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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
In the opinion of the author of "The American Narrative," the most recent U.S. election that appeared to revitalize a focus on the common good was the election of:
A)George W. Bush.
B)Ronald Reagan.
C)Jimmy Carter.
D)Barack Obama.
5
The author of "The American Narrative" characterizes all of the following as revolutions of the 1960s except for the:
A)war on poverty.
B)war on drugs.
C)civil rights movement.
D)women's movement.
6
According to "The American Narrative," in practice, President Bill Clinton was less of a Lyndon Johnson Democrat and more of a Dwight Eisenhower Republican.
A)True
B)False
7
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.
8
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.
9
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
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 cited in "Fear and Loathing of Islam," the Rand Corporation found that the number of homegrown radicals in the United States is:
A)tiny.
B)moderate.
C)considerable.
D)huge.
14
As argued in "Fear and Loathing of Islam," most Americans get their views of Islam through all of the following, except:
A)talk-radio.
B)television.
C)personal contact.
D)really bad action movies.
15
As reported in "Fear and Loathing of Islam," a Washington Post /ABC News poll taken in October 2001 (just a few weeks after 9/11) found that 49 percent of Americans—basically half the population—held unfavorable opinions of Islam.
A)True
B)False
16
As stated in "The Dubious Value of Value-Neutrality," just about everywhere in academe, value-neutrality is a concept:
A)more strictly adhered to than at the University of Pittsburgh.
B)virtually unheard of by university administrators.
C)most often honored in the breach.
D)that has been replaced by religious standards.
17
According to "The Dubious Value of Value-Neutrality," strict value-neutrality has a proper academic place in:
A)liberal-arts courses.
B)scientific research.
C)studies of comparative religion.
D)privately funded institutions.
18
As postulated in "The Dubious Value of Value-Neutrality,"contemporary academic life gives a privileged place to a narrow,leftward segment of the intellectual spectrum.
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 reported in "Passage to Adulthood," an overview of the historical trends in the process of coming of age shows that:
A)economic factors have had little to do with the age of adulthood.
B)transition away from manufacturing contributes to later age of adulthood.
C)college education accelerates coming to adulthood.
D)there has been a steady rise in the age of adulthood over the last century.
23
As noted in "Passage to Adulthood," the five components used as criteria for reaching adulthood include all of the following except:
A)finishing school.
B)getting married.
C)becoming financially independent.
D)having school-aged children.
24
As pointed out in "Passage to Adulthood," for the last century, men have consistently been older than women at the time of their first marriage.
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
According to "The Perfected Self," the problem for people trying to lose weight and keep it off is that:
A)no successful weight-loss plan has yet been discovered.
B)while it is possible to lose weight, it is not possible to maintain weight loss over time.
C)effective weight-loss programs are too expensive and time-consuming for the average person.
D)so few people are overweight that no programs are worth the time and money it takes to develop them.
29
As presented in "The Perfected Self," the simple theory upon which behaviorist B.F. Skinner built his work was that:
A)all organisms will do what they are rewarded for doing.
B)punishment is necessary in order to change behavior.
C)behavior that is frequently repeated is generally reflexive in nature.
D)pairing a pleasant stimulus with an unpleasant one is the key to producing positive behavioral changes.
30
As suggested in "The Perfected Self," in the behavior analysis field, "reinforcement" and "reward" can be considered as synonymous.
A)True
B)False
31
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.
32
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.
33
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
34
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.
35
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.
36
As asserted in "Fighting Crime," the existence of the deathpenalty in a given state not only does not deter murder, butmight even increase the number of murders committed.
A)True
B)False
37
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.
38
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.
39
DNA testing, as described in "Wrongful Convictions," is conclusive in the majority of criminal cases.
A)True
B)False
40
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.
41
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.
42
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
43
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.
44
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.
45
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
46
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.
47
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.
48
As noted in "The Aggregate Burden of Crime," incarcerated criminals are potentially valuable members of society's workforce.
A)True
B)False
49
According to "All the Single Ladies," in 1960, the median age of first marriage for men and women in the United States was, respectively:
A)20 and 18.
B)23 and 20.
C)27 and 22.
D)30 and 27.
50
As cited in "All the Single Ladies," social historian Stephanie Coontz, who wrote Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage, remembers from the 1990s being struck by how everyone believed in:
A)completely disparate views of the marital relationship.
