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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. Where did the Beck family go the summer before they returned to their home on the East Coast?

2. What happens in Martha's gender seminar that causes others to find out she is pregnant?

3. What did Martha think people would question if she told others about her pregnancy where she worked?

4. What did Martha find herself doing with John when she was on her own and not eating?

5. What does the helpful strange offer to Martha, which was exactly what she had been craving?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Martha have to deal with at school after John returned home from another business trip?

2. What made Martha and John nervous about the consulting job that John took?

3. What did Martha and John feel about the prospect of going to Harvard to get their degrees?

4. Why didn't Martha want anyone to know at Harvard about the pregnancy she just discovered?

5. What was the subject matter and the time period that this book covered?

6. How did Martha find out that she might not have been rescued as she thought she had?

7. What were some of the accomplishments that Martha Beck lists within the context of this book?

8. What happened to Martha when she is going down the stairwell during the emergency?

9. What happened to Martha that leads her to have to tell others that she is pregnant, even though she doesn't want to do so?

10. What news did Martha find out from a nurse practitioner when she arrived back from the holidays?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The book itself is a memoir, told from the perspective of Martha as she learns about giving birth to a child who has Down Syndrome.

Part 1: Why do you think bringing up a child with Down Syndrome is more difficult?

Part 2: How might you respond if you heard your child was to be born with Down Syndrome?

Part 3: Do you think a person should abort a child if they know they're going to have developmental disorders?

Essay Topic 2

John tries to convince Martha to abort the child should she hear anything negative about the baby.

Part 1: Why do you think John feels that abortion is the answer to any problems with the child?

Part 2: Why do you think Martha does not want to abort the child, no matter what is found?

Part 3: How would you handle the situation if you were in Martha's situation?

Essay Topic 3

While John and Martha have decided to call the child Christen, they end up calling him Adam in the end.

Part 1: How would you go about choosing a name for your child?

Part 2: Why do you think it's so difficult to choose a name for a child being born?

Part 3: Do you think that John and Martha made the right decision for their child's name?

(see the answer keys)

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