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1
A culture's worldview, as presented in "Understanding American Worldview," is important in that it shapes how:
A)the government will interact with other nations.
B)children are raised.
C)economically successful the culture is likely to be.
D)individuals make basic decisions.
2
A future orientation, as explained in "Understanding American Worldview," takes the stance that:
A)only future generations are of any importance.
B)the present must be given an equal footing with the future.
C)it is inappropriate to focus on the past.
D)all actions can be forgiven or overcome.
3
Pervasive cultural worldviews, as noted in "Understanding American Worldview," are carefully spoken of and taught to children from a very early age.
A)True
B)False
4
As suggested in "The Myth of the 'Culture of Poverty'," perhaps the greatest myth of all is the one that dubs education the:
A)great equalizer.
B)last best hope.
C)path of the privileged.
D)key to success.
5
As noted in "The Myth of the 'Culture of Poverty'," deficit theory establishes the idea of a segment of society that simply has not earned a fair shake, or what H. J. Gans calls the:
A)lazers and grazers.
B)undeserving poor.
C)forgotten families.
D)neglected neighbors.
6
According to "The Myth of the 'Culture of Poverty'," the Economic Policy Institute reported in 2002 that poor working adults spend more hours working each week than their wealthier counterparts.
A)True
B)False
7
In "The Test of Time," the author describes feeling as if she:
A)is always overlooking something important.
B)does not adequately provide for her children.
C)never does any one thing particularly well.
D)is selfish for taking time for herself.
8
According to "The Test of Time," among the current beliefs about Americans and time, John Robinson does not dispute that:
A)women provide more child care than men.
B)women often limit their careers to care for children and their homes.
C)both men and women are sleeping far less than in earlier decades.
D)people think they have no free time.
9
Even though more women are working outside the home, as presented in "The Test of Time," John Robinson argues that women have more leisure time now than they did in the 1960s.
A)True
B)False
10
The age of Twitter and other online aspects of U.S. culture, as maintained in "I Can't Think!", has had the unintended consequence of:
A)overloading people's brains with information that impedes decision-making.
B)curtailing the variety of unique points of view to which people are exposed.
C)making people far more self-centered and willing to share too many details about their lives.
D)rapidly exposing the flaws in numerous consumer goods and services.
11
In the eighteenth century, as pointed out in "I Can't Think!", essayist Alexander Pope warned that the large number of books being published would:
A)encourage people of little talent to try writing.
B)discourage exceptional writers from publication.
C)encourage anarchy and loose morals.
D)cause anxiety as people were unable to absorb even a small portion of what was published.
12
Decision science, as explained in "I Can't Think!", has shown that people faced with a plethora of choices are still apt to make the best possible decision for themselves.
A)True
B)False
13
As presented in "Islam in America," the Park51 project is a plan to build:
A)a memorial to the victims of the attack on the World Trade Center.
B)a mosque in the small Wisconsin village of Oostburg.
C)an Islamic cultural center in New York City.
D)a jihadi training camp in rural America.
14
As explained in "Islam in America," the controversy that has erupted over the Park51 project has to do with its:
A)cost.
B)location.
C)purpose.
D)size.
15
As noted in "Islam in America," most of the Muslims residing in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, are refugees from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
A)True
B)False
16
As postulated in "Diversity Within Unity," variations and exemptions to universal laws within a society may be based on the individual needs of such groups as:
A)women and gays.
B)minors and those suffering from mental illness.
C)members of minority religions.
D)criminals and illegal aliens.
17
One example given in "Diversity Within Unity" as a compromise between a subculture and basic laws would be allowing Sikhs to wear their daggers, but only if:
A)they are worn in private homes but not public places.
B)the Sikh is wearing other traditional garb.
C)the blades are converted to rubber or plastic facsimiles of the metal blades.
D)the daggers are modified so they cannot be unsheathed.
18
As noted in "Diversity Within Unity," the discussion embodied in the agreement applies only to well-established, democratic nations.
A)True
B)False
19
The approach to distributive economic justice most often associated with the United States, as maintained in "What Do We Deserve?" is the:
A)empirical model.
B)libertarian model.
C)egalitarian model.
D)meritocratic model.
20
Any system of distributive justice, as explained in "What Do We Deserve?" is unable to adequately compensate for:
A)criminality.
B)random natural gifts.
C)poor health.
D)personal tragedy.
