Free National Board Exam Arts Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the National Board Exam Arts practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1A woman walks into a funeral home and, without mentioning any particular death, asks the funeral director what the firm charges for a graveside service. Under the FTC Funeral Rule, what must the funeral director do about the general price list?

   1. A. Hand her a printed general price list that she is allowed to keep, at the start of the price discussion
   2. B. Show her a printed general price list during the price discussion and take it back before she leaves
   3. C. Hand her a printed general price list only once she says a death has actually occurred
   4. D. Hand her a printed general price list at the close of the discussion, with the itemized statement

   Answer: A

   Explanation: The Funeral Rule triggers the general price list on an in-person price inquiry and requires that the list be given for the inquirer to keep. 16 CFR 453.2(b)(4)(i)(A) directs the provider to "Give a printed or typewritten price list for retention to persons who inquire in person about the funeral goods, funeral services or prices of funeral goods or services offered by the funeral provider." The list must be given "upon beginning discussion of" the prices of funeral goods or services, so the obligation attaches at the start of this conversation and does not wait for a death or for the end of the arrangement discussion.

   Reference: Code of Federal Regulations, Title 16 — 16 CFR 453.2(b)(4)(i)(A)

2. 2A funeral home is preparing a casket price list. Under the Funeral Rule, what must that list contain at a minimum?

   1. A. Retail prices of all caskets and alternative containers not requiring special ordering, enough information to identify each, and the effective date
   2. B. Retail prices of all caskets kept in the firm's selection room, the firm's own wholesale cost for each of them, and the effective date
   3. C. Retail prices of the three least expensive caskets the firm offers, a colour photograph of each of them, and the date the list was printed
   4. D. Retail prices of all caskets and alternative containers offered, the manufacturer and model number of each of them, and the date of printing

   Answer: A

   Explanation: 16 CFR 453.2(b)(2)(i) requires that the casket price list “must contain at least the retail prices of all caskets and alternative containers offered which do not require special ordering, enough information to identify each, and the effective date for the price list.” Wholesale cost, a manufacturer name, and a printing date are not required elements, and the list is not limited to a subset of the caskets offered.

   Reference: Code of Federal Regulations, Title 16 — 16 CFR 453.2(b)(2)(i)

3. 3A funeral director is teaching new staff to use the terms grief, mourning, and bereavement precisely. Which statement matches how the authoritative summary defines grief?

   1. A. The primarily emotional process of reacting to the loss of a loved one through death
   2. B. The public display of a person's reaction to the loss of a loved one through death
   3. C. The objective situation a person faces after having lost an important person through death
   4. D. The set of rituals a community prescribes after the loss of one of its members

   Answer: A

   Explanation: The National Cancer Institute's summary for health professionals defines the three terms separately. “Grief is defined as the primarily emotional/affective process of reacting to the loss of a loved one through death.” The public display of that reaction is mourning, and the objective situation of having suffered the loss is bereavement, so the second and third choices name the other two terms in the set.

   Reference: Grief, Bereavement, and Coping With Loss (PDQ®) - NCI — NCI PDQ, Grief, Bereavement, and Coping With Loss (Health Professional Version), 'Definitions of Terms'

4. 4While aspirating a body, an embalmer's glove tears and cavity fluid mixed with blood contacts an open cut on the embalmer's hand. Under the federal bloodborne pathogens standard, how is that event classified?

   1. A. An exposure incident, because non-intact skin contacted blood or other potentially infectious materials during duties
   2. B. Occupational exposure, because contact with blood during her duties was reasonably anticipated in this work
   3. C. Regulated waste generation, because the torn glove is now contaminated with blood in a liquid state
   4. D. A parenteral exposure, because the contact occurred through the barrier of a personal protective device

   Answer: A

   Explanation: The standard distinguishes the anticipated risk from the actual event. 29 CFR 1910.1030(b) provides that “Exposure Incident means a specific eye, mouth, other mucous membrane, non-intact skin, or parenteral contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials that results from the performance of an employee's duties.” By contrast, “Occupational Exposure means reasonably anticipated skin, eye, mucous membrane, or parenteral contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials that may result from the performance of an employee's duties” which describes the job rather than the incident.

   Reference: Code of Federal Regulations, Title 29 — 29 CFR 1910.1030(b), definitions of Exposure Incident and Occupational Exposure

5. 5A funeral director is arranging a burial at sea of uncremated remains from a private vessel. Under the general permit in the federal ocean dumping regulations, what distance and depth conditions apply?

   1. A. No closer than 3 nautical miles from land and in water no less than 100 fathoms deep
   2. B. No closer than 3 nautical miles from land and in water no less than 50 fathoms deep
   3. C. No closer than 12 nautical miles from land and in water no less than 100 fathoms deep
   4. D. No closer than 1 nautical mile from land and in water no less than 200 fathoms deep

   Answer: A

   Explanation: 40 CFR 229.1(a)(2) provides that “Burial at sea of human remains which are not cremated shall take place no closer than 3 nautical miles from land and in water no less than one hundred fathoms (six hundred feet) deep”, with a greater depth of no less than three hundred fathoms required in specified areas off Florida and Louisiana. The provision also requires that all necessary measures be taken to ensure that the remains sink to the bottom rapidly and permanently.

   Reference: Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40 — 40 CFR 229.1(a)(2)

6. 6A newspaper reporter researching an article on funeral costs comes to a funeral home and asks the funeral director what the firm charges. The reporter is not arranging any funeral. What does the Funeral Rule require of the funeral director?

   1. A. Give the reporter a general price list to keep, because the duty runs to everyone who inquires in person
   2. B. Let the reporter read a general price list on the premises, then collect it before the reporter departs
   3. C. Quote the prices aloud, because a written list is owed only to people arranging a funeral
   4. D. Refer the reporter to the firm's owner, because price lists are owed only to bereaved consumers

   Answer: A

   Explanation: The general price list duty is triggered by the inquiry, not by the inquirer's purpose. The FTC's compliance guidance states: "You must give a GPL to all persons who inquire about funeral arrangements. This may include competitors, journalists, and representatives of businesses, religious societies, government agencies, or consumer groups." A reporter who asks in person is therefore entitled to a general price list for retention on the same terms as a family arranging a funeral.

   Reference: Complying with the Funeral Rule | Federal Trade Commission — Complying with the Funeral Rule, 'The General Price List' - 'Who Gets a GPL?'

7. 7A funeral home wants to display its casket prices in a bound notebook with a page for each unit rather than on a single printed sheet. Under the Funeral Rule, is that acceptable?

   1. A. Yes, provided the notebook carries the same information and displays it clearly and conspicuously
   2. B. Yes, provided a printed sheet with the same prices is also mailed to anyone who requests one
   3. C. No, because the casket price list must be a printed or typewritten sheet given for retention
   4. D. No, because a notebook cannot show an effective date that applies to every unit shown

   Answer: A

   Explanation: 16 CFR 453.2(b)(2)(i) allows format flexibility: “In lieu of a written list, other formats, such as notebooks, brochures, or charts may be used if they contain the same information as would the printed or typewritten list, and display it in a clear and conspicuous manner.” The FTC's guidance confirms that “The Casket Price List can be in any form, including in a notebook or on a chart, as long as it contains the required information, displayed in a clear and co”nspicuous manner. The requirement to give a list for retention applies to the general price list, not the casket price list.

   Reference: Code of Federal Regulations, Title 16 — 16 CFR 453.2(b)(2)(i)

8. 8A family observes a week of formal visitation at home, wears dark clothing, and holds a public memorial gathering. Which term describes what the family is doing, as the authoritative summary uses these terms?

   1. A. Mourning, because it is the public display of grief and is shaped by belief and culture
   2. B. Grief, because it is the internal process of reacting to the loss of a loved one
   3. C. Bereavement, because it is the objective situation the family faces after the death
   4. D. Anticipatory grief, because the observances began while the family was still adjusting

   Answer: A

   Explanation: The NCI summary states: “Mourning is defined as the public display of grief.” It adds that “While grief focuses more on the internal or intrapsychic experience of loss, mourning emphasizes the external or public expressions of grief” and that mourning “is influenced by one’s beliefs, religious practices, and cultural context.” Observances of this kind are therefore mourning rather than grief, bereavement, or anticipatory grief.

   Reference: Grief, Bereavement, and Coping With Loss (PDQ®) - NCI — NCI PDQ, Grief, Bereavement, and Coping With Loss (Health Professional Version), 'Definitions of Terms'

9. 9An embalmer is deciding whether unfixed tissue removed from a decedent during a partial autopsy is covered by the bloodborne pathogens standard. How does the standard classify it?

   1. A. As other potentially infectious material, since unfixed tissue from a human, living or dead, is included
   2. B. As regulated waste only, since tissue that is not liquid falls outside the infectious materials definition
   3. C. As material outside the standard, since the standard reaches only blood from living persons
   4. D. As other potentially infectious material only if the decedent was known to have an infection

   Answer: A

   Explanation: 29 CFR 1910.1030(b) defines other potentially infectious materials to include listed body fluids and “Any unfixed tissue or organ (other than intact skin) from a human (living or dead); and” certain cultures and experimental animal materials. The definition expressly reaches material from the dead and does not depend on a known infection, and regulated waste is a separate defined category concerned with disposal.

   Reference: Code of Federal Regulations, Title 29 — 29 CFR 1910.1030(b), definition of Other Potentially Infectious Materials

10. 10A family wants uncremated remains committed to the sea in the waters off Cape Canaveral, Florida, within the latitudes the ocean dumping regulations single out. What minimum depth applies there?

    1. A. No less than three hundred fathoms, or eighteen hundred feet
    2. B. No less than one hundred fathoms, or six hundred feet
    3. C. No less than two hundred fathoms, or twelve hundred feet
    4. D. No less than five hundred fathoms, or three thousand feet

    Answer: A

    Explanation: 40 CFR 229.1(a)(2) sets a general minimum of one hundred fathoms but requires greater depth in three named zones, providing that burial take place “in no less than three hundred fathoms (eighteen hundred feet) from (i) 27°30′00″ to 31°00′00″ North Latitude off St. Augustine and Cape Canaveral, Florida”, along with the zones off Dry Tortugas and from the Mississippi River Delta to Pensacola. The deeper figure governs in those waters.

    Reference: Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40 — 40 CFR 229.1(a)(2)(i)-(iii)