Download Contemporary American History 1st Quarter Exam

Nov. 9 & 10, 2010
Contemporary American History 1st Quarter Exam
Instructions: Answer each question by choosing the letter next to the best response; place the letter on your
answer sheet.
1.
The collective struggle against oppression for freedom and equality is our definition for:
a) exploitation
b) freedom
c) hegemony
d) social justice
2.
“To live without oppression” was part of our definition for:
a) equality
b) justice
c) exploitation
d) freedom
3.
If all people have the same value and rights in society, the society has:
a) injustice
b) equality
c) oppression
d) collective struggle
4.
“An equitable distribution of resources” means:
a) everyone takes what they can get
b) everyone gets a piece of the pie
c) the rich get richer while the poor get poorer
d) the wealth and resources of a society are shared fairly
5.
“The use of power to hold someone down and restrain his / her freedom” is the definition for:
a) oppression
b) freedom
c) justice
d) inequality
6.
When an employer pays an unfairly low wage to his / her workers so that he can hold more of the profits, it’s an
example of:
a) social justice
b) exploitation
c) freedom
d) equitable distribution of resources
7.
This is the type of map projection that was the primary world map used for several hundred years. It causes
major distortion of northern countries because it creates square corners.
a) Peterson
b) Robinson
c) Conical
d) Mercator
8.
This navigational line on a map or globe divides the Earth between East and West. The line arbitrarily runs
through Greenwich, England:
a) Prime Meridian
b) Equator
c) the Tropic of Cancer
d) the Tropic of Capricorn
Nov. 9 & 10, 2010
9.
This navigational line on a map or globe runs around the globe at exactly the mid-way point between the North
and South Poles.
a) Prime Meridian
b) Tropic of Cancer
c) International Date Line
d) Equator
10. These navigational lines on a map run parallel to the Equator.
a) longitude
b) Prime Meridian
c) national borders
d) latitude
11. When determining the distance between two points on a map, one should refer to the:
a) scale
b) latitude
c) compass
d) key
12. A measurement of the size and growth of the economy; it’s the total of all goods and services produced in a
country in one year:
a) recession
b) literacy rate
c) Gross Domestic Product
d) Infant Mortality Rate
13. When the economy is getting smaller, rather than growing, which means less buying and selling, less
production, fewer jobs, etc.:
a) GDP growth
b) recession
c) Gross Domestic Product
d) Bull Market
14. Capitalism:
a) an economic system based on centralized government control over economic decisions
b) an economic system controlled by the working class through the communist party
c) an economic system based on free markets and free enterprise, driven by profit interests
d) an economic system guided by ancestral traditions and customs
15. Labor is:
a) the total of all goods and services produced in a country in one year
b) the value of a person’s work, which is bought and sold
c) when prices rise, making the value of one’s money decrease
d) when an economy gets smaller rather than growing
16. The economy is:
a) a system based on elections and voting
b) a system of education that involves four years of secondary school
c) a system of buying and selling
d) a system of farming that includes crop rotation
17. Financial capital is:
a) when an economy gets smaller, rather than growing
b) surplus wealth, which is invested to grow more wealth
c) Washington, D.C.
d) a system of buying and selling
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18. As a rule in capitalism, business decisions are based on:
a) the good of the country
b) what will increase the wages of workers
c) what will make life easier for the consumer
d) what will make the most money for the owner of the business
19. The free market refers to:
a) a place of buying and welling that is regulated by “natural laws”
b) a place of buying and selling that is government controlled
c) a place of buying and selling where all goods are free
d) a place for buying and selling used goods
20. As a rule in capitalism, if there is competition between two companies, who sell a similar product to similar
customers…
a) the price of the product will go up
b) the government will step in and resolve the competition by setting the same price for both companies
c) the price of the product will go down
d) the quality of the product will decrease
21. In capitalism, the law of supply and demand states that prices will rise when…
a) the supply of a product remains the same and demand for it decreases
b) the supply of a product increases and the demand remains the same
c) the demand for a product decreases and the supply increase
d) the demand for a product increases and supply remains the same
22. When prices of products go up or down in capitalism, it is usually caused by…
a) the principle of supply and demand
b) competition between 2 or more producers
c) laws passed in Congress
d) both A and B
23. The Dust Bowl referred to…
a) the college football championship game hold on New Years day in 1933
b) the food that many people were reduced to eat during the Great Depression
c) the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after the “dust had settled” on oct. 29th, 1929
d) the region of the Great Plaines that suffered drought and dust storms throughout the 1930s