21
A flaw in the libertarian model of distributive justice, as asserted in "What Do We Deserve?" is that even if everyone is expected to obey the same well-defined rules for success, individuals do not all begin at the same starting point.
A)True
B)False
22
As stipulated in "The Social Construction of Gender," social expectations about what is properly masculine and feminine are communicated to us through:
A)self-adjusting brain chemistry.
B)our DNA.
C)the socialization process.
D)random events.
23
As analyzed in "The Social Construction of Gender," when both parents are out with their toddler and the toddler is allowed to be out of the stroller, the mother is much more likely to be the parent pushing the empty stroller, which demonstrates the mother's:
A)need for control.
B)presumed role of "servant."
C)attachment to child-care roles.
D)unwillingness to challenge the father's lack of helpfulness.
24
As claimed in "The Social Construction of Gender," because mothers are much more likely than fathers to engage in and manage child care, mothers are also more likely to gender-type their children.
A)True
B)False
25
As mentioned in "Worth Every Penny: Can Cash Incentives Create Model Citizens?," the successful incentive schemes launched by Mexico and other Latin American nations have been dubbed:
A)human capital systems.
B)poverty-reversal investments.
C)banking bonanzas.
D)conditional cash-transfer programs.
26
As disclosed in "Worth Every Penny: Can Cash Incentives Create Model Citizens?," Kevin Volpp from the University of Pennsylvania is exploring the possibilities of using cash incentives to help encourage prescription-drug compliance among "a notoriously problematic group," namely:
A)arthritis sufferers.
B)stroke patients.
C)obese men.
D)pregnant smokers.
27
As reported in "Worth Every Penny: Can Cash Incentives Create Model Citizens?," New York became the first city in a developed nation to try to alleviate poverty by offering incentives to improve people's engagement in areas such as education, health, and employment.
A)True
B)False
28
As explained in "The New Sex Scorecard," the physiological entities responsible for reward and motivation are:
A)gray matter.
B)vasopressin fibers.
C)the X chromosome.
D)dopamine.
29
As asserted in "The New Sex Scorecard," a higher percentage of white matter in the brain gives men an advantage in:
A)thought-linking ability.
B)spatial reasoning.
C)difficult verbal tasks.
D)empathizing.
30
As suggested in "The New Sex Scorecard," men may get a backup of certain genes because genes on their second X chromosome escape inactivation.
A)True
B)False
31
As presented in "Fighting Crime," street crime in the United States could be significantly reduced by establishing public policy based on:
A)political ideology.
B)costs and benefits.
C)special interests.
D)incarceration and punishment.
32
As claimed in "Fighting Crime," the most effective strategy for utilizing law-enforcement personnel in the reduction of street crime is to:
A)adopt "community policing" programs.
B)identify and focus on crime "hot spots."
C)strengthen punishments for petty crimes.
D)increase the number of police officers.
33
As asserted in "Fighting Crime," the existence of the death penalty in a given state not only does not deter murder, but might even increase the number of murders committed.
A)True
B)False
34
The Innocence Project, as cited in "Wrongful Convictions," notes that 67 percent of those exonerated were convicted after 2000, which is the year that:
A)many states began suspending executions.
B)eyewitness testimony was demonstrated to be largely faulty.
C)marked the onset of modern DNA testing.
D)the overall crime rate dropped significantly.
35
According to "Wrongful Convictions," there may be a higher wrongful conviction rate in death-penalty cases because:
A)these cases have far more conflicting factors than less serious crimes.
B)legal-defense teams rely on the appeals process to correct any wrongs.
C)prosecutors and jurors may feel more pressure to convict in these cases.
D)there is a greater likelihood of willful mishandling of evidence in these cases.
36
DNA testing, as described in "Wrongful Convictions," is conclusive in the majority of criminal cases.
A)True
B)False
37
The backdrop to the pastoral statement issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops a decade ago concerning the prison system, as pointed out in "Cruel and Unusual," was the:
A)rising rate of violent crime.
B)sex-abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church.
C)dramatic rise in the incarceration rate.
D)decline in church attendance in all denominations.
38
By 2000, as explained in "Cruel and Unusual," prisons were increasingly admitting nonviolent criminals, particularly those guilty of:
A)property crimes.
B)drug-related infractions.
C)failure to make alimony and child-support payments.
D)white-collar crimes.
39
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops pastoral statement concerning the prison system, as described in "Cruel and Unusual," argued that the U.S. prison system insufficiently emphasizes punishment.