B)some mythical Golden Age of Marriage.
C)the inviolable necessity to get married.
D)divorce as a natural extension of the marriage experience.
51
As given in "All the Single Ladies," the Pew Research Center reports that a full 44 percent of Millennials and 43 percent of Gen Xers believe marriage is becoming obsolete.
A)True
B)False
52
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.
53
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.
54
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
55
As remarked in "Why Women Still Can't Have It All," there are women now in their 60s, 70s, and 80s who faced overt sexism of a kind that the author sees only when watching:
A)Mad Men.
B)professional sports.
C)Leave It to Beaver.
D)documentaries.
56
As noted in "Why Women Still Can't Have It All," the assistant to President George W. Bush and counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney who stepped down to spend more time with her daughters is:
A)Mary Matalin.
B)Michele Flournoy.
C)Karen Hughes.
D)Cheryl Mills.
57
As established in "Why Women Still Can't Have It All," the author's personal demographic fits into the category of highly educated, well-off women who are privileged enough to have choices in the first place.
A)True
B)False
58
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.
59
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.
60
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
61
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.
62
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.
63
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
64
As presented in "Urban Legends," the author believes that some intriguing solutions to current urban problems can be provided by:
A)financing.
B)dispersion.
C)diversity.
D)culture.
65
The author of "Urban Legends" claims that economic growth spurs art and culture, not the other way around, and he cites as examples:
A)New York and Tokyo.
B)Paris and London.
C)Beijing and Mumbai.
D)Athens and Rome.
66
As put forth in "Urban Legends," the men who built Hollywood were cultured aesthetes out of step with the rest of America.
A)True
B)False
67
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.
68
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.
69
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
70
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.
71
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.
72
As observed in "A World Enslaved," the majority of slaves in the world are prostitutes.
A)True
B)False
73
As presented in "The Impact of Globalization on Income and Employment," between 1990 and 2008 most of the 27 million jobs created in the United States were:
A)mainly in the manufacturing sector.
B)eventually outsourced to foreign countries.
C)in the non-tradable sector of the economy.
D)in the service industry.
74
As noted in "The Impact of Globalization on Income and Employment," value added represents:
A)income in the form of wages for workers, return on investment for investors, and tax revenue for governments.
B)the cost of doing business.
C)the cost of labor and raw materials for a company or industry.
D)taxable income for workers.
75
As cited in "The Impact of Globalization on Income and Employment," the employment structure of the U.S. economy has been shifting away from the non-tradable sector.
A)True
B)False
76
According to "The State of Poverty in America," a major reason for the rise of the percentage of people in deep poverty, which has doubled since 1976, is the:
A)sharp cuts in food stamps.
B)high rate of unemployment.
C)increase in single-parent households.
D)near death of cash assistance for families with children.
77
The author of "The State of Poverty in America," considers the civil-rights challenges of this century to be the justice system and:
A)mental-health issues.
B)marriage equality.
C)schools.
D)equal pay for women.
78
As stated in "The State of Poverty in America," most people who are poor do not work at all.
A)True
B)False
79
As stated in "The End of Welfare as I Knew It," after 15 years of welfare reform, what we have to show for it is that:
A)nothing has changed.
B)poverty is at its highest level in 20 years.
C)poverty is at its lowest level in 20 years.
D)many who were formerly on welfare now are in the top 30 percent of U.S. wage earners.
80
As reported in "The End of Welfare as I Knew It," Georgia now spends less on assistance to families than it does on:
A)job training for those applying for assistance.
B)farm subsidies.
C)animal welfare.
D)adoption services and foster care.
81
As noted in "The End of Welfare as I Knew It," TANF encouraged people on welfare to pursue postsecondary education and training.
A)True
B)False
82
According to "Roots of Racism," racial prejudice stems from:
A)information learned from others who are prejudiced.
B)negative experiences involving members of a different race.
C)an evolutionary tendency to form coalitions.
D)the inferiority of certain races when compared to others.
83
As claimed in "Roots of Racism," much of the world's violence is fueled by:
A)tension between various abstract groups.
B)hatred and fear of legitimately dangerous groups.
C)attempts of widely disparate groups to join together.
D)prejudice between black and white groups.
84
As stated in "Roots of Racism," hidden biases against certain groups are rarely seen in children or in those who work consciously for equality.
