Posted on 04/24/2012 10:01:45 PM PDT by grundle
While reporting this week's cover story "Hosed," the Voice obtained two FDNY Entrance Exams (identified as "7029" and "2043"). We took all the questions ourselves, and were kind of amazed at how idiotic some of them were.
Answering them, we had to wonder: why shouldn't minorities be expected to do as well on these questions as white people? But equally troubling was this thought: is answering these questions correctly really going to make someone a good firefighter?
Here are what we considered the 10 most painfully obvious questions. Take them yourself and let us know what you think.
10. A group of firefighters and their officer respond to a fifth floor apartment in a seven-story building. When they arrive at the apartment, they are told that the contents of a wastepaper basket was on fire, and the fire was extinguished prior to their arrival. The officer instructs the firefighters to ventilate, or remove, the smoke from the apartment by first using a method that will not cause damage to property. Which one of the following would be the most appropriate method for the firefighters to use to remove the smoke?
A) Breaking out all the windows with a crowbar. B) Pulling down the ceiling with a six-foot hook. C) Cutting through the floors with an eight-pound axe. D) Manually opening all the windows and removing the screen.
9. Firefighters are required to operate on the subway tracks during emergencies in the subway stations. Which one of the following would present the greatest threat to the safety of a firefighter working on the subway tracks?
A) A subway platform crowded with people. B) Rubbish burning in a small garbage can located on a subway platform. C) A subway car entering a station. D) A maintenance crew working on the track.
8. Firefighters conduct building inspections to locate potential life-threatening conditions in the even there is a fire. Which one of the following would the most-serious threat to life in the event of a fire?
A) An unlocked front door in a building. B) A locked basement door in a building. C) A car in the driveway of a building. D) A building with a missing fire escape.
7. A fire department instructor is explaining the hazards of operating on a frozen lake to a newly-assigned firefighter. Which of the following is an action that a firefighter should not take in this situation?
A) Put on a personal flotation device. B) Bring heavy equipment onto the lake. C) Prohibit civilians from going out onto the lake. D) Engage firefighter safety line prior to operating on ice.
6. After firefighters are sure that a fire has been extinguished, and that there is no hazard in the building, they begin a salvage operation. Salvage involves moving and covering furniture and other properties, covering broken windows and holes in the building with plastic, and redirecting and cleaning up water to minimize damage. After extinguishing a fire in a high-rise apartment building, firefighters begin salvage operations. Which of the following pieces of property is in the most danger of being damaged?
A) A leather couch that has been burned on one side. B) A large screen television with a broken screen. C) An antique painting hanging under a leaking ceiling. D) A pillow laying [sic] on the floor in a puddle of water.
5. Firefighters have responded to an apartment for an emergency water leak and are now standing in front of the door to the apartment. Which one of the following actions should the firefighters take first to gain entry into the apartment?
A) Knock loudly on the door and then try the doorknob. B) Cut a hole in the door with a portable saw. C) Strike one of the door hinges with the back of an axe. D) Locate the fire escape and climb into the apartment through a window.
4. A fire department instructor is explaining to a newly-assigned firefighter the hazards of electrical wires that have fallen in the street. Which one of the following is an action that a firefighter should NOT take?
A) Keep people away from the fallen wires. B) Use caution when working near energized wires. C) Handle highly-energized wires while standing in a puddle of water. D) Notify the utility company and tell them to respond to the emergency.
3. Firefighters must stop the flow of traffic in the safest possible manner when operating at the scene of fires or other emergencies located on highways. Firefighters have been assigned to stop traffic at night while operating at the scene of a car fire located on a highway. Which one of the firefighters is the most likely to attract attention of motorists in the safest manner?
A) Firefighter Reilly, who is waving her hands back and forth. B) Firefighter Chang, who is jumping up and down. C) Firefighter Ali, who is yelling as loud as she can. D) Firefighter Diaz, who is waving his flashlight in a back and forth motion.