A)True
B)False
40
It is surprising that not a single financial executive has gone to jail as a result of the financial crisis, as presented in "How Wall Street Crooks Get Out of Jail Free," in spite of abundant evidence of:
A)insider trading.
B)tax evasion.
C)bribery of government officials.
D)massive fraud.
41
The federal government, as described in "How Wall Street Crooks Get Out of Jail Free," may have been reluctant to issue criminal indictments against financial executives because the federal government:
A)had invested a fortune in public funds to restore large banks and brokerages.
B)has a large workforce drawn from the private financial sector.
C)may have been involved in some of the fraudulent dealings of banks and brokerages.
D)was lax in its oversight and in establishing regulations for new financial instruments.
42
In contrast to the rest of the federal government, as noted in "How Wall Street Crooks Get Out of Jail Free," President Obama has been very vocal about his desire to see investigations into possible criminal activities and eventual prosecutions if warranted.
A)True
B)False
43
As presented in "The Aggregate Burden of Crime," the majority of studies undertaken to estimate the costs of crime in the United States are problematic because:
A)most crimes go unreported and are therefore not available for study.
B)police department records are highly inaccurate.
C)those carrying out the studies are not trained in law enforcement.
D)the studies do not measure the indirect costs of crime.
44
As claimed in "The Aggregate Burden of Crime," from a societal standpoint, the most important thing about crime is:
A)the extent of damage inflicted by crime.
B)the violence associated with various crimes.
C)whether or not crime can be measured.
D)how citizens can be protected from crime.
45
As noted in "The Aggregate Burden of Crime," incarcerated criminals are potentially valuable members of society's workforce.
A)True
B)False
46
As shown in "The Frayed Knot," how the best-and least-educated Americans approach marriage and child-rearing is:
A)about the same.
B)little changed from the 1950s.
C)so different it has become a widening gulf.
D)determined more by geography than anything else.
47
As brought out in "The Frayed Knot," compared to children who live with two biological parents, children in single-parent homes are more likely to be all of the following except:
A)academic high achievers.
B)poor.
C)high-school drop-outs.
D)behavioral problems in school.
48
As cited in "The Frayed Knot," the divorce rate among college-educated women has climbed steadily since the 1970s.
A)True
B)False
49
Some experts believe that children grow up healthier and happier, as explained in "How to Land Your Kid in Therapy," if, rather than having perfect parents, that have parents that:
A)are strict disciplinarians.
B)are good-enough.
C)enjoy a wide circle of friends.
D)expect them to spend time on their own.
50
Until recently, as put forth in "How to Land Your Kid in Therapy," the American Dream and the pursuit of happiness meant that people should strive:
A)for general contentment.
B)to be happy all the time.
C)to avoid difficult decisions.
D)to act to make others happy.
51
When she was in graduate school, as noted in "How to Land Your Kid in Therapy," the author recalls a focus on how the lack of parental attunement affects the child, but the effects of too much attention were never discussed.
A)True
B)False
52
As revealed in "Peer Marriage," the secret to the success of peer unions appears to be:
A)parity of salaries and equal responsibility for finances.
B)a sense of friendship that transcends romantic love.
C)a satisfying and intimate sexual relationship.
D)joint child-rearing.
53
The author of "Peer Marriage" describes her parents' traditional marriage, in which her mother escaped a childhood of poverty by marrying her father, who provided for the family as a:
A)lawyer.
B)doctor.
C)automotive executive.
D)university professor.
54
As mentioned in "Peer Marriage," more men than women leave marriages.
A)True
B)False
55
As defined in "Death by Gender," the murder and mutilation of victims selected by sex is known as:
A)fraternal destiny.
B)sexual selection.
C)gendercide.
D)gender atrocity.
56
As set forth in "Death by Gender," for this article, the author has chosen to focus on honor killing because it is so:
A)well documented.
B)painfully personal.
C)vile an act.
D)intriguing.
57
According to "Death by Gender," the practice of honor killing is rarely condemned by the educated and sophisticated members of the societies in which the killings occur—or by the social activists or leaders of the "free world."
A)True
B)False
58
As explained in "The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage," Proposition 8 is a California ballot initiative that:
A)allows same-sex couples to marry.
B)prohibits the government from regulating the sexual practices of consenting adults.
C)prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.
D)outlaws same-sex marriage.
59
As argued in "The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage," conservatives should favor same-sex marriage because:
A)marriage-license fees increase government revenue.