24. The Capitalist business cycle refers to…
a) the law of supply and demand
b) the natural growth and recession periods of a capitalist economy
c) the process a business goes through in developing and producing a new product
d) the terms used to describe Henry Ford’s assembly line form of mass production
25. Which of the following statements is most accurate about wealth in the United States.
a) 12% of Americans live in poverty because American is not a wealthy country
b) a very small percentage of people own almost all the wealth
c) the U.S. has an equitable distribution of wealth among all people
d) the wealth of the U.S. is divided by the population and every man, woman and child gets an equal share
26. In a capitalist economy, a market is…
a) a place for buying government produced products
b) a place for buying and selling where prices are determined by laws established by the government
c) a place for buying locally farm-grown foods
d) a place for buying or selling where natural laws regulate products and prices
Nov. 9 & 10, 2010
27. In capitalism, when a person has little or no capital, he / she must make a living by…
a) selling apples
b) selling his / her labor
c) stealing
d) selling his / her soul
28. Cass division created by capitalism are based on…
a) one’s career
b) one’s education
c) one’s income
d) one’s possession of capital
29. The capitalist class…
a) is the largest class of people in the United States
b) possess most of the wealth and capital in the United States
c) sells its labor in order to make a living
d) can be achieved by anyone who just works hard enough
30. In our notes, we defined the working class as those who…
a) make less than $50 thousand / year
b) make less than $12 / hour
c) work in factories and industries
d) sell their labor to make a living
31. According to Mr. Haines, the American middle class is…
a) alive and well and a vital part of American society
b) still in existence, though shrinking because of the foreclosure crisis
c) available to anyone who gets a college education
d) a myth made up by the capitalist class to keep workers working
32. Hegemony is…
a) the obvious lies that our government leaders tell us everyday
b) the way in which those in power manipulate the ideas of others in order to maintain their power
c) the dream that gives us all hope for a fair and equitable society in the future
d) a constitutional principle that goes back to the founding of our country
33. All of the following were causes of the Great Depression EXCEPT:
a) agricultural overproduction
b) stock market speculation
c) too much consumer debt
d) mortgage-based securities
34. The event that marked the beginning of the Great Depression was…
a) the period of agricultural deflation beginning in 1924
b) when Henry Ford discontinued the Model T in 1927
c) the stock market crash of 1929
d) the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932
35. This term is used by the U.S. government to refer to Spanish-speaking people with ancestry in Mexico and
Central / South American, but many find it oppressive because it places one’s identify with the country of Spain,
which was the conqueror and colonizer.
a) Latino
b) Chicano
c) Hispanic
d) Mexican-American
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36. This term initially referred to people with ancestry in the American south-west, which was part of Mexico prior
to the U.S.-Mexico War.
a) Chicano
b) Spanish
c) Latino
d) Hispanic
37. This term refers to people with ancestry in the Latin-based cultures of Mexico, the Caribbean, Central American
and South America; it can include speakers of French, Spanish and Portuguese.
a) Hispanic
b) Chicano
c) Latino
d) Mexican-American
38. Credit is:
a) access to borrowed money
b) a percentage charged for using borrowed money
c) a loan from a bank / lender to buy a house
d) a card that gives you access to borrowed money
39. Federal income taxes are an example of:
a) a flat tax rate
b) a progressive tax rate
c) a regressive tax rate
d) a proportional tax rate
40. Taxes can be best defined as:
a) optional payment made to the government
b) revenue generated by large businesses as extra profit
c) required payment made to the government
d) a check that employees receive from the government every year in April or May
41. All of the following are true of a Checking Account EXCEPT:
a) gives you the ability to write checks
b) good for saving money
c) gives you the ability to use a Debit Card
d) allows Direct Deposit of paychecks
42. All of the following are true of a Savings Account EXCEPT:
a) gives you the ability to use a Debit Card
b) helps you safely and securely save money
c) pays an interest rate on your deposit
d) allows you to deposit and withdraw whenever necessary
43. Which statement best describes the primary goal of a bank?
a) to help people save for retirement
b) to help people own their own home
c) to regulate interest rates
d) to make profit
44. A mortgage is…
a) a loan from a bank / lender to buy a car
b) a loan from the federal gov’t to pay for college tuition
c) a loan from a bank / lender to buy a house
d) a loan from a bank / lender to buy furniture
Nov. 9 & 10, 2010
45. Interest could be best defined as…
a) access to borrowed money
b) a fee charged for cashing a check
c) a fee charged for using a bank’s services
d) a percentage charged on borrowed money
46. A card that acts the same as a check. In other words it electronically transfers funds from a checking account.
a) debit card
b) credit card
c) Master Card
d) gift card
47. The FDIC is…
a) the “Freedom for Depositors to Invest Clause” of the U.S. banking code
b) the “Federal Depositors Insurance Corporation”
c) the gov’t agency that guarantees deposits in banks
d) both B & C
48. A person can increase his or her credit score by:
a) not paying utility bills on time
b) missing payments on a student loan
c) paying bills and paying back oans on time
d) never using credit
49. Stock is:
a) money loaned to the gov’t and returned with interest
b) money saved in a bank
c) the extra products kept in the back room of the store
d) ownership shares of a company
50. If you have “bad credit,” it means…
a) a bank may refuse to give you a loan or a credit card
b) if lenders give you a loan, it will come with a high interest rate
c) you will have a low credit score
d) all of the above