Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Quiz: Chaps. 1-3

Why did the author choose to use exact language and regional dialect from the Lacks family's personal writings and statements?

With which type of cancer was Henrietta diagnosed?

• Breast

• Lung

• Cervical

• Brain

Henrietta Lacks' cells are nicknamed________________________

Fill -in the missing portion of the following quote:

"Another scientist calculated that if you could lay all HeLa cells ever grown end-to-end, they'd wrap around the Earth at least _________________, spanning more than 350 million feet. In her prime, Henrietta herself stood only a bit over five feet tall" (Skloot 2).

Which literary device is used in the following quote?

"The cytoplasm buzzes like a New York City street" (Skloot 3).

• Metaphor

• Simile

• Personification

• Allusion

What is another name for uncontrollable cellular mitosis?

Scientists had attempted to keep human cells alive in culture, but all those cells eventually died. Henrietta's cells were different in that they "reproduced an entire generation every ________________________, and they never stopped." Hence the term "first immortal human cells" (Skloot 4).

• 24 hours

• 48 hours

• 72 hours

• 5 days

When the author's Biology professor first introduced Henrietta Lacks and her contribution to scientific advancement, he left the class hanging with one particular detail to get them thinking about ethics in the medical field. What did he say "matter-of-factly, almost as an after thought"? (Skloot 4)

What upset the Lacks family most about the use of Henrietta's cells?

With which child of Henrietta's does the author form a deep personal bond? (Skloot 7)

• David Jr.

• Elsie

• Deborah

• Lawrence