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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is some suffering seen to be a result of?
(a) Poverty.
(b) Sin.
(c) War.
(d) Assault.

2. How many children did Nicholas have?
(a) 6.
(b) 5.
(c) 3.
(d) 4.

3. On page 72, what type of a mother does Nicholas describe and say that he cannot identify with her pain?
(a) A mother who hurts her children.
(b) A mother who has no living children.
(c) A mother who has lost a child in childbirth.
(d) An impoverished mother whose child is starving.

4. Who said these words, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted"?
(a) John.
(b) Peter.
(c) Jesus.
(d) Paul.

5. What is the name of the work where this phrase appears, "there must be something more than death..., there must be a promise that is not fulfilled in our short existence in this world."
(a) Consolation in the Face of Death.
(b) A Letter of Consolation.
(c) In Memoriam.
(d) Searching for Comfort.

6. What is a soul that pants for God compared to in a scripture passage that Nicholas quotes on page 71?
(a) A person lost in the desert wanting a drink.
(b) A boy mowing the lawn on a hot day.
(c) A runner desperate for a drink of water.
(d) A deer panting for streams of water.

7. What histories are written about the odyssey of humanity on earth?
(a) The story of those who are defeated.
(b) The story of those who are persecuted.
(c) The story of the exulting ones.
(d) The story of those who have suffered.

8. Who wrote "God too is pained by death, more even than you and I are; but there's nothing much he can do about it"?
(a) Rabbi Elwood.
(b) Rabbi Klein.
(c) Rabbi Kushner.
(d) Rabbi Schmidt.

9. What were people putting into baskets when Nicholas walked into a store?
(a) Onions.
(b) Broccoli.
(c) Carrots.
(d) Celery.

10. What does the Christian gospel focus on telling Christians?
(a) Meaning of suffering.
(b) Meaning of faith.
(c) Meaning of sin.
(d) Meaning of salvation.

11. How long does Nicholas say it took to create the world?
(a) Billions of years.
(b) A million years.
(c) A week.
(d) Six days.

12. What were people hoisting when Nicholas went to the store?
(a) Bags of flour.
(b) Gallons of milk.
(c) Containers of apples.
(d) Sacks of potatoes.

13. What specific date does Nicholas say is one of the worst days?
(a) January 31.
(b) April 30.
(c) March 31.
(d) February 28.

14. On page 83, what metaphor does Nicholas use to describe what it is to be human?
(a) Mirror.
(b) Window.
(c) Icon.
(d) Glass.

15. Where is it written "Why do you permit yourself to suffer, O God? If the death of the devout costs you dear, why do you permit it?"
(a) Psalm 120:18.
(b) Psalm 119:110.
(c) Psalm 1:12.
(d) Psalm 116:15.

Short Answer Questions

1. On page 61, in what type of land does Nicholas find it difficult to sing?

2. What does a voice say when Nicholas becomes fearful in the dream he mentions on page 50?

3. On page 56, what did a friend remark about grief?

4. In the book that angered Nicholas, what passage of the Bible does the author mention was read in church the Sunday before the death of a man's son?

5. Where in the Bible is the quote, "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy."

(see the answer keys)

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