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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What sort of thing did Selena's children no longer want her to do when they separated?
(a) Leave a note on their dresser.
(b) Set out their clothes.
(c) Hire a babysitter.
(d) Make a Travel Book.

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

3. Viorst references The World According to Garp and a mishearing of this term by a child.
(a) Thunder.
(b) Earthquake.
(c) Undertow.
(d) Tsunami.

4. How many stages are there in the journey towards death according to Kubler-Ross?
(a) Five.
(b) Ten.
(c) Three.
(d) Two.

5. What is the "corporate characteristic" that Viorst mentions in Chapter 15?
(a) A family's medical history.
(b) A family's collective character.
(c) A family's community involvement.
(d) A family's business or legacy.

6. Madame Bovary uses what metaphor to describe marriage?
(a) An exquisite French dessert, delicious, but hard to create.
(b) A beautiful spring day spent in a field of wildflowers.
(c) A great rosy-plumaged bird soaring in the splendors of poetic skies.
(d) An intimate and joyful day on a private beach in Fiji.

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

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

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

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

11. 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) Friendship.
(b) Family.
(c) Death.
(d) Marriage.

12. Viorst says, "Losing is the price we pay for __________."
(a) Loving.
(b) Living.
(c) Winning.
(d) Being human.

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

14. What type of relationship reinforces our self-knowledge, widens our worldview, and supports our self-esteem?
(a) Friendship.
(b) The parent-child relationship.
(c) A mentoring relationship.
(d) Marriage.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Viorst quotes this book, written by Kathrin Perutz, in Chapter 13.

3. Simone de Beauvoir once said, "Old age is life's ___________."

4. As our parents grow old, get sick, and die, we learn to do what in relation to imperfect connections?

5. In Chapter 14, Viorst lists what about her hometown?

(see the answer keys)

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