B)marriage is a basic building block of American society.
C)same-sex couples are unable to commit to each other without a legal bond.
D)same-sex couples deserve special rights.
60
As noted in "The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage," Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the federal challenge to Proposition 8, was far too slow and incremental for most gay activists.
A)True
B)False
61
As stated in "An Age of Transformation," more and more Americans wake up in their suburb and go to work:
A)in another suburb.
B)right around the corner.
C)in their own home office.
D)100 (or more) miles away.
62
As asserted in "An Age of Transformation," having conquered suburbia, ethnic minority groups are now swiftly infiltrating the:
A)uptown city neighborhoods.
B)more distant exurbs.
C)revitalized ghetto districts.
D)most exclusive waterfront communities.
63
As described in "An Age of Transformation," Valencia proved to be as economically self-contained as its architect, Victor Gruen, had originally intended.
A)True
B)False
64
As explained in "Relationships, Community, and Identity in the New Virtual Society," although technology is being lauded for encouraging diversity and facilitating cross-cultural communication, there is a counter-trend known as:
A)the electronic divide.
B)intra-social solidarity.
C)virtual insularity.
D)digital tribalism.
65
As cited in "Relationships, Community, and Identity in the New Virtual Society," the pollster John Zogby calls the emerging generation that links up through IM, Twitter, blogs, smart-phones, and social networking sites:
A)Generation Z.
B)Virtual Villagers.
C)World Citizens.
D)First Globals.
66
As mentioned in "Relationships, Community, and Identity in the New Virtual Society," Chinese people who participate in wang hun, or online role-play marriages, are sometimes getting divorced on the grounds that this constitutes adultery.
A)True
B)False
67
In assessing the role of the United Nations in the fight against slavery, the author of "A World Enslaved" suggests that it:
A)has no mandate to work against bondage.
B)consistently holds its member states accountable for slavery.
C)will continue to be an effective tool for defeating slavery.
D)has done almost nothing to combat modern-day slavery.
68
As reported in "A World Enslaved," the highest concentration of slaves on the planet is in:
A)South Asia.
B)South America.
C)Europe.
D)Africa.
69
As observed in "A World Enslaved," the majority of slaves in the world are prostitutes.
A)True
B)False
70
For historian Howard Zinn, as put forth in "The Rule of the Rich," democracy was:
A)the best way to show humanity's best side.
B)always fragile, at best.
C)a big public fight everyone should enter.
D)the only protection that average citizens have against oppression.
71
What is generally and politely known as "the free market at work," as maintained in "The Rule of the Rich," can best be described as:
A)wage repression.
B)voter disenfranchisement.
C)wholesale corporate fraud.
D)thievery by the rich.
72
Between 1980 and 2008, as reported in "The Rule of the Rich," the average incomes of Americans almost doubled.
A)True
B)False
73
According to "Antipoverty Policy for the Excluded Poor," the "excluded poor" are those who are:
A)employed for at least 27 weeks per year.
B)receiving some type of government assistance, such as unemployment.
C)left out of the formal economy and economic policy.
D)the primary focus of antipoverty programs.
74
As explained in "Antipoverty Policy for the Excluded Poor," the excluded poor are often called the "blamed poor," because they are blamed for:
A)high crime rates.
B)their own poverty.
C)drug problems in mainstream society.
D)racism.
75
As noted in "Antipoverty Policy for the Excluded Poor," the excluded poor in most countries are dangerous races that differ significantly from the countries' dominant races.
A)True
B)False
76
As identified in "Connecting the Dots," the chief internal obstacle to those in poverty is:
A)an irrational dependency on easy solutions.
B)a comfortable immersion into laziness.
C)a corrosive sense of incapacity.
D)a looming dread of losing their children.
77
As cited in "Connecting the Dots," the author borrows the wording of Edgar Allan Poe when he says that, for most of us, the poor are:
A)a dream within a dream.
B)those little slices of death.
C)hidden in plain sight.
D)nevermore.
78
As established in "Connecting the Dots," we know more than we think we do about poverty's causes and solutions.
A)True
B)False
79
As explained in "Temporary Assistance for Needy Families," the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act:
A)ended government assistance for most needy families.
B)provided long-term federal cash payments to needy families.
C)created a program of time-limited assistance to needy families.
D)allowed Congress to control any benefits provided to needy families.
80
According to "Temporary Assistance for Needy Families," the primary focus of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is on:
A)helping clients move into the workforce and off the assistance rolls.
