Deck 18: Global Problems

Question 1

What is the major cause of China's Hwang River floods?

A) deforestation
B) burst dams
C) farming on floodplains
D) too few dams

Answer 1

deforestation

Question 2

In the year 2000,about __________ people experienced homelessness in the United States; nearly __________ of those were children.

A) 3.5 million; 40 percent
B) 2 million; 50 percent
C) 1 million; 25 percent
D) 5 million; 30 percent

Answer 2

3.5 million; 40 percent

Question 3

Which of the following is true about the residents of squatter settlements?

A) Most are employed and hope to get ahead.
B) Residents live on benefits provided by the state.
C) The majority are drug addicts or alcoholics.
D) Only the very poor live there.

Answer 3

Most are employed and hope to get ahead.

Question 4

What do cross-cultural studies of capital punishment show?

A) Capital punishment may legitimize violence.
B) Capital punishment deters would-be murderers.
C) Capital punishment is practiced in most societies.
D) Capital punishment has been abolished in most societies.

Question 5

In their study of the homeless in New York City,Ellen Baxter and Kim Hopper found that __________.

A) poverty and disability lead to a series of crises, ending in homelessness
B) one event is sufficient to render a person homeless
C) homelessness is a choice, and there are many opportunities for adequate shelter
D) once people become homeless, they tend to stay that way for the rest of their lives

Question 6

According to several national studies conducted since 1975,physical violence and serious assaults on __________ decreased,while serious assaults on __________ did not.

A) children and wives; husbands
B) wives and husbands; children
C) husbands; children and wives
D) children; wives and husbands

Question 7

Why do many homeless people avoid municipal shelters?

A) They do not feel safe there.
B) They are harassed by shelter staff.
C) They are often arrested for earlier crimes.
D) There is never enough space.

Question 8

R.J.Rummel estimates that around __________ million people were killed by governments in the 20th century.

A) 260
B) 50
C) 130
D) 170

Question 9

Many researchers focus their studies on variation in the frequencies of specific behaviors to avoid having to decide what is or is not __________.

A) abuse
B) mental illness
C) violence
D) discipline

Question 10

Physical punishment of children occurs at least sometimes in over __________ percent of the world's societies.

A) 70
B) 40
C) 50
D) 20

Question 11

What does research suggest goes a long way toward lessening incidents of family violence?

A) the sharing of childrearing responsibilities
B) a traditional division of labor
C) an increase in family income
D) presence of an extended family

Question 12

Which contributed to the famine in the African Sahel in 1974?

A) drought
B) deforestation
C) overgrazing
D) insects

Question 13

While famines are usually triggered by severe weather conditions such as droughts or hurricanes,starvation that results from these natural events is often made worse by __________.

A) unequal distribution of food aid and supplies due to local rules of social and gender stratification
B) people not liking the taste of food aid provided by foreigners
C) too much food aid, which discourages locals from producing food for themselves
D) ignorance of religious observance of local diets by foreign aid agencies

Question 14

Cross-culturally,what is the most common form of family violence?

A) wife beating
B) child abuse
C) sibling violence
D) infanticide

Question 15

What did Mary Kay Gilliland discover in her ethnographic work in Croatia?

A) There was little concern for ethnic differences, and mixed marriages were common.
B) Croat nationalism had already been a subtle presence for a few decades.
C) Social inequalities between Croats and Serbs had been growing for years.
D) Yugoslavia was willing to allow Croatia to secede peacefully, with some conditions.

Question 16

Which of these nations has a lower homicide rate than the United States?

A) Hong Kong
B) Jamaica
C) El Salvador
D) Venezuela

Question 17

Lewis Aptekar found that street children in Cali,Colombia,were __________ than their siblings who stay at home.

A) in better physical and mental shape
B) shorter and thinner
C) more likely to be disabled
D) more likely to be abused

Question 18

Anthropological studies of corporal punishment indicate a connection between rates of corporal punishment and __________.

A) democracy
B) frequency of warfare
C) homicide rates
D) crime rates

Question 19

Refugees today number in the __________ worldwide.

A) millions
B) thousands
C) tens of thousands
D) hundreds

Question 20

Which of these nations was forbidden to join in the international arms race after World War II,and has thrived economically as a result?

A) Japan
B) the United States
C) France
D) Poland

Question 21

Social problems are mostly __________.

A) of human making
B) a result of economic greed
C) a result of divine intervention
D) bad luck

Question 22

Which of these crimes do you expect to be most accurately reported to authorities?

A) homicide
B) child abuse
C) wife beating
D) husband abuse

Question 23

Which of these do you expect would occur less often in egalitarian societies than in stratified ones?

A) theft, but not violent crime
B) war, but not violent crime
C) property crime, but not theft
D) violent crime, but not property crime

Question 24

What factor correlates with state terrorism against one's own people?

A) totalitarian governments
B) overpopulation
C) violent religious systems
D) social inequalities of wealth

Question 25

Which of these people is most likely to commit an act of violence against a child?

A) the birth mother
B) a stepfather
C) a stranger
D) a foster mother

Question 26

Terrorists tend to come from __________ social status and generally have __________ education than the average person.

A) higher; more
B) lower; less
C) lower; more
D) higher; less

Question 27

Most researchers agree that terrorism involves the threat or use of violence against __________.

A) civilians
B) police
C) soldiers
D) politicians

Question 28

Who are most likely to be the victims of a terrorist attack?

