Deck 31: Global Dangers, Global Challenges, 2001 to the Present

Question 1

Who became the first woman to ever hold the position of House minority leaders?

A) Olympia Snow
B) Elizabeth Dole
C) Nancy Pelosi
D) Cynthia McKinney
E) Barbara Boxer

Answer 1

Nancy Pelosi

Question 2

Where has the largest number of immigrants to the United States since 1960 originated?

A) Africa and the Middle East
B) Asia and nations of the Western Hemisphere
C) Southern Europe
D) The Soviet Union
E) Island nations in the Caribbean and Pacific

Answer 2

Asia and nations of the Western Hemisphere

Question 3

Congress created the Department of Homeland Security in order to

A) Have a single cabinet-level department that would supervise both the FBI and CIA.
B) Strengthen the coordination between such agencies as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
C) Give itself more oversight over national security programs.
D) Show Americans that Congress had relevance in the fight against terrorism.
E) Prove that the federal government was serious about handling natural disasters.

Answer 3

Strengthen the coordination between such agencies as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Question 4

Which statement concerning globalization is most accurate?

A) Globalization's effects are complicated, as it has offered some benefits and some difficulties to American society.
B) Globalization has led to major increases in union membership.
C) While offering a very few positives, globalization has devastated much of American society.
D) Globalization has stimulated American businesses to expand their operations within the United States.
E) Globalization has allowed the United States to reduce its trade deficits.

Question 5

What roles did Condoleezza Rice serve in the administration of George W. Bush?

A) Secretary of Defense and Vice President
B) Secretary of the Treasury and Special Advisor to the President
C) National security advisor and Secretary of State
D) Secretary of the Army and Secretary of Defense
E) Attorney general and White House Counsel

Question 6

Where did a humiliating scandal occur involving U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners?

A) Bagram prison
B) Abu Ghraib prison
C) Basra prison
D) Fallujah prison
E) Ali-Habib prison

Question 7

Who is the highest-ranking African-American ever to work in the White House?

A) Jesse Jackson
B) Colin Powell
C) Martin Luther King
D) Barack Obama
E) Warren Christopher

Question 8

The U.S. trade deficit in 2007 was almost

A) $300 billion
B) $400 billion
C) $500 billion
D) $600 billion
E) $800 billion

Question 9

What were the main provisions of the "No Child Left Behind" education program?

A) It provided for the National Education Association to develop standardized learning outcomes for each subject in each grade.
B) It appropriated money to give bonuses to teachers and schools when their students reached certain performance goals.
C) It offered students in lower-performing schools to transfer to private schools at the public's expense.
D) It called for standardized national tests and penalties for schools that fell short of specific goals.
E) It ended national testing standards and encouraged states to establish their own.

Question 10

Which controversial issue galvanized the country in 2004 and became an important issue in key states in the 2004 presidential election?

A) Gays in the military
B) Embryonic stem-cell research
C) Same-sex marriage
D) Prayer in public schools
E) Christian Christmas displays on public lands

Question 11

Jack Murtha

A) Headed FEMA in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
B) Was a decorated Vietnam veteran and member of Congress who called for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.
C) Worked with Jack Abramoff to gain passage of key defense legislation.
D) Proposed legislation that would have allowed for privatizing part of Social Security.
E) Led the Democratic opposition to President Bush's Supreme Court nominees.

Question 12

Who is the leader of al Qaeda?

A) Ayman Al-Zawahiri
B) Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah
C) Osama bin Laden
D) Fazul Abdullah Mohammed
E) Mohammed Ali Hamadei

Question 13

Which statement concerning the change in family structures over the past 40 years is true?

A) The percentage of families headed by a married heterosexual couple has decline from 74 percent in 1960 to 50 percent in 2007.
B) Almost 71% percent of American households in 2007 were headed by individuals living alone.
C) Over 31% of households in 2007 contained unmarried partners.
D) Nearly 27% of all households are interracial
E) None of these choices

Question 14

What happened on September 11, 2001?

A) Military forces from Imperial Japan attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor.
B) Muslim fundamentalists crashed planes into the Pentagon and World Trade Center.
C) Russian separatist forces released a biological weapon in Washington, D.C.
D) George Bush pardoned Bill Clinton for his indiscretions in the 1990s.
E) American military forces launched an offensive against Iraq.

Question 15

Who was George Bush's main opponent in the 2004 presidential election?

A) Howard Dean
B) John Kerry
C) Joe Lieberman
D) Ted Kennedy
E) Barack Obama

Question 16

What did the Bush administration propose to do at Nevada's Yucca Mountain?