B)maintaining ongoing benefits for children until they reach the age of maturity.
C)increasing the number of families that are able to receive government assistance.
D)providing more foster homes for children who cannot remain with their parents.
81
As noted in "Temporary Assistance for Needy Families," TANF was originally intended to allow states to craft their own assistance programs.
A)True
B)False
82
In the white focus group described in "Inequities That Endure?", the biggest problem facing the community was said to be:
A)deteriorating schools.
B)lack of basic services, including grocery stores.
C)government-supported housing.
D)police corruption.
83
According to "Inequities That Endure?", black focus group participants stated that the biggest problem facing their community was:
A)drugs and crime.
B)police brutality.
C)excessive noise and other quality-of-life issues.
D)absentee landlords.
84
Two focus groups, one with African American participants and the other with white participants, presented in "Inequities That Endure?" suggest that the United States continues to have a race problem that has become more elusive and sophisticated than previously.
A)True
B)False
85
As postulated in "Whites Swim in Racial Preference," many whites apparently are convinced that the notion of "racial preference" originated with the:
A)Emancipation Proclamation.
B)policies of affirmative action.
C)abolition of European indentured servitude.
D)aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
86
As reported in "Whites Swim in Racial Preference," the Harvard Civil Rights Project says its research shows that the most segregated schools in America for blacks are in:
A)Michigan.
B)New York.
C)Mississippi.
D)California.
87
According to "Whites Swim in Racial Preference," America's white families, on average, have a net worth 11 times that of its black families.
A)True
B)False
88
As defined in "Understanding Unconscious Bias and Unintentional Racism," aversive racism exists when a person:
A)openly admits his or her racist feelings and tendencies.
B)is aware of his or her prejudices, but refuses to admit them openly.
C)feels negatively toward his or her own race.
D)denies his or her prejudices, but harbors unconscious racist feelings or beliefs.
89
As explained in "Understanding Unconscious Bias and Unintentional Racism," the statement "some of my best friends are black" is an example of:
A)a stereotype.
B)re-fencing.
C)conscious racism.
D)blink-of-the-eye racism.
90
As noted in "Understanding Unconscious Bias and Unintentional Racism," research has shown that black students perform worse on tests when required to identify their race prior to taking the test.
A)True
B)False
91
According to "Female Power," the economic empowerment of women across the rich world is remarkable because it has not:
A)increased independence for women.
B)produced any measurable change in the world.
C)resulted in significant friction between men and women.
D)resulted in any negative consequences.
92
As claimed in "Female Power," the most important innovation behind the economic empowerment of women is the:
A)computer.
B)vacuum cleaner.
C)microwave oven.
D)contraceptive pill.
93
As noted in "Female Power," women make up the majority of professional workers in the United States.
A)True
B)False
94
As reported in "The End of Men," since the 1990s, scientists and medical professionals have found that sex selection for children in the United States is driven by:
A)women, with a preference for male children.
B)men, with a preference for female children.
C)women, with a preference for female children.
D)joint decisions of couples, with no sex preference.
95
As claimed in "The End of Men," the keys to economic success in the current global economy are:
A)thinking and communicating.
B)speed and stamina.
C)aggression and competition.
D)size and strength.
96
As noted in "The End of Men," studies have found that the greater the power of women in a country, the greater that country's economic success.
A)True
B)False
97
The corporate community, as maintained in "Who Rules America?", is cohesive on policy issues that affect its general welfare when challenged by any of the following except:
A)environmental groups.
B)organized labor.
C)the Christian right.
D)liberals.
98
The Christian right and the corporate community, as pointed out in "Who Rules America?", are able to work together because both groups:
A)have the same goals.
B)distrust government power.
C)have overlapping memberships.
D)are able to raise large sums of money.
99
According to "Who Rules America?", even the highest-ranking members of powerful nonprofit organizations are excluded from the power elite.
A)True
B)False
100
In recent years, as described in "Neutralized," people in the United States have come to expect judges to make their decisions:
A)with an eye to their further advancement.
B)so as to appear tough on crime.
C)with little or no explanation.
D)along partisan or ideological lines.
101
In an attempt to counter the supposed liberal bias of established think tanks and the mainstream media, as explained in "Neutralized," in the 1970s, conservative Republicans began to:
A)establish their own think tanks.
B)adopt ever more conservative views.
C)try to attract moderates to their viewpoint.
D)accuse these entities of corruption and widespread deception.
