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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. How is Ben Taub described?

2. How many more children do Fran and Carey have after Taylor and Jake?

3. How much time elapsed between the events, and the book being written?

4. What is Methodist Hospital?

5. How often does Lin Weeks deal with death?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Norma tells Armando about his condition?

2. What is the hospital's situation when the book was written in 1988?

3. Who was the founder of Hermann Hospital, and how did he make his fortune?

4. How does Armando behave with his nurses at Hermann?

5. What happens to the Sparks family, in the four years following the events in the book?

6. What is Armando's mental state at the beginning of Chapter 9?

7. Why wasn't Hermann Hospital built right away?

8. What happens to Oria Dismuke after Patrick's death?

9. What is Armando's condition, as described in the Epilogue?

10. What does Dr. Butler tell Kenny, in Chapter 23, regarding Landon's condition and treatment?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Ethics Committee is comprised of people from a variety of backgrounds, some non-medical. Do you think this is a good thing, or a bad thing? Should the Ethics Committee be composed entirely of medically-trained individuals, since they are making medical decisions? Or do the individuals with non-medical backgrounds contribute something just as important to the Ethics Committee's decision-making process? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 2

Belkin states that the book is about "making choices, and living with them." How well do you think the book conveys this message? Why? Is there anything that Belkin could have done differently to convey the message better? If so, what? Who has to live with the decisions that are made in the book? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 3

Most of the patients Belkin discusses are poor, and cannot afford their medical care. What do you think a hospital should be required to do in situations when people cannot afford their own care? Should the hospitals be responsible for giving people all of the care they need, regardless of the cost, and give the uninsured equal treatment? Or should there be a limit to what hospitals are required to provide, due to financial limitations? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 900 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample