3. A group of badly burned women who require plastic surgery
4. A group of women who work to support the war effort

29. Which of the following is NOT a theory about the nature of the American attack that some of the people believed in Hiroshima.
1. The Americans had sprayed gasoline on the roofs, making fire easier to spread.
2. The Americans had dropped bombs on combustible targets.
3. The Americans had drooped a “Molotov flower basket,” a self-scattering cluster of bombs.
4. American parachutists had infiltrated the city.

30. Japan capitulates after which of the following happens?
1. The Americans drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
2. The Americans drop the atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
3. The Americans firebomb Tokyo.
4. The Americans conduct a hydrogen bomb test on Bikini Island.

31. What is Lucky Dragon No. Five?
1. A Hiroshima restaurant that became a makeshift hospital.
2. The plane that dropped the atomic bomb.
3. The title of the Reverend Mr. Tanimoto’s memoirs.
4. A Japanese fishing vessel irradiated by hydrogen bomb tests.

32. What sudden change in Hiroshima gives Miss Sasaki the creeps.
1. The destroyed houses and buildings.
2. The fallen bridges.
3. The thick, new growth of wildfires.
4. The hundreds of scientists.

33. What does the Japanese word hibakusha mean?
1. survivors
2. explosion-affected persons
3. burn victims
4. uninjured persons.

34. What announcement gives the survivors false hope that help is on the way?
1. a naval officer announces that a naval hospital boat is coming.
2. A telegram announces that crates of food and medical supplies are coming.
3. A man announces that soldiers are marching into the city to help them.
4. The Emperor announces that doctors are being sent from Kyoto to assist the wounded.

35. The second atomic bomb dropped on August 9, 1945 was over
1. Hiroshima
2. Nagasaki
3. Kyoto
4. Tokyo

36. What do the survivors discover in the basement of the hospital that illustrates the unusualness of this bomb?
1. water has begun to eat through the plumbing pipes like acid.
2. The metal file cabinets have melted.
3. Dozens of mice have all dropped dead.
4. The X-rays on file have all been exposed.

37. Who was the U.S. President when the bomb was dropped?
1. Roosevelt
2. Truman
3. Clinton
4. Reagan

38. What was the local time when the Hiroshima bomb was dropped?
1. 8:15 am
2. 11:02 am
3. 3:05 pm
4. 10:30 pm

39. The name of the bomber plane that dropped the bomb was
1. Fat Boy
2. Enola Gay
3. Mississippi Queen
4. Tokyo Rose

40. What aspects of the book make it clearly a non-fictional account?
1. The book makes up stories about six survivors.
2. The book is based on interviews of six survivors.
3. The author is quite emotional in his telling of the incidents.
4. The author twists the information to fit his story.