102
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as reported in "Neutralized," courts notably sided with business interests against labor interests.
A)True
B)False
103
In the United States, as put forth in "Foresight for Government," policy makers and the general public appear to have a false sense of security about the country's current position and future prospects as a result of all of the following except:
A)rising levels of education.
B)modest inflation levels.
C)low interest rates.
D)strong economic growth.
104
The GAO report entitled "21st Century Challenges," as described in "Foresight for Government," highlights how much current government policies on a wide variety of issues are based on:
A)optimistic estimates of future conditions.
B)partisan ideology.
C)conditions rooted in the past.
D)protecting the interests of narrowly focused groups.
105
It is not the responsibility of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI), as pointed out in "Foresight for Government," to alert public officials to key emerging opportunities.
A)True
B)False
106
As claimed in "The Capitalist Manifesto," historically, when something goes awry with a certain feature of the economic landscape:
A)it signals the end of that feature.
B)economic pundits attempt to cover up or ignore the problem.
C)the entire economic landscape suffers severely.
D)that feature often accelerates in the years that follow.
107
As asserted in "The Capitalist Manifesto," when countries need growth, they turn to:
A)markets.
B)government programs.
C)borrowing from other countries.
D)spending controls.
108
As argued in "The Capitalist Manifesto," capitalism remains the most productive economic engine humans have ever invented.
A)True
B)False
109
As presented in "Reversal of Fortune," the centuries since Adam Smith launched modern economics with his book The Wealth of Nations have been single-mindedly devoted to the dogged pursuit of:
A)distributed wealth.
B)individualized wealth.
C)maximum economic production.
D)global economic equality.
110
As set forth in "Reversal of Fortune," in some ways, the invention of the idea of economic growth was almost as significant as the invention of:
A)war.
B)movable type.
C)fossil-fuel power.
D)nuclear medicine.
111
As noted in "Reversal of Fortune," mainstream liberals and conservatives no longer compete on the question of who can flog the economy harder.
A)True
B)False
112
Major flaws in today's higher education system, even at the best institutions, as maintained in "Getting Higher Ed in Shape," include all of the following except:
A)spiraling tuition and fees.
B)yawning graduation gaps between students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.
C)a decline in tenured professors and professional teaching staff.
D)the question of how much students are actually learning.
113
According to "Getting Higher Ed in Shape," colleges and universities only measure how much students are learning indirectly, through metrics such as:
A)job placement.
B)alumni donations.
C)number of students pursuing graduate degrees.
D)student-faculty ratios.
114
Slowly, as pointed out in "Getting Higher Ed in Shape," the accountability movement and concerns that the United States is no longer the best in everything have reached into higher education.
A)True
B)False
115
The author of "Medical Guesswork" contends that, although there is little or no evidence that many widely used treatments and procedures work better than various cheaper alternatives, the annual cost of the high-tech healthcare system in the United States is:
A)$96 million.
B)$48 billion.
C)$2 trillion.
D)incalculable.
116
According to "Medical Guesswork," the benefits have been huge and incontrovertible with all of the following treatments, except:
A)vaccines.
B)spinal fusion.
C)antibiotics.
D)early detection of certain tumors.
117
As noted in "Medical Guesswork," patients in a clinical trial usually are not representative of real people.
A)True
B)False
118
According to "Pandemic Pandemonium," the literal meaning of "pandemic," which is an extraordinary global health event in which an epidemic of infectious disease spreads across regions and, potentially, the entire planet, is:
A)all people.
B)fury of the gods.
C)panic + epidemic.
D)traveling virus.
119
As evaluated in "Pandemic Pandemonium," the 1918 flu pandemic, which claimed probably more than 20 million lives, hit the poorest country, India, the hardest, while the place of least suffering was the wealthy nation of:
A)Denmark.
B)Saudi Arabia.
C)Australia.
D)the United States.
120
As claimed in "Pandemic Pandemonium," today, wealthy and poor nations alike face pandemics that move slowly and do not necessarily show symptoms during the first few years of infection.
A)True
B)False
121
As pointed out in "In Search of the Spiritual," 75 percent of those polled say that a very important reason for their faith is to:
A)ensure themselves a place in heaven.
B)have a venue for communing with others of similar faith.
C)forge a personal relationship with God.
D)learn how to become better people.
122
As stated in "In Search of the Spiritual," the fastest-growing category on surveys that ask people to give their religious affiliation is:
A)Muslim.
