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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. Where was Roland Pattillo working as a professor of gynecology when Rebecca Skloot first contacted him regarding Henrietta Lacks?
(a) Sewanee School of Medicine.
(b) Morehouse School of Medicine.
(c) UCLA School of Medicine.
(d) Harvard School of Medicine.

2. Who were the two British scientists that fused HeLa cells with mouse cells, creating the first human-animal hybrids?
(a) Alexis Carrel and Jonas Salk.
(b) Henry Harris and John Watkins.
(c) Roland Pattillo and Michael Rogers.
(d) Marie and Pierre Curie.

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

4. In what year did the term "informed consent" first appear in court documents regarding the case of patient Martin Salgo?
(a) 1957.
(b) 1962.
(c) 1945.
(d) 1980.

5. When were HeLa cells fused with mouse cells to create the first animal-human hybrid cells?
(a) 1959.
(b) 1987.
(c) 1972.
(d) 1965.

Short Answer Questions

1. How old was Deborah Lacks when Rebecca Skloot first called her to talk about her mother?

2. What best-selling book did Alexis Carrel publish that criticized an "error" in the U.S. Constitution of equality for all people?

3. What was listed as the official cause of Henrietta Lacks's death?

4. How old was Lawrence when he an Bobbette moved in together?

5. What nickname did Dr. Richard Wesley TeLinde have at John's Hopkins in the 1950s?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What did Henrietta's doctors at Johns Hopkins find during her repeated visits in June of 1951?

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

6. How did Henrietta respond to the treatment she received at Johns Hopkins for cancer? Why do you think that Henrietta Lacks did not question any of the treatment she received?

7. How does the author describe Courtney Speed in the narrative? What business(es) did Ms. Speed run at the time the author first met her?

8. How is Henrietta Lacks's early childhood described in the book? When and where was she born? Where did she grow up?

9. How does the author describe the actions of Ethel and Galen in the narrative? What relationship did Ethel and Galen have to the Lackses?

10. What led up to Joe Lacks's imprisonment for second-degree murder?

(see the answer keys)

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