Deck 42: The American People Face a New Century

Question 1

By the 2000s, one of the most astonishing trends for women in the job market was

A) that women finally earned equal pay for equal work.
B) that a majority of mothers with preschool children worked outside the home.
C) that women served in the military.
D) the removal of the "glass ceiling."
E) the admission of women to Ivy League colleges.

Answer 1

that a majority of mothers with preschool children worked outside the home.

Question 2

The United States pioneered the techniques of

A) industrial technology.
B) mass democracy.
C) political rights and trial by jury.
D) close ties between church and state.
E) the political nation-state.

Answer 2

mass democracy.

Question 3

Despite numerous victories, feminists in 2002 continued to be frustrated for all of these reasons except that

A) the percentage of women physicians in America remained low.
B) women were still, on average, paid less than men for performing corresponding jobs.
C) women remained concentrated in traditionally "feminine" occupations.
D) women continued to be barred from holding high-level, high-prestige positions.
E) women continued to bear the greatest responsibilities for the welfare of children.

Answer 3

women continued to be barred from holding high-level, high-prestige positions.

Question 4

In the year 2002, the foreign-born population accounted for ____ percent of the United States' population.

A) about 15.
B) more than 25.
C) about 20.
D) little more than 10.
E) less than 5.

Question 5

The Hispanic immigrant population maintained their language and culture better than most previous immigrant groups because

A) they were so thinly scattered across the country.
B) they lived in segregated neighborhoods.
C) of their large numbers and geographic concentration near Latin America.
D) of a stronger desire to preserve their culture than previous groups had.
E) they remained politically loyal to the Latin American nations from which they came.

Question 6

Much of the world seems to emulate all of the following icons of American youth culture except

A) blue jeans.
B) rock music.
C) soft drinks like Coca-Cola.
D) American football.
E) Hollywood films.

Question 7

The group most profoundly affected by the great economic changes of the late twentieth century was

A) African Americans.
B) Hispanics.
C) Asian Americans.
D) women.
E) southerners.

Question 8

The money used to provide Social Security payments to retirees comes from

A) the income tax.
B) the contributions made by the elderly during their working lives.
C) Social Security taxes paid by current workers.
D) contributions made by retirees' former employers.
E) the federal government's investment of social security contributions in the stock market.

Question 9

In terms of immigration patterns, the 1980s and 1990s witnessed

A) a return to the high immigration rates of 1924-1965.
B) a resurgence of European immigration to America.
C) a decrease in the number of Asian immigrants.
D) a successful effort to block the flow of immigrants to America's shores.
E) the heaviest influx of immigrants in America's experience.

Question 10

By 2000s the traditional family unit was under severe strain because

A) the divorce rate had increased.
B) the number of single-parent households had risen.
C) parent-substitutes had assumed the role of child-rearing.
D) the family no longer served many of its traditional social functions.
E) all of these.

Question 11

The leading firm in the shift to the economy of mass consumerism was

A) General Motors.
B) United States Steel.
C) International Business Machines.
D) Sears, Roebuck.
E) Microsoft Corporation.

Question 12

Occupations that the new communication tools threaten to wipe out include all of the following except

A) teachers.
B) postal delivery people.
C) repair technicians.
D) bank tellers.
E) stock brokers.

Question 13

In a recognition of the new demands on family created by changing economic and social conditions, Congress in 1993 passed

A) the Americans With Disabilities Act.
B) an end to the "marriage tax" disadvantage for married couples.
C) the Head Start program.
D) the No Child Left Behind Education Act.
E) the Family Leave Bill.

Question 14

The gap between rich and poor widened in the 1980s and 1990s for all of the following reasons except

A) intensifying global economic competition.
B) the decline of labor unions.
C) tax policies of the Carter and Clinton administrations.
D) the shrinking number of unskilled manufacturing jobs.
E) the greater economic rewards for education.

Question 15

The largest group of Latinos in the United States are

A) Cuban Americans.
B) those from Nicaragua and El Salvador.
C) Puerto Ricans.
D) Mexican Americans.
E) Dominicans.

Question 16

Studies show that illegal immigrants

A) do not seek education for their children.
B) take jobs away from American citizens.
C) claim welfare benefits at the taxpayer's expense.
D) are responsible for a disproportionate share of crime.
E) pay more dollars in taxes than they claim in welfare payments.