A) Station American's anti-ballistic missile defense system there.
B) Use it as America's nuclear-waste disposal site.
C) Build a new university where the brightest American students could study science and technology.
D) Build a new nuclear reactor there that could provide electricity to most of the Southwest.
E) None of these choices

Question 17

The "neoconservatives" were a group of

A) Christian evangelists arguing that the United States must back Israel.
B) Republicans advocating an aggressive projection of U.S. power worldwide.
C) Congressional Republicans who questioned the Bush administration's deficit spending.
D) Conservative Democrats who attempted to move their party back to the political center.
E) Skinheads espousing racial hatred.

Question 18

To encourage economic growth President George H. W. Bush proposed

A) Increasing defense spending by 25 percent.
B) Cutting taxes by $1.6 trillion dollars over ten years.
C) Reducing spending on Medicare.
D) Raising tariffs to would make American companies more competitive.
E) Capping increases in defense spending at 3 percent per year and on domestic programs at 4 percent per year.

Question 19

Which of the following countries supported the U.S. in the invasion of Iraq?

A) Canada
B) Germany
C) France
D) Great Britain
E) All of these choices

Question 20

What does the Hmong experience reveal about American society?

A) It shows the ability of immigrant families to still thrive in the United States.
B) It indicates the dangers when immigrants are placed in a situation where they cannot obtain an education or work.
C) It provides an example of the benefits of having a restrictive immigration policy.
D) It reveals the widespread anti-immigrant bias that many Americans hold.
E) It shows the failure of the United States to assimilate Asian immigrants into its culture.

Question 21

Which of the following were part of President George W. Bush's solution for ending America's dependence on imported oil?

A) New electric power plants
B) Expanded coal production
C) More nuclear power plants
D) All of these choices
E) None of these choices

Question 22

What was the international reaction to the initial phase of America's antiterrorist campaign?

A) Intense opposition
B) Tepid
C) Strong support
D) Uncertainty
E) None of these choices

Question 23

Which of the following correctly summarizes the results of the 2008 presidential election?

A) Barack Obama won a resounding victory, with 53 percent of the popular vote and a solid electoral-college majority
B) Although John McCain won such swing states as Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, he lost in New England, giving a slim victory to Barack Obama
C) Republicans solidified their support from Hispanics throughout the nation, winning about 67% of their votes, but 98% of African Americans supported Obama, giving him the largest electoral win since the 1964 victory of Lyndon B. Johnson.
D) John McCain's stature as a war hero garnered him the support of 72% of voters between 18 and 24 years of age, but support from senior citizens pushed Obama to victory.
E) None of these choices

Question 24

Which hurricane revealed the problems in the local, state, and federal reaction to natural disasters?

A) Hugo
B) Camille
C) Andrew
D) Katrina
E) Francis

Question 25

The fate of Enron in 2001 highlights

A) the difficulty of making a voting machine that will function in Florida humidity.
B) the Pentagon's wisdom in building a new high-tech military.
C) the risk of obsession with soaring profits, fat bonuses, and ever-rising stock prices.
D) the reasons why so many Americans are suspicious of health maintenance organizations.
E) None of these choices

Question 26

The domestic antiterrorism campaign of the administration of George W. Bush amounted to

A) a significant expansion of the federal government's role in many aspects of American life.
B) a form of "new federalism," in which more responsibilities were turned over to the states.
C) an excuse to deny minorities their human rights.
D) a failure.
E) a sure-fire route to reelection for Dick Cheney.

Question 27

President George W. Bush tried to reform Medicare by

A) Reducing coverage for Americans making over $100,000 annually.
B) Adding a prescription-drug benefit.
C) Increasing the payouts to participating doctors.
D) Turning over management of Medicare to a National Health Board.
E) Ordering the initial age of eligibility for Medicare be increased to 67.

Question 28

The two Supreme Court justices appointed by President George W. Bush were

A) David Souter and Clarence Thomas
B) Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer
C) John Paul Stevens and Antonin Scalia
D) Anthony Kennedy and William Rehnquist
E) John Roberts and Samuel Alito

Question 29

With fewer than 5% of the world's population, what portion of global energy consumption does the United States account for?

A) 5%
B) 50%
C) 75%
D) 25%
E) 10%

Question 30

The "axis of evil" that President George W. Bush referred to in his January 2002 State of the Union address included

A) Iran
B) Iraq
C) North Korea
D) All of these choices
E) None of these choices