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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Elliot lose his capacity to feel emotion in Chapter 1?
(a) He suffers a stroke.
(b) He is in a car accident.
(c) He has an aneurysm.
(d) He has a brain tumor.

2. In Chapter 3, what does Brooks show that neurons do when we are near someone we are bonded to socially?
(a) Stay dormant.
(b) Pulse at regular intervals.
(c) Charge at faster rates.
(d) Mirror the other person's neurons.

3. What do children lack at an early age?
(a) Imagination.
(b) Spatial reasoning.
(c) The ability to have REM sleep.
(d) An inner voice.

4. Whose parents are Rob and Julia?
(a) Harold.
(b) Hostadter.
(c) Erica.
(d) David Brooks.

5. What does Brooks say both Julia and Rob worry about doing when they meet?
(a) Coming off as cocky.
(b) Coming off as desperate.
(c) Coming off as dumb.
(d) Coming off as aloof.

6. Which of the following ridiculous items is listed in the homework requirements in Chapter 5?
(a) A brick from the Great Wall.
(b) Half an Ambien.
(c) Algea.
(d) A sloth's toenail.

7. After Rob and Luis get married in Chapter 1, what task does Rob always insist on handling?
(a) Cooking dinner.
(b) Planning vacations.
(c) Fixing things.
(d) Choosing movies.

8. What does Brooks say his day job is in the introduction?
(a) Giving paid lectures.
(b) Teaching.
(c) Writing about politics.
(d) Speaking on television.

9. Which Greek figure does Harold compare himself to in his journal when discussing anger?
(a) Agamemnon.
(b) Achilles.
(c) Menelaus.
(d) Hector.

10. In Chapter 3, Julia calls Harold half cupid, half what?
(a) Professor.
(b) Storm trooper.
(c) Black hole.
(d) Lord Fontleroy.

11. By the end of Chapter 6, Ms. Taylor has taught Harold to do what?
(a) Let go.
(b) Experience life.
(c) Read.
(d) Learn.

12. In the Introduction, Brooks laments that most social policy is based on what understanding of humanity?
(a) Conservative.
(b) Materialist.
(c) Rationalist.
(d) Freudian.

13. In Chapter 5, Brooks states that Harold left to his own devices does not seem what?
(a) Bored.
(b) Self-conscious.
(c) Encumbered.
(d) Happy.

14. According to Brooks in Chapter 4, early childhood is when Harold does what fastest?
(a) Gets attention.
(b) Falls asleep.
(c) Learns.
(d) Eats.

15. What terms does Brooks use at the beginning of Chapter 1 to describe the upper-middle class liberal socialites of today?
(a) The Kerry Class.
(b) The Organic Class.
(c) The Composure Class.
(d) The Jackson Hole Class.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Brooks at the beginning of Chapter 1, what large accessory do his social ascendants always have?

2. According to Timothy Wilson of the University of Virginia, how many pieces of information can the unconscious mind take in?

3. Why are Rob and Julia concerned at the end of Chapter 4?

4. According to Brooks at the beginning of Chapter 1, what is never found in the homes of the upper-class group?

5. What superlative does Brooks use to describe his story in the introduction?

(see the answer keys)

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