B)Roman Catholic.
C)none.
D)Episcopalian.
123
According to "In Search of the Spiritual," 79 percent of those polled describe themselves as "religious," while 64 percent say that they are "spiritual."
A)True
B)False
124
According to "The New Population Bomb: The Four Megatrends That Will Change the World," twenty-first-century international security will depend on:
A)how many people inhabit the world.
B)whether or not the world will be able to produce enough food for its populations.
C)how the world's population is composed and distributed.
D)the ability of global income to increase more than global population.
125
As noted in "The New Population Bomb: The Four Megatrends That Will Change the World," the extreme population growth in Europe reversed after World War I because:
A)the Industrial Revolution encouraged Europeans to take their skills to poorer countries.
B)a high percentage of young men of reproductive age died in the war.
C)many Europeans were lured to North America with the promise of better conditions.
D)basic healthcare and sanitation began to spread to poorer countries, increasing life expectancy there.
126
As claimed in "The New Population Bomb: The Four Megatrends That Will Change the World," over the next four decades, the vast majority of the world's GDP growth will occur in Europe and North America.
A)True
B)False
127
According to "How to Feed 8 Billion People," the world is entering a new food era that will be marked by:
A)lower food prices.
B)a rapid increase in world hunger.
C)sharing land between countries for mutual benefit.
D)closing borders and hoarding resources.
128
As claimed in "How to Feed 8 Billion People," the weak link in our civilization is:
A)water.
B)land.
C)food.
D)fuel.
129
As noted in "How to Feed 8 Billion People," in the United States and Canada, which rank at the top of the food-consumption charts, grain is consumed primarily in its original state.
A)True
B)False
130
According to "Immigration Benefits America," David Stoll suggests that contemporary immigrants threaten American society as we know it because they:
A)hold European values, which are very different from American values.
B)are uninterested in assimilating into American culture.
C)have no interest in financial gain, which is the bedrock of American economic values.
D)have too much power and will soon take over mainstream political systems.
131
As presented in "Immigration Benefits America," college-educated immigrants who come to the United States:
A)help meet the demand for highly skilled professionals that outweighs the availability of U.S. workers with these skills.
B)take jobs away from college-educated U.S. workers.
C)have inferior education and skills when compared to U.S. citizens with comparable degrees.
D)generally find jobs in the lower rungs of the U.S. economy.
132
As noted in "Immigration Benefits America," since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, America's national identity has increasingly weakened.
A)True
B)False
133
As discussed in "A Safe Operating Space for Humanity," during the Anthropocene era, biodiversity loss has:
A)been stabilized.
B)been reversed in several areas.
C)followed traditional rates.
D)accelerated massively.
134
As maintained in "A Safe Operating Space for Humanity," during the Holocene era, environmental change occurred:
A)rarely.
B)abruptly.
C)naturally.
D)as a result of human activity.
135
Overall, as pointed out in "A Safe Operating Space for Humanity," the state of the Earth during the Holocene era was not desirable.
A)True
B)False
136
The Permian extinction some 250 million years ago, as described in "Conquering Climate Change," is believed to have been caused by:
A)sudden fluctuations in the ocean currents.
B)the melting of glacier ice.
C)volcanic activity.
D)nuclear material from a meteor.
137
Positive feedbacks associated with climate change that have not been included in the projections made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as cited in "Conquering Climate Change," include all of the following except:
A)the release of fossil methane.
B)more rapid spread of airborne diseases.
C)reduced oceanic carbon-dioxide uptake.
D)changes in the Earth's ability to reflect the sun's light back into space.
138
According to "Conquering Climate Change," arctic ice melting and ocean warming are occurring more slowly than previous IPCC forecasts, which may allow more time to adequately respond to climate change.
A)True
B)False
139
Ron Bailey, as put forth in "Who's Afraid of Human Enhancement?", hopes that biotechnology can eventually accomplish all of the following except:
A)make death optional.
B)restore the environment.
C)reduce the need for food.
D)enhance an individual's intellectual capacities.
140
Eric Cohen explains in "Who's Afraid of Human Enhancement?" that some people are uncomfortable with the biotech revolution because it has the potential to:
A)make life worse in ways that have not been imagined.
B)destroy diversity on the planet.
C)cause new global political tensions.
D)make a small number of people tyrants over those who have not had enhancements.
141
Any regulatory scheme to control biotechnology, as maintained in "Who's Afraid of Human Enhancement?", must have the United States in the forefront, as it is the sole superpower.
