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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Viorst, the different roles we assign ourselves keep life interesting and fluid, rather than _____________.
(a) Constricting.
(b) Unpredictable.
(c) Topsy-turvy.
(d) Boring.

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

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

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

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

6. According to Lillian Rubin, the sexual difference between men and women leads to what in a marriage relationship?
(a) Separation and divorce.
(b) Superficial friendship.
(c) Intimate strangers.
(d) A perfect partnership.

7. 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

8. The following headline ran in what paper? "HER OUTSIDE PREOCCUPATION CAN LEAVE HIM ISOLATED AT TIME OF MORE LEISURE"
(a) The Chicago Tribune.
(b) The Wall Street Journal.
(c) The New York Times.
(d) The Washington Post.

9. 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) Virginia Woolf.
(b) George Eliot.
(c) Annie Dillard.
(d) Emily Dickinson.

10. Viorst quotes this book, written by Kathrin Perutz, in Chapter 13.
(a) Marriage is Hell.
(b) Heaven on Earth.
(c) I Hate You, Too.
(d) The Most Complicated Relationship.

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

12. What are the names of Viorst's three sons?
(a) Tony, John, and Robert
(b) Michael, William, and Henry
(c) Anthony, Nicholas, and Alexander
(d) Shannon, Scott, and Brian

13. Which recent development does Viorst think is a positive new step toward good death?
(a) Increased suicides of cancer patients.
(b) Hospital good-byes.
(c) The hospice movement.
(d) Doctor assisted death.

14. What does the father in the poem referenced in Chapter 14 finally conclude?
(a) That he can indeed protect his children.
(b) That he must let his children go.
(c) That his children will just grow up and go away.
(d) That he never should have had children.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Which book referenced in Chapter 14 references the "good mother"?

2. According to Chapter 20, Viorst is living on what to beat her middle-aged spread?

3. 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."

4. Which famous family does Viorst mention in Chapter 15?

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

(see the answer keys)

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