American History: A Survey (Brinkley), 13th Edition

Chapter 28: THE AFFLUENT SOCIETY

Multiple Choice Quiz

1
America's economic prosperity in the 1950s was fueled by
A)increased public funding of schools, housing, veterans' benefits, welfare, and interstate highways.
B)massive military spending inspired by the Cold War.
C)the "baby boom" and rapid expansion of the suburbs.
D)increased spending on social programs.
E)All these answers are correct.
2
Prosperity helped many Americans to ignore which of the following pressing issues during this period?
A)the 20 percent of Americans who lived in poverty in the 1950s
B)the discrimination suffered by minorities
C)the discontent of many American women in their traditional roles
D)the discontent of returning veterans
E)All these answers are correct.
3
Which portion of the nation grew most rapidly during the late 1940s and 1950s?
A)Northeast
B)Southeast
C)Midwest/Great Plains
D)West
E)New England
4
The prosperity of the 1950s was accompanied by
A)a decrease in government spending.
B)corporate mergers and the formation of conglomerates.
C)equitable distribution of corporate profits.
D)the survival and renewal of the family farm.
E)a decrease in military spending.
5
All of the following trends marked the American labor movement of the 1950s EXCEPT
A)the merger of the AFL and CIO to create the giant federation, the AFL-CIO.
B)fairly stable membership numbers.
C)greater success in organizing new workers than in winning benefits for workers already organized in strong unions.
D)signs of corruption and indifference among some labor leaders as the unions themselves became wealthy, powerful bureaucracies.
E)booming corporations' reluctance to allow strikes.
6
According to many social observers, American culture in the 1950s seemed dominated by a(n)
A)restless search by individuals for identity and purpose.
B)quest for economic political justice within the United States.
C)absorption with consumer goods by a growing middle class.
D)isolationist desire to avoid international affairs or commitments.
E)collective desire to rid the world of communism.
7
In contrast to that of the central cities, life in suburbia became attractive to many American families in the 1950s because the suburbs seemed to provide
A)variety and excitement in lifestyles and entertainment.
B)racial integration in neighborhoods and schools.
C)greater opportunities for cultural and educational advancement.
D)larger, safer, and more private homes.
E)a chance to obtain individuality.
8
According to the widely respected child-care expert of the late 1940s and 1950s, Dr. Benjamin Spock, mothers should
A)fulfill their career and professional goals.
B)resist pressures to stay at home to raise a family.
C)share the role of parenting equally with the fathers.
D)work to supplement the family income.
E)subordinate their activities and interests to the needs of their children.
9
According to the text, during the 1950s, television
A)affected only a small percentage of the total population.
B)encouraged independent value formation among members of the white middle class.
C)heightened the sense of alienation and powerlessness among minority groups.
D)failed to attract significant interest from commercial advertisers.
E)saw a rapid decline in popularity.
10
According to the text, the most widely revered heroes of the United States during the early 1960s were the nation's
A)medical researchers.
B)professional athletes.
C)mothers.
D)industrial tycoons.
E)astronauts.
11
Critics of the increasing influence of organized society argued that these changes
A)drained Americans of self-reliance.
B)made Americans more focused on their own values and less on the concerns of society.
C)allowed only men to find fulfillment in American society.
D)focused too much on the needs of the youth culture.
E)called for Americans to engage in too much independent thought.
12
Both the beats and rock 'n' roll
A)fought for more racial inclusion in American society.
B)came predominantly from the thriving new cultural centers on the West Coast.
C)tried to resist the conformity of American culture in the 1950s.
D)became the basis of the youth rebellion movement of the 1950s.
E)were strong supporters of organized society.
13
When the governor of Arkansas and, later, an angry mob of citizens attempted to prevent the court-ordered racial integration of a high school in Little Rock, President Eisenhower responded by
A)ordering the governor to be arrested.
B)negotiating a settlement that delayed local integration for a three-year "cooling-off" period.
C)sending federal troops to uphold the court order.
D)refusing to involve the federal government in what he considered to be strictly a state matter.
E)supporting the resistance.
14
The Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott was significant in establishing a new form of racial protest and in elevating which black leader to prominence as a new leader in the civil rights movement?
A)Malcolm X
B)H. Rap Brown
C)Stokely Carmichael
D)Martin Luther King, Jr.
E)Earl Warren
15
Joseph McCarthy's influence in the nation waned quickly mainly as a consequence of
A)the Oppenheimer case.
B)his expulsion from the Senate.
C)the reports that he was an alcoholic.
D)his behavior in the Army-McCarthy hearings.
E)his opposition to the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
16
The expression "more bang for a buck" was related to Secretary of State John Foster Dulles's announced policy of
A)liberation.
B)containment.
C)mutual security.
D)integration.
E)massive retaliation.
17
In his farewell address in January 1961, Eisenhower warned the American people against
A)the rise of military pacifism.
B)the tendency to hysterical anticommunism.
C)the risk of creeping socialism.
D)the influence of the military-industrial complex.
E)the rise of racism in America.
18
Which of the following scientists made his most valued contribution during the 1950s?
A)Alexander Fleming
B)Almorth Wright
C)Jonas Salk
D)Edward Jenner
E)John Foster Dulles
19
What outcome did UNIVAC correctly predict for CBS television news, marking a breakthrough in public awareness of computer technology?
A)stalemate in the Korean War
B)Eisenhower's election in 1956
C)Eisenhower's election in 1952
D)the Soviet launch of Sputnik
E)the Brown v. Board of Education decision
20
Which of the following events served to revitalize the environmental movement in the 1950s?
A)Hetch Hetchy
B)Love Canal
C)Sputnik
D)Echo Park
E)entreaties of the United Fruit Company
21
To whom is the quote "what was good for our country was good for General Motors, and vice versa" attributed?
A)Charles Wilson
B)John Foster Dulles
C)Dwight Eisenhower
D)Dick Clark
E)Fidel Castro
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