A)True
B)False
142
As pointed out in "Biotech on the Farm," promising new developments in genetic engineering include all of the following except:
A)genetically modified crops seem to thrive in saline soils and stressful climates.
B)scientists are engineering disease resistance into black walnut trees.
C)GM bacteria may perform useful functions in waste disposal.
D)genetically modified plants may someday be an important energy source.
143
As set forth in "Biotech on the Farm," in response to concerns about GM food, the United States should:
A)try to convince the European Union and the rest of the world that they are wrong about GM safety issues.
B)terminate GM projects and stick to natural, organic agriculture.
C)use a policy of accommodation.
D)export only those foods produced through traditional farming techniques.
144
As reported in "Biotech on the Farm," only 18 percent of Americans say that they would prefer to buy GM-free food.
A)True
B)False
145
When the Terror 2000 report was compiled, as explained in "Defeating Terrorism," the common wisdom at the time held that terrorism was becoming obsolete because it:
A)was quickly treated as merely a criminal matter.
B)extracted too high a price from sponsoring states.
C)failed to obtain public support for the terrorists' goals.
D)supported violent ideologies that were themselves becoming obsolete.
146
Participants in the conference that led to the Terror 2000 report, as pointed out in "Defeating Terrorism," anticipated all of the following features of the September 11, 2001, attacks except:
A)a second, more successful attack on the World Trade Center.
B)the accomplishment of simultaneous assaults on widely separated targets.
C)health concerns arising from the rescue and clean-up efforts.
D)the deliberate crash of an airplane into the Pentagon.
147
The Terror 2000 report, as noted in "Defeating Terrorism," was widely distributed to government officials and military officers when it was first written in 1994.
A)True
B)False
148
As claimed in "War in the Fifth Domain," the "fifth domain" of war is:
A)outer space.
B)air.
C)sea.
D)cyberspace.
149
As quoted in "War in the Fifth Domain," according to former spy chief Mike McConnell, the effects of a full-blown cyberwar would resemble the effects of:
A)a nuclear attack.
B)an aerial attack.
C)a tornado or hurricane.
D)the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
150
As noted in "War in the Fifth Domain," one of the more difficult aspects of a cyber attack is that the perpetrator often remains anonymous.
A)True
B)False
151
According to "A New End, a New Beginning," one indication of the changing status of the United States is:
A)the enormous global influence of President Obama.
B)Singapore's attempts to reposition the nation away from the U.S. dollar.
C)President Obama's move away from conventional processes of economic growth.
D)the increase in U.S. consumerism and Americans' increased use of revolving credit.
152
As claimed in "A New End, a New Beginning," President Obama is currently presiding over:
A)an epochal economic contraction.
B)a pause in the growth epic.
C)a period of new U.S. economic growth.
D)an excess of wealth available for future generations.
153
As noted in "A New End, a New Beginning," the current global financial system is highly simplistic and easily understood by trained economists and political leaders.
A)True
B)False
154
As defined in "A User's Guide to the Century," the era of modern economic growth is:
A)on the horizon.
B)already a fading ember.
C)coincidental with the post-World War II era.
D)two centuries old.
155
As explained in "A User's Guide to the Century," during the 1800s, the military dominance of the United States and Western Europe resulting from vast industrial power, and then colonial dominance over Africa and Asia were among the factors that contributed to a century of:
A)expansionism.
B)isolationism.
C)economic divergence.
D)cultural diversity.
156
As asserted in "A User's Guide to the Century," in geopolitical terms, the uni-polar world of the North Atlantic is over.
A)True
B)False
157
According to the author of "Can America Fail?", a simple empirical test to see whether people are giving back more than they take from their own society is to ask whether citizens:
A)are more likely to volunteer than be drafted into military service.
B)are willing to make sacrifices in time of war.
C)pay back the interest on such government loans as student loans and small business loans.
D)pay more in taxes than they receive in government services.
158
As given in "Can America Fail?", the Doha Round of world trade talks might be successfully concluded if there were a willingness to sacrifice on the part of currently subsidized U.S.:
A)cattle ranchers.
B)citrus growers.
C)wheat farmers.
D)cotton farmers.
159
In the opinion of the author of "Can America Fail?", American thinkers and policymakers are engaged in an incestuous, self-referential, and self-congratulatory discourse that keeps them from seeing how many of the world's problems have been created by American policy.
A)True
B)False





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