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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. How does Gawande characterize Thomas’ staff’s reaction to his plan to introduce pets to Chase Memorial?
(a) Reluctant.
(b) Hostile.
(c) Optimistic.
(d) Ambivalent.

2. What does Jewel Douglas want Gawande to avoid in his operation?
(a) Painful moments.
(b) Long shots.
(c) Heroic measures.
(d) Risky chances.

3. What was the third place Gawande’s father wanted his ashes scattered?
(a) Germany.
(b) London.
(c) South Africa.
(d) India.

4. What does Gawande say being mortal is about?
(a) Working with the constraints of biology.
(b) Knowing the spirit.
(c) Transcending death.
(d) Being grateful for life.

5. How does Gawande characterize “the average of a life’s moments” (238)?
(a) One or two exceptional experiences with a lot of drudgery.
(b) Bothers and irritations punctuated by meals.
(c) A lot of ennui with nice sunsets thrown in.
(d) Mostly nothing plus some sleep.

Short Answer Questions

1. When did Bill Thomas take over as director of the Chase Memorial Nursing Home?

2. In what way do doctors “inflict deep gouges at the end of people’s lives,” in Gawande’s opinion?

3. Why does Dave Galloway say he does not want to take his pain medication when his cancer is troubling him?

4. What did Gawande’s father make Gawande promise him?

5. How does Gawande say insurance companies respond after the Nelene Fox case found insurance companies at fault for not paying for expensive treatments?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Gawande say was the mistake his father made in his medical care?

2. How does Gawande characterize the work that remains to be done in medicine?

3. How does Gawande say the western medical model is spreading throughout the world?

4. How does Gawande characterize the ceremony for disposing of his father’s ashes?

5. How does Gawande describe what the real job of people in medicine should be?

6. What does Sara Monopoli’s story illustrate?

7. How did Bill Thomas’ idea play out?

8. What effect did Thomas’ changes have on the residents?

9. How does Gawande say that end-of-life care costs affect the American medical system?

10. In the metaphor of death as the enemy, which general’s philosophy does Gawande say patients should want to emulate?

(see the answer keys)

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