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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. A man in his forties confessed to Viorst that he reviewed his life insurance policy after he was diagnosed with what?
(a) Cancer.
(b) Tennis elbow.
(c) Gout.
(d) Heart disease.

2. Viorst details which famous baby doctor in Chapter 18?
(a) Bill Sears.
(b) T. Berry Brazelton.
(c) Benjamin Spock.
(d) B. F. Skinner.

3. Which famous family does Viorst mention in Chapter 15?
(a) The Vanderbilts.
(b) The Carnegies.
(c) The Kennedys.
(d) The Windsors.

4. The earliest text on the subject of aging came from where?
(a) Greece.
(b) China.
(c) Egypt.
(d) Iraq.

5. According to a psychologist in Chapter 13, husbands and wives are each other's what?
(a) Best friends.
(b) Coping mechanism.
(c) Intimate enemies.
(d) Greatest lovers.

Short Answer Questions

1. What sort of thing did Selena's children no longer want her to do when they separated?

2. Simone de Beauvoir once said, "Old age is life's ___________."

3. What is the name of the son in Death of a Salesman that Viorst uses as an example of the restricting roles some parents foist on their children?

4. What does this line from a poem by Longfellow tell us about old age? "Goethe at Weimar, toiling to the last, Completed Faust when eighty years were past."

5. According to Viorst, the different roles we assign ourselves keep life interesting and fluid, rather than _____________.

Short Essay Questions

1. According to the book, when does the way we will handle aging begin?

2. How did Viorst's three friends approach death differently?

3. What are some of the different types of loss and mourning discussed in Chapter 16? Do we experience them all in the same way?

4. What types of unexpected emotions can we feel towards friends? How do they impact our friendships?

5. According to the book, why are friends so important?

6. What impact does middle age tend to have on a marriage?

7. Name the five stages of dying described by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Briefly describe each stage.

8. Other than a parent, what other things impact who a child becomes?

9. What happens in our thirties, in relation to our parents?

10. Name two of the stages of mourning that Viorst describes in Chapter 16.

(see the answer keys)

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