Deck 56: A New Millennium

Question 1

Over the course of the 20^th century, societal morés underwent enormous changes in most Western societies, while most of the world's population did not. Extrapolate from the events of the 20^th century to make some predictions about how the two groups will be interacting over the coming decades.

Answer 1

Answer not provided.

Question 2

After the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, and France, the next country to "go nuclear" was

A) Israel.
B) Japan.
C) India.
D) Pakistan.
E) China.

Answer 2

China.

Question 3

About the only way for Third World workers to improve their lot is to

A) immigrate to America.
B) steal.
C) migrate to the cities.
D) find work in neighboring countries.
E) grow their own food.

Answer 3

migrate to the cities.

Question 4

One of the world's major problems today seems to be that our ethics and our political culture have been outrun by

A) greed.
B) terrorists.
C) political hubris.
D) popular culture.
E) technology.

Question 5

Despite the best attempts of proponents of socialism and of free market trade,

A) Mexico is still pretty much out of the loop, having been excluded from NATFA.
B) Africa, even more than other areas, has continued to sink deeper into poverty and misery.
C) only South Africa on the African continent is having any success at all in raising their standard of living.
D) only a handful of countries in the world have a decent average per capita income for their people.
E) the situation of countries considered in the group of have-nots is improving only minutely.

Question 6

What is meant by the statement that "our technology has far outrun our ethics and our political culture"? Give examples from American life.

Question 7

The best statistics indicate that each person in the United States averages using about ____ times as much energy as a person in India, and about ____ times as much as an individual in Italy or ____.

A) thirty-five; three; France
B) three; ten; France
C) five; seven; Germany
D) fifteen; two; England
E) five; ten; France

Question 8

Explain the paradox of the world's "economic gap." What problems and challenges does it portend?

Question 9

Describe and discuss the world's current situation concerning environmental issues. What is meant by "global warming"? How much of a problem do you expect it to be in America? In Western Europe? In other parts of the world?

Question 10

Chernobyl is noted as the site where

A) Chechen rebels have been massacred.
B) the people voted to secede from the CIS.
C) all the trees have been cut for fuel.
D) President Putin was born.
E) a nuclear meltdown occurred.

Question 11

The limits of international collaboration among states, especially within the confines of the United Nations, have been clearly shown through the

A) condemnation by most nations of the terrorist actions of al Qaida in 2001 in America.
B) successful coalition that stood up to Saddam Hussein in 1990-1991 when he sent his troops into neighboring Kuwait.
C) general support for the campaign to remove the Taliban from Afghanistan in the aftermath of September 11.
D) quarrels among nations over the United States' decision to begin an invasion of Iraq in to remove Saddam from power (though ostensibly searching for WMDs).
E) efforts of the World Bank to help Third World countries receive loans for crops.

Question 12

How do most women today feel about the feminist movement?

A) excited
B) complacent
C) angry
D) indifferent
E) lost

Question 13

Discuss the status of "women's liberation" today. Do women in America in the 21^st century feel the need to be "liberated"? Why or why not? What have been some of the effects, both positive and negative, of the women's liberation movement?

Question 14

Historian John Lukacs insists that many people were wrong in believing that communism was the worst ideological menace; instead, Lukacs insists the worst threat to world stability has been and continues to be

A) the continuing breakup of countries around the world.
B) overpopulation in Third World countries.
C) the failure of the United Nations to really settle issues.
D) nationalism that feeds on the fears of a country's citizenry.
E) the growth of communistic feelings around the world all over again.

Question 15

In 1950, the UN used a Security Council member's boycott to order defensive action for

A) Vietnam.
B) South Korea.
C) Romania.
D) Czechoslovakia.
E) Poland.

Question 16

Describe the current status of WMDs, as we know it to be. Explain what you feel is the greatest threat from these weapons. Will it most likely come from countries or individuals? Elaborate on your answer.

Question 17

Which of these could not be used as a weapon of mass destruction (WMD)?

A) biological - release of epidemic disease germs or poisons into the atmosphere
B) poisoning municipal water supplies with a substance designed to kill or maim at least 100,000
C) introducing diseases such as anthrax through the postal system
D) infecting a person or persons with a deadly disease and sending them out to seek to infect as many people as possible before they die.
E) getting infected with the flu virus and going out to full ballpark stadiums

Question 18

According to World Bank figures, the per capita income gap between developed and underdeveloped countries since 1950

A) will no longer exist in 100 years.
B) has widened from a ratio of about 10:1 to almost 20:1.
C) has narrowed by approximately 20 percent.
D) has remained basically the same.
E) has narrowed slightly.

Question 19

Osama bin Laden is a native of

A) Afghanistan.
B) Pakistan.
C) Saudi Arabia.
D) Yemen.
E) Palestine.

Question 20

The avowed goal of the United Nations is to

A) end poverty.
B) alleviate famine.
C) reduce the rate of population growth.
D) achieve international peace.
E) achieve economic parity for the world's countries.

Question 21

One concern about WMDs is the possibility that ____________________ warfare could be used to pollute our water supply.

Question 22

Downward mobility has hit Africa and Latin America extremely hard, especially

A) farmers.
B) miners.
C) urban workers.
D) urban workers and immigrants.
E) farmers and miners.

Question 23

The original goal of the UN was to guarantee ____________________ ____________________.

Question 24

Among social democrats, ____________________ rather than revolution and ____________________ rather than radical change have become the order of the day.

Question 25

By the 1970s, it was fair to say that only ____________________ in ____________________ and ____________________ in ____________________ gave more than lip service to Marx's original doctrines of social and economic egalitarianism.

Question 26

____________________ ____________________ out of the working classes into the technical or professional groups has become common throughout the developed world.

Question 27

____________________ is the poorest country in the world, with a 2007 per capita income of ____________________.

Question 28

Simone de Beauvoir's important work on modern womanhood is ____________________ ____________________ ____________________.

Question 29

A large majority of scientists today attribute what they now view as global warming to the emission of ____________________ ____________________.

Question 30

Regarding the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the next countries to obtain such after the United States and the Soviet Union were ____________________ and ____________________, and the fifth country was ____________________.

Question 31

There are only two rational approaches to the solution of basic environmental problems: ____________________ and ____________________.