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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Abrams's friend Daniel Goldman characterize the Dalai Lama's attitude towards life?
(a) He says the Dalai Lama will is a channel for peace.
(b) He says the Dalai Lama is a great mentor.
(c) He says the Dalai Lama seems amused by everything going on around him.
(d) He says the Dalai Lama is very focused on prayer.

2. Which of the following is a pillar of the heart?
(a) Grief.
(b) Fortitude.
(c) Generosity.
(d) Patience.

3. What does the Dalai Lama recall the Tibetan saying about wisdom says?
(a) Wisdom is like rainwater - both gather in low places.
(b) Wisdom is like hard work - it yields great benefits.
(c) Wisdom is like rice - it is better when shared.
(d) Wisdom is like storytelling - it requires a group of people to work well.

4. What does Abrams say acceptance is the opposite of?
(a) Loneliness.
(b) Resignation and defeat.
(c) Empathy.
(d) Happiness.

5. What did researcher Elizabeth Dunn and colleagues discover about people's happiness when they spend money?
(a) People are happier the more money they spend on themselves.
(b) People are happiest spending money going out to dinner.
(c) People are happier spending money on others than they are spending it on themselves in some studies.
(d) People are happier spending money on less expensive things for themselves than they are spending money on more expensive things.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does the Dalai Lama say he would prefer hell to heaven?

2. What key paradox of Buddhism does Abrams point out in the section titled Acceptance: The Only Place?

3. What color is the Dalai Lama's home?

4. What does the Dalai Lama say he goes through when he prays five times each day?

5. What is Archbishop Tutu's great regret regarding his father?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Part IV, what does Abrams identify as the Dalai Lama's and Archbishop Tutu's default approach to any subject, no matter how painful?

2. In Part IV, what does the Dalai Lama say he learned on his flight from Japan to San Francisco in sitting next to a mother with young children?

3. In Part IV, what does Abrams explain as a core paradox of happiness?

4. In Part IV, who is the person in Archbishop Tutu's life that has caused him some of the deepest personal pain and why?

5. In Part IV, what does Abrams say is necessary in order for people to feel present in each moment?

6. In Part IV, why does Archbishop Tutu say the ability to laugh at himself has served him well in life and allowed him to connect with people?

7. In Part III, in what way does the Dalai Lama say he considers himself a student at 80 years old?

8. In Part IV, what does Abrams identify as the so-called first pillar of the heart, and why is it so important?

9. What decision regarding Archbishop Tutu's children created some tension and anguish between Tutu and his wife, Leah?

10. In Part IV, why did the Dalai Lama laugh so hard when a former Protestant militant in Belfast said the loyalists had always taught him Jesus was Protestant and not Catholic?

(see the answer keys)

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