Expand your vocabulary using context clues.
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The term Third World was based on the idea that the 'first' and 'second' worlds were made up of the free-market and centrally planned countries with advanced industrial economies. Currently, several countries are struggling to shift from a planned economy which the government controlled to a competitive free-market. Free-market means: |
| | A) | market in which everything is free |
| | B) | economic system in which resources are allocated by private decisions rather than by the government |
| | C) | completely unregulated economy |
| | D) | economic system in which the government is free to do whatever it pleases |
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At the top of the list of Third World nations are the rapidly developing countries called Newly Industrialized Countries (NIC). Advanced technology is characteristic of highly industrialized countries such as Japan and Germany. Industrialized means: |
| | A) | having highly developed industries that produce goods and services |
| | B) | struggling |
| | C) | controlled by industries |
| | D) | busy or hardworking |
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Even though the Third World holds much of the world's natural resources, many raw materials from the Third World are shipped abroad for consumption in the world's wealthier and more developed countries. The level of energy consumption in the United States has risen dramatically during the twentieth century. Consumption means: |
| | A) | use of consumer goods or serivces |
| | B) | spending |
| | C) | ingestion of food |
| | D) | debilitating illness |
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The flood of poor families into major Third World cities put additional strains on the economic infrastructure. The President pledged to improve two parts of the nation's infrastructure: public transportation and health care. Infrastructure means: |
| | A) | government buildings |
| | B) | hospitals |
| | C) | construction in rural areas |
| | D) | basic services and facilities needed by a society |
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Saddled with enormous debt payments, hyperinflation, surging populations, and mounting unemployment, many Third World countries in the late 1980s struggled just to keep their economies afloat. When Germany experienced hyperinflation in the 1920s, it took a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a single loaf of bread. Hyperinflation means: |
| | A) | decrease in inflation |
| | B) | rapid input of air |
| | C) | excessive rate of increase in consumer prices |
| | D) | rapid accumulation of debt |
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Saddled with enormous debt payments, hyperinflation, surging populations, and mounting unemployment, many Third World countries in the late 1980s struggled just to keep their economies afloat. When the storm hit, the surging sea water flooded the beaches and low-lying areas of the city. Surging means: |
| | A) | decreasing |
| | B) | angry |
| | C) | increasing suddenly |
| | D) | poor |
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But rampant inflation often ends up eroding most of these efforts, creating an ever-widening gap between the Third World's poorest and richest nations. In poverty-stricken areas of many large cities, crime is rampant. Rampant means: |
| | A) | tolerated or accepted |
| | B) | decreasing |
| | C) | controlled |
| | D) | growing or spreading unchecked |
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While many economies in Latin America, Africa, and Asia
stagnated, the economies of the elite developing countries of the Pacific Rim rose to levels that rivaled Japan's in the 1960s. The aging actor's career had stagnated for several years, but then he suddenly achieved fame in a blockbuster movie. Stagnated means: |
| | A) | rotted |
| | B) | improved |
| | C) | smelled bad |
| | D) | failed to change or develop |
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One of the first steps in encouraging development would be to reduce the Third World's debt and supply additional funds to revive their moribund economies. The doctor summoned the family to the bedside of the moribund woman when she had only moments to live. Moribund means: |
| | A) | abundant |
| | B) | dead |
| | C) | almost at the point of death |
| | D) | ill |
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Wealthy creditor governments also have the option of writing off their debt, accepting that it will never be repaid. Because the Newtons charged too many purchases on their credit cards and were unable to pay their debts, they were hounded by one creditor after another. Creditor means: |
| | A) | one to whom money is owed |
| | B) | one who deserves financial credit |
| | C) | one who is trustworthy |
| | D) | one who owes money |
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