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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. Who said the following? "Now she is aware of some of the losses you incur by being here -- the extraordinary rent you have to pay as long as you stay."
(a) George Eliot.
(b) Emily Dickinson.
(c) Virginia Woolf.
(d) Annie Dillard.

4. Simone de Beauvoir once said, "Old age is life's ___________."
(a) Cruel joke.
(b) Swan song.
(c) Final act.
(d) Parody.

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

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

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

8. According to Viorst, in middle age we inspire far less ________ than we do ___________.
(a) Hatred; love.
(b) Lust; respect.
(c) Respect; pity.
(d) Admiration; annoyance.

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

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

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

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

13. The title of Chapter 12 lists what?
(a) Types of adults.
(b) Types of teenagers.
(c) Types of parenting styles.
(d) Types of friendships.

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

15. According to Chapter 20, Viorst is living on what to beat her middle-aged spread?
(a) NutriSystem.
(b) Grapefruit.
(c) Weight Watchers.
(d) Lean Cuisine.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Chapter 13, there can be no human love without what?

2. According to Lillian Rubin, the sexual difference between men and women leads to what in a marriage relationship?

3. Who else, besides mothers, links separation and danger?

4. What's the title of the book?

5. According to Chapter 12, growing up involves giving up what illusion?

(see the answer keys)

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