2. Firefighters are sometimes expected to administer aid to victims who are bleeding. To control bleeding, firefighters must perform the following actions in the order given.
i. Apply direct pressure to the wound by placing a sterile dressing against the wound and applying firm pressure. ii. If #1 is unsuccessful, elevate the bleeding part of the body above the level of the victim's heart. iii. If #1 and #2 are unsuccessful, find the nearest artery by the wound and press the artery against the underlying bone. iv. If #1, #2, and #3 are unsuccessful, use a tourniquet, which should be placed between the heart and the wound. Note: Tourniquets should only be used for severe, life threatening bleeding that cannot be controlled by other means.
Firefighter Jacobs has just come upon a young woman who has just started bleeding profusely from the lower part of her right arm. Which one of the following actions should Firefighter Jacobs take first to control the woman's bleeding?
A) Hold the woman's right arm above her head. B) Apply a tourniquet just below the woman's right elbow. C) Press the artery that is closest to the wound against a bone. D) Use a sterile dressing to apply direct pressure to the wound.
1. While operating at the scene of a car fire on a street, a firefighter was told to inform the officer of any dangerous conditions at the scene. Which one of the following conditions would be considered most dangerous to the firefighter operating at the scene of the car fire?
A) The car is leaking gasoline. B) The car has four flat tires. C) Vehicle traffic has come to a complete stop at the scene. D) The car's windshield is broken.
Answers: 10-D, 9-C, 8-D, 7-B, 6-C, 5-A, 4-C, 3-D, 2-D, 1-A
This is largely a reading comprehension test.
Tinder box of the nation?
The point of putting obvious questions on a test is that if you get more than a few of them wrong, you are an idiot and do not belong.
Why don’t they let us see the most difficult questions, as well?
Looks like the FDNY is not only racist, but idiotic too.
...there are some very tough words in those questions, some have different meanings in ebonics. /s
Sorta reminds me of the Army leadership inventory test.
I would rather:
A. Lead men into combat
B. Arrange flowers
No one could ever psyche that one out.
Exactly, and you have to be able to read to pass it.
That is the problem right there.
Kids come out of school without the ability to read and wonder why no one wants to hire them.
They fill the ranks with idiots who passed the dumbed down test and then they wonder why these idiots cannot pass a promotional exam, so they dumb that down too.
Anything to make their quota.
The questions are obviously racist. They cause white people to laugh so hard they cannot concentrate.
And NOW you know why Holder thinks this test is racist!
Everyone knows that "written English" is the white cracker language. If they really wanted to help the poor, down trodden black people they would have written the test in Ebonics.
Do I really need the close sarcasm tag?
Note how they feel the need to explain what “ventilate” means in question 10 and “salvage” in question 6!
That’s as sad as the questions themselves.
Obviously, the tests should not be multiple choice. There should only be ONE ‘choice’, which would be the correct amswer. Having the applicants make decisions, as to the right answer, is clearly raycis.......
This question as well as most, if not all, of the others in this article test reading comprehension....jmho
Wouldnt he be doing pirouettes with sparklers? That’s how they do it here.
DING DING DING... I think you've just hit on exactly why the test is "racist".
When Obama says that it is racist to give a written exam, what he is implying is: blacks are stupid, ignorant and or illiterate.
The Fire Dept DOES get applicants who cannot even read at the second grade level, thanks to the NYC public school system.
I used to volunteer in my local high school to tutor and help kids with homework. Every single one of “Obama’s sons” could not even read or write at an elementary school level. If you asked them to read a paragraph and answer multiple choice questions that were already answered, they barely did better than guessing. And these were the kids that cared enough to go to tutoring. In 4 years, I only met one black kid that could perform at a real high school level and he wasn't an American. He ended up getting full scholarship to Brown.
Writing and reading are clearly racist tools of the white man against African Americans.
at the time a test is announced, a bibliography of books is listed from which the questions will be created. B&N also has many “study” books. just read the material. The “average” white candidate scores in the 90’s. “average” black fails. WHY?
You did not copy the entire question. In the question it told the test taker that the first thing to do was apply pressure.
In other words the question was also the answer.
“Why don’t they let us see the most difficult questions, as well?”
Maybe they’re only marginally more difficult which would imply that those passing are still very special people.
Still time to move to the country.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.