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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What famous author's memoir entitled Speak, Memory does Viorst reference at the end of Chapter 14?
(a) Leo Tolstoy
(b) Frank McCourt
(c) James Joyce
(d) Vladimir Nabokov

2. 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."
(a) It's never too late.
(b) Faust isn't very good because it was written by an elderly person.
(c) Goethe must have really enjoyed his work.
(d) Aging is hard work.

3. In our middle years, we may seek to reconnect with our _____________.
(a) Family roles.
(b) Roots.
(c) Elementary school friends.
(d) Cousins.

4. Chapter 18 refers to which famous character as the ultimate retiree?
(a) Romeo.
(b) Oedipus.
(c) Hamlet.
(d) King Lear.

5. Which famous author's daughter suddenly died at the age of 24?
(a) Ernest Hemingway.
(b) F. Scott Fitzgerald.
(c) Mark Twain.
(d) John Steinbeck.

6. According to Viorst, "A new dream will arise when we begin to have our babies..." What is it?
(a) The dream of keeping them safe from harm.
(b) The dream of them moving out and going to college.
(c) The dream of them becoming successful.
(d) The dream of creating an amazing and perfect human.

7. Friends and intimate partners are considered what?
(a) Two different types of relationships.
(b) The true test of a good marriage.
(c) One and the same.
(d) A rare phenomenon found only in humans.

8. According to Chapter 12, growing up involves giving up what illusion?
(a) That death is inevitable.
(b) That friendship is infallible.
(c) That the universe revolves around us.
(d) That our parents are perfect.

9. 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?
(a) William.
(b) Jeff.
(c) Biff.
(d) Jonathan.

10. What is the name of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's highly influential book?
(a) Death Comes for the Archbishop.
(b) On Death and Dying.
(c) O, Death, Be Mine.
(d) The Last Cattle Call.

11. Which sex tends to have only superficial relationships?
(a) Both.
(b) Men who were abused or abandoned as children.
(c) Men.
(d) Women.

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

13. According to Otto Kernberg, adolescent romantic love is the normal, crucial beginning of what?
(a) Eros.
(b) Sexuality.
(c) Puppy love.
(d) Adult love.

14. Name the foiled romantic in Flaubert's Madame Bovary.
(a) Jane.
(b) Emma.
(c) Elizabeth.
(d) Soline.

15. Men pursue ______________; women yearn for _______________.
(a) Sex; cuddling.
(b) Deep relationships; one night stands.
(c) Autonomy; intimacy.
(d) Excitement; safety.

Short Answer Questions

1. What type of relationship reinforces our self-knowledge, widens our worldview, and supports our self-esteem?

2. Viorst says, "Losing is the price we pay for __________."

3. Viorst contends that our unconscious sexual thoughts toward friends are masked as what?

4. What was the name of the married woman with four children, mentioned in Chapter 12, who formed a non-sexual friendship with another man?

5. According to Viorst, in middle age we inspire far less ________ than we do ___________.

(see the answer keys)

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