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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. What was the name of Deborah Lacks's first child?
(a) Harry Eagle.
(b) Henry Harris.
(c) Alfred Carter.
(d) Fred Garret.

2. Where did Henrietta live with her grandfather growing up after her mother died?
(a) Cleveland, Mississippi.
(b) Clover, Virginia.
(c) Atlanta, Georgia.
(d) Baltimore, Maryland.

3. For how long was Joe Lacks in the military before being discharged?
(a) 6 months.
(b) 2 years.
(c) 3 months.
(d) 9 months.

4. What war was Lawrence Lacks drafted into after lying about his age to get into pool halls?
(a) The Korean War.
(b) The Vietnam War.
(c) The Afghanistan War.
(d) World War II.

5. Which of Henrietta Lacks's children did not attend her funeral or know she'd died, according to the author in Part Two: Death, Chapter 12?
(a) Elsie Lacks.
(b) Cliff Lacks.
(c) Fred Lacks.
(d) Lawrence Lacks.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was the gynecologist that examined Henrietta Lacks when she first went to Johns Hopkins Hospital to have the knot in her womb seen?

2. How old was Deborah Lacks when she became pregnant with her first child?

3. What was the first publication to name the woman behind the HeLa cells in 1953?

4. What was Hector Henry's nickname that he introduced himself as to Rebecca Skloot in Part One: Life, Chapter 10?

5. What radio horror show in the 1930s related the fictional story of a Dr. Alberts who created an immortal chicken heart that overcame the earth?

Short Essay Questions

1. What led to the trial against Southam and Mendel? What sentence did the men receive?

2. Why were HeLa cells useful in the study of virology and research into diseases? Was the malignant nature of the cells a factor?

3. What were Mary Kubicek's impressions of HeLa cells when she first began observing them? What were George Gey's impressions of the cells?

4. What was the objective for Dr. Richard TeLinde in using cancer cells and samples from Howard Jones in his research?

5. What was discovered during Henrietta Lacks's autopsy? Where had Henrietta's cancer spread?

6. Where did the name "Helen Lane" arise? How did the Lacks family feel about "Helen Lane"?

7. How were tissue samples obtained following Henrietta Lacks's death? Why were they obtained?

8. What illness was contracted within the Lacks family after Henrietta's death? How were they affected by this illness?

9. How does the author describe the setting of "Lacks Town" when she first visited in 1999?

10. What unethical actions were committed by virologist Chester Southam in his research with HeLa cells?

(see the answer keys)

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