A)True
B)False
85
As put forward in "A More Perfect Union," Barack Obama considers this nation's original sin to be:
A)pride.
B)slavery.
C)war.
D)greed in taking the land of the Native Americans.
86
As revealed in "A More Perfect Union," Obama's speech was made in large part to address comments made by:
A)Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
B)Mitt Romney.
C)Reverend Jesse Jackson.
D)Hillary Clinton.
87
As described in "A More Perfect Union," Obama's first experience of attending Trinity United Church of Christ affected him powerfully.
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
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.
98
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.
99
Between 1980 and 2008, as reported in "The Rule of the Rich," the average incomes of Americans almost doubled.
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
According to "The Withering of the Affluent Society," the role of economic growth in advanced nations is to:
A)make people richer.
B)ensure equality of opportunity.
C)provide for national security.
D)reduce conflict.
104
As predicted by "The Withering of the Affluent Society," even if full recovery from the Great Recession occurs, the resulting prosperity will be:
A)much more modest than previous periods of economic growth.
B)an illusion, given the U.S. national deficit.
C)qualified by greater competition for scarce economic resources.
D)short-lived, as America's population ages.
105
As revealed in "The Withering of the Affluent Society," the United States has had budget deficits in 46 out of 51 years between 1961 and 2012.
A)True
B)False
106
As mentioned in "Hard at Work in the Jobless Future," the post-war generation climbed the corporate ladder, while the baby boomers had a career trajectory that more closely resembled a lattice, and the career path for younger generations more closely resembles a:
A)thatched roof.
B)path through a maze.
C)patchwork quilt.
D)subterranean basement.
107
As reported in "Hard at Work in the Jobless Future," a recent survey by Ogilvy and Mather found that, instead of making more money, 76 percent of respondents would rather:
A)enjoy job security.
B)have benefits such as healthcare.
C)believe that their work is creative and worthwhile.
D)spend more time with their families.
108
As revealed in "Hard at Work in the Jobless Future," automation is increasingly affecting those in white-collar jobs such as financial services.
A)True
B)False
109
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.
110
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.
111
As argued in "The Capitalist Manifesto," capitalism remains the most productive economic engine humans have ever invented.
A)True
B)False
112
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.
113
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.
114
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
115
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.
116
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.
117
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
118
As identified in "A Thousand Years Young," created throughout life, the ongoing life-long side effects of metabolism are:
A)aches and pains.
B)pathologies.
C)downward spirals.
D)damages.
119
As characterized in "A Thousand Years Young," the maintenance approach is:
A)preemptive.
B)interventional.
C)restorative.
D)complicated.
120
According to "A Thousand Years Young," the geriatrics approach says that prevention is better than cure.
A)True
B)False
121
As assessed in "From Hospital to 'Healthspital'," the biggest need in hospitals today is for:
A)public health education.
B)holistic healthcare.
C)data and information management.
D)equitable patient insurance.
122
As recommended in "From Hospital to 'Healthspital'," the teaching of health awareness should begin in:
A)the cradle.
B)preschool.
C)third grade.
D)middle school.
123
As argued in "From Hospital to 'Healthspital'," a dominating proportion of the Medicare allocation goes to fruitless, futile care at the end of life.
A)True
B)False
124
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.
125
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.
126
According to "In Search of the Spiritual," 79 percent of thosepolled describe themselves as "religious," while 64 percent saythat they are "spiritual."
A)True
B)False
127
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.
128
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.
129
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
130
According to "The New Geopolitics of Food," the world's soaring food prices have contributed to
A)revolutions and upheaval in Africa and the Middle East.
B)a golden era of worldwide international cooperation.
C)a bountiful global grain economy.
D)the worldwide banning of "land grabs."
131
As reported in "The New Geopolitics of Food," the Middle East is the first geographic region whose population continues to grow as
A)water tables are rising.
B)water tables are falling.
C)grain production has peaked and begun to decline.
D)agricultural progress makes it easier to meet increased demand.
132
As noted in "The New Geopolitics of Food," soil erosion is a result of global warming.
A)True
B)False
133
According to "The World Will Be More Crowded—With Old People," over the next 40 years, more than half of the world's population growth will come from increases in the number of people:
A)under 30.
B)over 60.
C)under 5.
D)in middle age.
134
As claimed in "The World Will Be More Crowded—With Old People," one country that is expected to be aging most rapidly by 2025 is:
A)France.
B)the United States.
C)Iran.
D)England.
135
As noted in "The World Will Be More Crowded—With Old People," as a result of changing demographics in Mexico, Mexican immigration to the United States has slowed considerably.
A)True
B)False
136
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.
137
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.
138
As noted in "Immigration Benefits America," since the terrorist attacks of September 1200America's national identity has increasingly weakened.
A)True
B)False
139
As defined in "Over the Top," the concept of "peak stuff" refers to humanity's:
A)insatiable need to accumulate and consume.
B)lessening desire to consume after a certain level of development is reached.
C)increasing misuse of the world's natural resources.
D)inevitable decline and eventual disappearance from Earth.
140
As argued in "Over the Top," when biologist Paul Ehrlich claimed that humans had exceeded the planet's "carrying capacity," which would eventually result in worldwide famine, he failed to factor in the:
A)green revolution.
B)industrial revolution.
C)control of greenhouse gases.
D)advance of lifesaving medical treatments.
141
As noted in "Over the Top," as the world population has risen, the consumption by humans of natural materials, such as metal and oil, has declined.
A)True
B)False
142
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.
143
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.
144
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
145
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.
146
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.
147
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
148
According to "Engineering the Future of Food," a primary reason that genetically modified food is not more accepted today is because:
A)it is almost impossible to create genetically modified food.
B)many genetically modified foods have been proven to be dangerous to human health.
C)consumers tend to fear genetically modified food.
D)there are no real benefits to genetically modified food.
149
As presented in "Engineering the Future of Food," a crop that is currently least likely to be bioengineered might be:
A)corn.
B)soybeans.
C)cotton.
D)lettuce.
150
As noted in "Engineering the Future of Food," as long as they have been proven safe, genetically modified crops can be used in foods labeled as organic.
A)True
B)False
151
As identified in "The Year in Hate & Extremism, 2010," the conspiracy-minded organizations that see the federal government as their primary enemy and that grew most dramatically in 2010 are known as the:
A)sovereign citizens movement.
B)Patriot movement.
C)Tea Party.
D)militia movement.
152
As shown in "The Year in Hate & Extremism, 2010," the state that in 2010 wanted to pass a law aimed at creating an alternative currency "in the event of the destruction of the Federal Reserve System’s currency" was:
A)Virginia.
B)Montana.
C)Oklahoma.
D)Arizona.
153
As presented in "The Year in Hate & Extremism, 2010," the so-called "sovereign citizens" movement in 2010 sought to pass laws rolling back birthright citizenship, which makes all children born in the United States citizens.
A)True
B)False
154
As claimed in "War in the Fifth Domain," the "fifth domain" of war is:
A)outer space.
B)air.
C)sea.
D)cyberspace.
155
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.
156
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
157
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.
158
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)4a period of new U.S. economic growth.
D)an excess of wealth available for future generations.
159
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
160
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.
161
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.
162
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
163
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.
164
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.
165
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
166
As presented in "The Broken Contract," the Iraq war demonstrated that America is:
A)better and stronger than it was three decades ago.
B)wealthy enough to provide American comforts to citizens overseas.
C)deteriorating in its ability to solve problems at home and abroad.
D)weaker militarily than smaller, less-developed nations.
167
As claimed in "The Broken Contract," the American "establishment" of the past:
A)no longer exists.
B)has become too powerful.
C)is successfully maintaining itself in American government.
D)is the only thing holding the country together.
168
As noted in "The Broken Contract," American elites operating under President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society were far more responsible than the wealthy and powerful in America today.
A)True
B)False
169
As set forth in "The Future of the Liberal World Order," if the architects of the postwar liberal order were alive to see today's system, they would think that their vision had:
A)gone terribly awry.
B)succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
C)been achieved to their precise expectations.
D)yet to be fully realized.
170
As noted in "The Future of the Liberal World Order," in 1815, post-Napoleonic France "was returned to the great-power club" through the settlement at:
A)Potsdam.
B)Vienna.
C)Paris.
D)Versailles.
171
As evaluated in "The Future of the Liberal World Order," it is not simply an American-led order or a Western system that China and the other emerging powers must face.
A)True
B)False





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