A) civilians
B) police
C) soldiers
D) politicians

Question 29

Which of the following is an example of a natural event,one that is usually beyond human control?

A) drought
B) homelessness
C) crime
D) terrorism

Question 30

What social pattern would drastically reduce the human costs of natural disasters?

A) intervillage reciprocity
B) complex kinship ties
C) an open caste system
D) egalitarian structure

Question 31

In the United States,what factor predicts more overt aggression in adulthood,even after controlling for factors like parental neglect and family income?

A) more television
B) classroom crowding
C) family size
D) poor nutrition

Question 32

Which social problem would you expect to be more likely in societies with individual property rights,rather than shared rights?

A) famine
B) drought
C) malnutrition
D) homelessness

Question 33

The homicide rate is usually related to what social factor?

A) income inequality
B) high divorce rate
C) low literacy rate
D) economic downturn

Question 34

What has been responsible for more deaths than all the wars of the 20th century?

A) state terrorism by totalitarian governments
B) human trafficking and slavery
C) AIDS and malaria
D) famine in Africa during the 1970s and 1980s

Question 35

Studies looking at the social causes of criminal activity suggest that the frequency of property crimes rises with increases in __________.

A) unemployment
B) child abuse
C) homicide
D) capital punishment

Question 36

People in nonindustrial societies mostly go to war __________.

A) as a hedge against the unpredictability of natural disasters
B) for religious reasons
C) as an unconscious means of population control
D) out of self-defense

Question 37

Which of these countries has an income inequality most comparable to that of the United States?

A) Cambodia
B) England
C) Sweden
D) Japan

Question 38

Warfare in nonindustrial societies was __________ lethal than modern warfare.

A) proportionately more
B) absolutely more
C) absolutely less
D) proportionately less

Question 39

Societies that have violent methods of conflict resolution within communities,such as physical punishment of criminals,high frequency of warfare,and cruelty toward enemies are more likely to have which form of violence?

A) wife beating
B) child abuse
C) homicide
D) husband abuse

Question 40

In socially stratified societies,which segment of the population is most likely to be driven to overcultivate,overgraze,and deforest their land,making them more vulnerable during a natural disaster?

A) the poor
B) the elite
C) women
D) the elderly

Question 41

Why is global warming of interest to the topic of social problems?

A) It is influenced at least partially by human actions, and may cause storms and floods.
B) It is a controversial topic that causes social discord.
C) It is a natural process that may cause human suffering.
D) It is entirely caused by human actions and disproportionately affects poor nations.

Question 42

What social factors increase the likelihood of family violence?

Question 43

The contrast between homelessness in the United States and Australia makes it clear that the cause of homelessness is __________.

A) social policy
B) poverty
C) disability
D) mental illness

Question 44

What is one of the major differences between common criminals and terrorists?

A) Criminals rarely take public credit for their activities.
B) Terrorists have higher motives than simple criminals.
C) Criminals are often praised by others in their group.
D) Terrorists make less money than criminals.

Question 45

What can we do to reduce the effects of natural disasters significantly?

A) change the social factors that exacerbate disasters
B) move people to safer places
C) provide aid money after a disaster
D) change weather patterns to prevent storms

Question 46

Which of the following statements is true of participatory political systems?

A) They rarely go to war with each other and are less warlike in general.
B) They rarely go to war with each other but are more warlike in general.
C) They frequently go to war with each other and are more warlike in general.
D) They frequently go to war with each other but are less warlike in general.

Question 47

Why do people seem to be more motivated to try to solve social problems now than in the past?

A) We are more aware of global problems than ever before.
B) People are more likely to know someone affected by these social problems.
C) Childrearing practices have changed to make people more socially responsible.
D) Many social problems are recent developments that simply did not exist in the past.

Question 48

How is terrorism distinct from other forms of crime or acts of war?

Question 49

How does homelessness in the United States compare to homelessness in other parts of the world?

Question 50

Which factor is indicative of the prevalence of wife beating in a society?

A) when men control the products of family labor
B) when it is easy for women to get divorced
C) when women have female work groups
D) when the union has not produced any children

Question 51

A large earthquake in rural China killed 250,000 people,while an earthquake of similar size in California killed only 65. These comparative figures demonstrate that natural disasters can have greater or lesser effects on human life depending on __________.

A) social conditions that determine who has access to houses with appropriate safety features
B) whether the government is communist or democratic
C) how fast people can get away during a natural disaster
D) nothing in particular; the differences in mortality rates were completely random

Question 52

Cross-culturally,how does father absence impact the likelihood of juvenile delinquency and,later,physical violence?

A) Father absence increases the likelihood of juvenile delinquency.
B) There is a link in societies with nuclear households, but not those with polygynous households.
C) Father absence reduces the likelihood of juvenile delinquency.
D) There is no link between father absence and juvenile delinquency.

Question 53

Consider the many global problems discussed in this chapter. Of these,on which do you feel applied anthropologists can make the biggest impact? Explain your answer.

Question 54

What social factors are associated with famines?

Question 55

In addition to encouraging the emergence of democratic governments,what else would minimize the risk of war?

A) encouraging nations to be more economically interdependent
B) creating nongovernment organizations to cover larger geographic regions
C) giving more power to transnational groups like the United Nations
D) producing more food and ensuring more equal distribution