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

2. Viorst details which famous baby doctor in Chapter 18?
(a) Benjamin Spock.
(b) T. Berry Brazelton.
(c) Bill Sears.
(d) B. F. Skinner.

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

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

5. In this book, mentioned in Chapter 12, it is stated that despite sexual feelings toward friends of the same sex, individuals need not necessarily define themselves as "homosexual." What is the name of the book?
(a) Friends and Lovers in the College Years.
(b) Friends and Lovers for Life.
(c) Intimacy and Friendship Through College.
(d) My Friend Pat.

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

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

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

9. Intimate male-female relationships are rare because of what?
(a) The adultery factor.
(b) The sexual tension.
(c) Women would just rather talk to other women.
(d) Socially unacceptable norms.

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

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

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

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

14. In what form of internalization do we take on aspects of those we have loved?
(a) Personification.
(b) Identification.
(c) Depression.
(d) Chameleonization.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Men pursue ______________; women yearn for _______________.

2. What sort of thing did Selena's children no longer want her to do when they separated?

3. What is the first phase of mourning discussed in Chapter 16?

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

5. What is it called when someone keeps everything just the same after someone dies?

(see the answer keys)

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