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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Archbishop Tutu say is necessary for two friends to be able to joke easily with one another?

2. What news program profiled the person Abrams thinks embodies the principles of gratitude and forgiveness?

3. What kind of perspective does the Dalai Lama urge his followers to try to take?

4. Why are some people afraid of receiving compassion from others, according to Abrams?

5. What does Abrams mention his wife's profession is?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. In Part III, what does the Dalai Lama advise people to think of suffering as rather than a problem?

3. In Part III, what does the Dalai Lama say happens when he prays to a certain statue in his home every morning?

4. In Part III, what specific advice does the Dalai Lama offer about changing one's perspective for the better?

5. In Part III, what does Abrams's own father say after his terrible experience of traumatic brain injury?

6. 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?

7. In Part III, what does Abrams identify as two of the greatest sources of suffering in our lives?

8. 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?

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

10. In Part IV, who does Abrams cite as an inspiration of what real gratitude looks like, and what were this person's circumstances?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Frequently throughout the book, Abrams emphasizes the ease and humor with with the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu interact with each other. What role does Abrams argue that humor plays in the cultivation of joy, and of the bonds of friendship between these two particular religious leaders? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

What purpose do you think Abrams's frequent citations of scientific evidence and research to support some of the Dalai Lama's and Archbishop Desmond Tutu's claims about emotion and spirituality serve for the reader? Write an essay explaining your answer.

Essay Topic 3

How does analytical meditation, as the Dalai Lama explains it, differ from meditation in general? Write an essay explaining your answer, citing specific references to the text to support your conclusions.

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