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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What kind of system does Gawande compare human bodies to?
(a) Nuclear power plants.
(b) Kitchen appliances.
(c) Wind-up toys.
(d) Automobiles.

2. According to James Vaupel’s research, how much of your parents’ lifespans determines your own?
(a) 3%.
(b) 7%.
(c) 42%.
(d) 25%.

3. By what margin does Gawande say costs came down in Keren Wilson’s assisted living facility?
(a) 30%.
(b) 10%.
(c) 20%.
(d) 35%.

4. How does Gawande characterize the decline of health for the majority of people who age normally with modern medicine?
(a) A series of dips followed by recoveries that approach the horizontal axis of death.
(b) A series of minor decreases in a slow decline toward death.
(c) A high line that runs flat then falls quickly.
(d) A high line that ends abruptly.

5. By what factor does Gawande say the cost of living in a nursing home exceeds the cost of living in an assisted living facility?
(a) 5.
(b) 3.
(c) 2.
(d) 7.

6. What does Gawande say modernization replaced the veneration of family with?
(a) Veneration of prosperity.
(b) Veneration of cultural traditions.
(c) Veneration of religious figures.
(d) Veneration of the independent self.

7. What arrangement did Felix have to make when he brought Bella back home from the nursing home?
(a) He invited his daughters to live at home to help him.
(b) He had to return to practicing medicine to pay for her care.
(c) He had to have contractors make modifications of their home.
(d) He hired an army of nurses and aides.

8. What does Gawande say drives youth to seek their own opportunities as opposed to caring for their elders?
(a) Prosperity.
(b) Emigration.
(c) Famine.
(d) Political conflict.

9. How does Gawande characterize the decline of health for people with “chronic illnesses—emphysema, liver disease, and congestive heart failure”?
(a) A high line that runs flat then falls quickly.
(b) A series of minor decreases in a slow decline toward death.
(c) A series of dips followed by recoveries that approach the horizontal axis of death.
(d) A high line that ends abruptly.

10. What does Gawande say your chances of avoiding a nursing home depend on?
(a) Having sons.
(b) How many children you have.
(c) Having a younger spouse.
(d) How much money you have.

11. Who wrote The Death of Ivan Ilych?
(a) Ivan Turgenev.
(b) Leo Tolstoy.
(c) Fyodor Dostoevsky.
(d) Mikhail Lermontov.

12. What made the Harry Truman Gawande describes a hero in his townspeople’s eyes?
(a) He used being-buried-by-a-volcano as a retirement plan.
(b) He defied the odds and survived a deadly cancer.
(c) He saved his neighbors from the fallout when Mt. Saint Helens erupted.
(d) He weathered out the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens.

13. What was Lazaroff’s response to Gawande’s insistence?
(a) He became adamant about doing everything.
(b) He said that he trusted in God to protect him.
(c) He said that he trusted the doctors.
(d) He said he was looking forward to seeing his wife in heaven.

14. When were retirement communities popularized in the U.S.?
(a) 1980s.
(b) 1960s.
(c) 1970s.
(d) 1950s.

15. What system did the U.S. join Europe in implementing in 1935?
(a) Medicare.
(b) Social Security.
(c) The New Deal.
(d) Medicaid.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Gawande characterize Felix’ feelings when his wife dies?

2. In what way is Lou Sanders’ decision to move in with his daughter not successful?

3. How does Gawande characterize family expectations, in regard to caring for elders?

4. When does Gawande say Keren Wilson founded the first assisted living facility?

5. What does Gawande say tormented Ivan Ilych most?

(see the answer keys)

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