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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. Dr. Nuland states that in another era, death was determined by the lack of a heartbeat. Today, however, death is equated with what?
(a) Loss of body heat.
(b) Lack of breathing.
(c) Loss of brain function.
(d) Lack of blinking.

2. The lower chambers of the human heart are referred to by what name?
(a) Embolus.
(b) Ventricles.
(c) Atria.
(d) Plasmid.

3. Horace Giddens is a character in what play?
(a) The Little Foxes.
(b) Hamlet.
(c) A Long Day’s Journey into Night.
(d) The Maltese Falcon.

4. What is the second of the seven most common causes of death for 85% of the elderly population, as discussed in Chapter 4?
(a) Decreased resistance to infection.
(b) Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia.
(c) Hypertention.
(d) Transient ischemic attack.

5. What is described by the author in Chapter 5 as a physician who will investigate a disease by evaluating its origins and symptoms?
(a) Pathophysiologist.
(b) Neurologist.
(c) Radiologist.
(d) Optometrist.

Short Answer Questions

1. How old was Katie Mason when she died?

2. What director of the autopsy service of the Yale-New Haven Hospital does Dr. Nuland credit for his assistance in Chapter 4?

3. Who wrote Researches into the Physical History of Mankind?

4. What is the number three killer of the elderly, according to the author in Chapter 4?

5. What refers to neurotransmitters that are produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in vertebrates during exercise, excitement, pain, consumption of spicy food, love and orgasm?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author describe the metabolic changes of aging in Chapter 3?

2. What statistics does Dr. Nuland provide relating to ischemic heart disease in Chapter 1?

3. What case study does the author use as an example in his discussion of Alzheimer’s in Chapter 5?

4. How does the author describe the progression of Alzheimer’s in Chapter 5?

5. When did the author encounter James McCarty? How is McCarty depicted in Chapter 1?

6. What are the processes universal to dying described by the author in his Introduction?

7. What does the author beseech of the reader in his Introduction to How We Die?

8. How does the author begin his Introduction? What does he say of the primary avenues leading to death in this section of the book?

9. What does Dr. Nuland say regarding the bureaucracy of death in Chapter 3?

10. What does the author say in relation to the expectation of growing old in Chapter 4?

(see the answer keys)

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