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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which three fictional characters discussed in the book does Viorst specifically mention in Chapter 20?
(a) Hamlet, Oedipus, Owen Meany
(b) Emma Bovary, Alex Portnoy, Ivan Ilych
(c) Holden Caulfield, Hamlet, Marlow
(d) Margaret, Alex Portnoy, King Lear

2. Which philosopher does Viorst quote in Chapter 14?
(a) Leo Tolstoy
(b) Karl Marx
(c) Soren Kierkegaard
(d) Friedrich Nietzsche

3. A capacity to feel pleasure in the pleasures of other people is an example of what?
(a) Empathy.
(b) Self-awareness.
(c) Pleasure transfer.
(d) Ego transcendence.

4. Who was Viorst describing when she said they fought death like a championship game?
(a) Her sister, Lois.
(b) Her husband, Cecil.
(c) Her mother.
(d) Her friend, Ruth.

5. There are what number of friendships that Viorst labels in Chapter 12?
(a) Two.
(b) Fifteen.
(c) Six.
(d) Twelve.

6. The earliest text on the subject of aging came from where?
(a) Iraq.
(b) Egypt.
(c) China.
(d) Greece.

7. According to Chapter 14, parents suffer from the one of the following in a similar fashion to children.
(a) Insecurity about themselves.
(b) Fear of abandonment.
(c) Oedipus complex.
(d) Separation anxiety.

8. Who was the psychologist who said that marriage requires "a wise balancing of love and hate"?
(a) Chad Goodwin.
(b) Israel Charny.
(c) Sigmund Freud.
(d) America Ferrera.

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

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

11. What is the key achievement of mid-life according to Viorst?
(a) Moving our parents to a nursing home.
(b) Uniting ourselves with reality and achieving balance.
(c) Getting the children out of the house.
(d) Letting loose and exploring unfulfilled dreams.

12. 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) Jeff.
(b) Biff.
(c) William.
(d) Jonathan.

13. In Chapter 14, Viorst lists what about her hometown?
(a) The various houses she lived in.
(b) A list of families and their children's tragic choices.
(c) The best places to eat.
(d) How the different relationships impact the town.

14. To what was Richard Steele referring in the following quote? "... the compleatest image of heaven and hell we are capable of receiving in this life."
(a) Death.
(b) Friendship.
(c) Family.
(d) Marriage.

15. According to Chapter 13, there can be no human love without what?
(a) Ambivalence.
(b) A caring parental relationship.
(c) Fear.
(d) Passion and romance.

Short Answer Questions

1. Intimate male-female relationships are rare because of what?

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

3. Chapter 18 refers to which famous character as the ultimate retiree?

4. In what form of internalization do we take on aspects of those we have loved?

5. Levinson calls a mid-life crisis what?

(see the answer keys)

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