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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which book referenced in Chapter 14 references the "good mother"?
(a) The World According to Garp by John Irving
(b) The Mother Knot by Jane Lazarre
(c) Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.
(d) Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

2. 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) Intimacy and Friendship Through College.
(b) Friends and Lovers for Life.
(c) My Friend Pat.
(d) Friends and Lovers in the College Years.

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."
(a) Friendship.
(b) Marriage.
(c) Death.
(d) Family.

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

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

6. What is the first phase of mourning discussed in Chapter 16?
(a) Endless crying.
(b) Renewed hope.
(c) Hatred of the person who left us.
(d) Shock.

7. 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.

8. Viorst's poem, "I bring the children one more glass of water," is about what?
(a) The anxieties of going to sleep as a child.
(b) Sex not being so sexy anymore.
(c) Being an overworked mother.
(d) A dream of helping children find clean water.

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

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

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

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

13. How did Cecil and Julia Saunders die?
(a) Someone broke into their house and killed them.
(b) They died in a car accident.
(c) Their plane crashed on the way to their granddaughter's wedding.
(d) They shot themselves.

14. What's the title of the book?
(a) Ups and Downs.
(b) Necessary Losses.
(c) Living is Loss.
(d) Impossible Expectations.

15. Who else, besides mothers, links separation and danger?
(a) Grandmothers.
(b) Nannies.
(c) Fathers.
(d) Aunts.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. 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."

3. A man in his forties confessed to Viorst that he reviewed his life insurance policy after he was diagnosed with what?

4. In our middle years, we may seek to reconnect with our _____________.

5. What type of relationship reinforces our self-knowledge, widens our worldview, and supports our self-esteem?

(see the answer keys)

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