Question 17

The New Immigrants of the 1980s and 1990s

A) came to America primarily in search of jobs and economic opportunity.
B) assimilated more quickly into the American mainstream than earlier waves of immigrants.
C) received more in welfare payments, as a group, than they paid in taxes.
D) made Mexican-Americans the largest American minority by 1990.
E) settled primarily on the East Coast.

Question 18

One of the most dramatic economic transformations that had occurred by the early twenty-first century was

A) an increase in poverty for those over age 65.
B) a decrease in poverty among children.
C) the declining income of young people aged 20-35.
D) a substantial decrease in poverty among those over 65.
E) a decrease in poverty for single mothers.

Question 19

During the past two decades, the gap between the rich and the poor in the United States

A) changed very little.
B) became more equitable for minorities.
C) widened.
D) was more equitable than in any other industrialized nation in the world.
E) closed somewhat.

Question 20

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

A) permitted illegal immigrants to attend American schools under certain conditions.
B) required immigrants to learn English as a condition of American citizenship.
C) restricted access to welfare and education for illegal immigrants.
D) provided for the roundup and deportation of all illegal immigrants living in the United States.
E) penalized employers for hiring illegal immigrants.

Question 21

The major racial disturbances of the 1990s occurred in

A) Chicago.
B) New Orleans.
C) Boston.
D) Newark.
E) Los Angeles.

Question 22

The greatest problem of American metropolitan areas in the early twenty-first century remained

A) the virtual disappearance of downtown commercial and office districts.
B) the continuously rising crime level.
C) the inability to provide housing for the population.
D) the segregation of city and suburban communities by race and income.
E) the increasingly long commutes from home to work.

Question 23

After World War II, the art capital of the world was

A) Paris.
B) London.
C) New York City.
D) Chicago.
E) Madrid.

Question 24

The West became the subject of a rich literary outpouring in part

A) due to Ronald Reagan's election.
B) due to the popularity of television Westerns.
C) because of the population shift westward.
D) because of the fame of such authors as William Faulkner.
E) because of the ethnic diversity there.

Question 25

In the year 2004, colleges awarded ____ degrees.

A) fifty thousand.
B) one hundred thousand.
C) five hundred thousand.
D) one million.
E) over two million.

Question 26

The American minority with the highest household income is

A) African Americans.
B) Asian Americans.
C) Hispanic Americans.
D) Native Americans.
E) South Asians.

Question 27

The leading painting movement in the immediate post-World War II period was

A) pop art.
B) abstract expressionism.
C) minimalism.
D) Dadaism.
E) postmodernism.

Question 28

Which of the following was not among the notable American architects of post-World War II era?

A) Eero Saarinen
B) I.M. Pei
C) Philip Johnson
D) Frank Gehry
E) Henry Hobson Richardson

Question 29

The first significant numbers of Mexican American immigrants to the United States came during

A) the aftermath of the Mexican War, 1850-1860.
B) the era of the Mexican Revolution, 1910-1920.
C) the Great Depression, 1930-1940.
D) the aftermath of World War II, 1945-1955.
E) the post-Vietnam War era, 1975-1985.

Question 30

The first African American elected as governor of an American state was

A) Edward Brooke.
B) Carol Mosely-Braun.
C) Jesse Jackson.
D) L. Douglas Wilder.
E) Clarence Thomas.

Question 31

One reason black politicians became more successful in the 1990s and 2000s is

A) they were able to mobilize a strong racial vote.
B) they left the Democratic party.
C) they appealed to a wide variety of voters.
D) they began running for office in the South.
E) they began adopting more militant political ideas.

Question 32

A major Mexican American cultural festival that was historically encouraged by the Mexican government is

A) Mexican Independence Day.
B) Dia del Muerto.
C) Cinco de Mayo.
D) The Feast of St. Juan Diego.
E) Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles.

Question 33

Which of the following is not among the reasons that Mexican immigrants were sometimes slow to become American citizens?

A) Most lived very close to Mexico and remained identified with that country.
B) Many returned frequently to Mexico to visit home and family there.
C) Almost all Mexican immigrants remained migrant farm laborers unable to settle down in cities.
D) Some Mexican immigrants entered the United States illegally.
E) The Mexican government actively discouraged Mexicans from taking U.S. citizenship.