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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 is the title of the article David writes for the New York Times Magazine?
(a) My Personal Peril.
(b) A Measure of Grief.
(c) My Addicted Son.
(d) A Love Letter to My Little Boy.

2. David wryly notes that thinking about relapse being a part of recovery is "like saying that a plane crash is good training for" (166) what?
(a) A radio operator.
(b) A pilot.
(c) A hangar.
(d) A first-time flier.

3. David recalls a time when ten years prior, Nic had panicked while doing what activity?
(a) Climbing a jungle gym.
(b) Climbing a tree.
(c) Scaling a climbing wall.
(d) Climbing a set of monkey bars.

4. What action does Nic take when car troubles cause him to miss an important job interview?
(a) He calls his father and they talk.
(b) He goes to the spa for the day.
(c) He calls Randy and they go riding.
(d) He takes Daisy and Jasper bowling.

5. What final advice does David give to the addicted young woman for whom he buys lunch?
(a) To call her parents.
(b) To get some better friends.
(c) To go to rehab.
(d) To move to the country.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what type of residence does Nic live while he is attending Hampshire College?

2. Nic admits to his father that he often dreams about what topic?

3. What piece of information does David struggle to remember after he suffers a medical emergency?

4. For what reason is Nic reluctant to return to the Bay Area after his branch of the Hazelden closes?

5. Whom does David call when he wants someone to check on Nic after he stops returning phone calls?

Short Essay Questions

1. Experts David consults say that addicts are skilled at exploiting what aspects of their parents?

2. What is the main element of twelve-step recovery programs that Nic rejects?

3. For what reason does Sheff warn the parents of addicted children to avoid certain music?

4. What element does Sheff name as "the bitterest irony of early sobriety" (228)?

5. What do the majority of experts recommend with regard to the length of a rehab stay and the need for after-care?

6. Discuss examples of contingency management strategies that have been shown to be effective in managing addiction.

7. For what purpose does Sheff use the shark and the cormorant simile?

8. In what way is the theme of hope demonstrated in David's mention of St. Helena Hospital?

9. What major medical emergency befalls David Sheff just before Nic's eighteenth birthday?

10. What distinction does Sheff make between useful guilt and guilt that is not useful?

(see the answer keys)

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