Deck 14: Arts, Sports, and Leisure Cultures

Question 1

Which of the following sports are uniquely American in their origins and ethos?

A) Baseball
B) Basketball
C) Football
D) Golf
E) Tennis

Answer 1

A,B,C
Explanation: In terms of national representative quality and popularity, it can be argued that baseball, football, and basketball are uniquely American in their varying combinations of individualism and a teamwork ethos.

Question 2

With which art form do you most associate Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko?

A) Portraiture
B) Equestrian
C) Impressionist
D) Post modernism
E) American abstract expressionism

Answer 2

E
Explanation: They rejected established painting styles and subject matter and organized their work around a fluid use of color, space, and texture.

Question 3

Which of the following are credited with having given a distinctive voice to American classical music?

A) Cole Porter
B) Irving Berlin
C) Aaron Copeland
D) George Gershwin
E) Leonard Bernstein

Answer 3

C,D
Explanation: They blended domestic elements (such as African American influences, jazz, folk songs, and country) with European idioms.

Question 4

What are Judy Collins, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez mainly associated with?

A) Folk music
B) Spirituals
C) Musicals
D) Popular song
E) Jazz singing

Question 5

Which form of music accounted for most sales in 2015?

A) Country
B) Pop
C) Religious
D) Classical
E) Rock

Question 6

When was the golden age of Hollywood?

A) Late nineteenth century
B) Early to mid-twentieth century
C) Late twentieth century
D) Early twenty-first century
E) Now

Question 7

Which factors are suggested for the decline in participation and attendance at a wide array of musical and theater performances by 2008?

A) Economic factors
B) The increase in home ownership of TVs and DVDs
C) Poor quality of events and performances
D) A general loss of interest in the arts
E) People turning to other leisure activities

Question 8

With which sport in the World Series Associated?

A) Soccer
B) Baseball
C) Ice Hockey
D) Football
E) Basketball

Question 9

Which statement best describes what is happening to college sports?

A) Participation rates are falling massively.
B) Spectator figures are showing huge declines.
C) They are based on teamwork and amateurism.
D) They are becoming increasingly commercialized.
E) Interest in them has been killed off by television and the internet.

Question 10

What have some sports players started to do before games to express their outrage against racism and show solidarity with its victims?

A) "Take the knee"
B) Turn their backs
C) Raise their right fist
D) Spit
E) Chant "Black Lives Matter"

Question 11

What percentage of adult Americans were obese in 2017-2018?

A) 14.6 percent
B) 42.4 percent
C) 9.3 percent
D) 27.6 percent
E) 30.1 percent

Question 12

What percentage of Americans did not read a book or listen to an audio book in 2018?

A) 15 percent
B) 33 percent
C) 27 percent
D) 45 percent
E) 50

Question 13

What film has been identified as the best American film of all time?

A) The Wizard of Oz
B) Gone with the Wind
C) Ben Hur
D) Citizen Kane
E) Vertigo

Question 14

Which musical form was inspired by the Blues and is traditionally associated with New Orleans?

A) Country
B) Folk
C) Jazz
D) Hip Hop
E) Rock and Roll

Question 15

To what extent are some sports and films uniquely American?

Question 16

Discuss the role of advertising in American sports, arts, and leisure.

Question 17

Which events in US history have served as particularly fruitful sources for American film makers? Comment on the way in which American values are expounded in the films which you have chosen. Discussion of three films is suggested.

Question 18

What does recent data suggest about changing participation rates in various sports and about changes in how young people spend their leisure time?