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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Lou Sanders’ daughter Shelley compare him to when he comes to live with her and her family?
(a) A kid getting on the bus.
(b) A restless dog that cannot settle.
(c) A cornered old turtle.
(d) A nervous girl making new friends.

2. What does Gawande say has increased along with our reluctance to honestly examine the experience of aging and dying?
(a) The indifference caretakers can feel.
(b) The cruelty we inflict on people.
(c) The compassion doctors can show.
(d) The sterility family members feel in the face of their loved ones dying.

3. How does Gawande characterize Felix’ feelings when his wife dies?
(a) Distraught.
(b) Dismembered.
(c) Discombobulated.
(d) Disoriented.

4. What was the alternative Lazaroff was offered beside surgery?
(a) Assisted suicide.
(b) Radiation.
(c) Doing nothing.
(d) Comfort care.

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

6. Where does Gawande say he witnessed the most hellish conditions of his life?
(a) An elder home in India.
(b) A prison in Portugal.
(c) An insane asylum in Belgium.
(d) A nursing home in the American South.

7. What does Gawande say Montaigne said about dying of old age?
(a) It is the extremest form of dying.
(b) It is the kindest form of dying.
(c) It is the most natural form of dying.
(d) It is the cruelest form of dying.

8. What does Gawande say he and his fellow doctors hoped to do for Joseph Lazaroff?
(a) Demonstrate heroism in trying to save his life.
(b) Provide an easy death.
(c) Cure him.
(d) Manage his condition.

9. What event does Gawande say sparked a national revolution in elder care?
(a) The New Deal.
(b) World War I.
(c) The Great Depression.
(d) The Baby Boom.

10. How does Gawande characterize the new developments in medicine, in talking about the case of Lazaroff?
(a) Gambling.
(b) Torture.
(c) Cruelty.
(d) Blind groping

11. What does Gawande say is the first part of the brain to shrink with aging?
(a) Frontal lobe.
(b) Occipital lobe.
(c) Temporal lobe.
(d) Parietal lobe.

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

13. When did Keren Wilson open her first assisted living facility?
(a) 1976.
(b) 1991.
(c) 1983.
(d) 1968.

14. When does Gawande say Keren Wilson founded the first assisted living facility?
(a) 1980.
(b) 1962.
(c) 1988.
(d) 1976.

15. What does Gawande say life expectancy was in the Roman Empire?
(a) 48.
(b) 28.
(c) 32.
(d) 56.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Gawande say led Keren Wilson to focus on assisted living facilities?

2. What does Gawande say drives youth to seek their own opportunities as opposed to caring for their elders?

3. What does Gawande say Ilych wanted?

4. What does Gawande say tormented Ivan Ilych most?

5. How does Gawande characterize the change over time in blood vessels, joints and the valves of the heart?

(see the answer keys)

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