Deck 16: Structural Sources of Social Change: Economic and Demographic

Question 1

Ironically, wages have declined since 1973, while worker _____ actually rose.

A) productivity
B) benefits
C) vacation time
D) enthusiasm

Answer 1

productivity

Question 2

Which term is defined as the processes by which everyone on Earth becomes increasingly interconnected economically, politically, culturally, and environmentally?

A) Internationalism
B) Technology
C) One World Government
D) Globalization

Answer 2

Globalization

Question 3

During the Industrial Revolution, which began in the _____ century, the application of steam power and later oil and electricity as energy sources for industry, mining, manufacturing, and transportation brought fundamental changes to the economy, the nature of work, family organization, and a transition from rural to urban life.

A) 17th
B) 18th
C) 19th
D) 20th

Answer 3

18th

Question 4

What is a term used to describe when independent contractors work from their homes, pay for their own health care and retirement plan, and furnish their own equipment?

A) Sunrise industry
B) Offshoring
C) Homesourcing
D) Oursourcing

Question 5

Which American company laid off 30,000 American workers following September 11, 2001, and then announced it would be shifting most of its advanced design and engineering tasks to Russia and China, where these kinds of professionals are paid significantly less?

A) Sunset Industries
B) Apple
C) Chrysler
D) Boeing

Question 6

The term sunrise industry describes one that

A) was established at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.
B) involves manufacturing breakfast foods.
C) will soon fade, like the sunrise.
D) is characterized by increased output and employment.

Question 7

Mary lives in Detroit, Michigan. She once worked as a customer service representative for a major automobile manufacturer, but lost her job when the company started _____ its customer service functions to India.

A) deporting
B) offshoring
C) outsourcing
D) homesourcing

Question 8

Which term is used to describe what a company is doing when it moves its production to another country, producing the same products in the same way but with cheaper labor, lower taxes, and lower benefits to workers?

A) Outsourcing
B) Offshoring
C) Capital flight
D) Contingent employment

Question 9

Sectors of the economy that fade in importance or will die out completely are known as

A) dinosaur sectors.
B) endangered economic sectors.
C) sunset industries.
D) sunrise industries.

Question 10

About three-fourths of _____ (employees who work part time, in temporary jobs, or as independent contractors) are women.

A) homeschoolers
B) contingent workers
C) outsourcers
D) offshore workers

Question 11

Which term is defined as the movement of people across political boundaries?

A) Transmigration
B) Emigration
C) Immigration
D) Ex-patriotism

Question 12

Manufacturing was the backbone of the U.S. economy in the 20th century, but is no longer dominant. In 1917, the largest U.S. corporation was U.S. Steel. Today, the largest U.S. corporation is

A) Wal-Mart.
B) Boeing.
C) Microsoft.
D) Pearson.

Question 13

By 2023 a majority of children (under 18 years of age) in the United States will be from a minority background. By what year will non-White ethnic groups surpass working-age Whites in number?

A) 2057
B) 2039
C) 2020
D) 2016

Question 14

With relatively weak unions and competition from low-wage economies, U.S. corporations have been reducing _____, or setting up a two-tiered system that disadvantages newer employees.

A) golden parachutes
B) executive bonuses
C) executive salaries
D) workers' benefits

Question 15

Economist Paul Krugman points out that _____ has actually reduced the demand for white-collar workers.

A) technological progress
B) increased manufacturing
C) the rise of the big-box store
D) unionization of blue-collar jobs

Question 16

Whereas in the past, Americans mostly worked at producing goods, today most jobs are in the service sector. Which of the following is NOT a service sector job?

A) Banking
B) Metal fabrication
C) Custodial work
D) Retail sales

Question 17

The chapter cites two fundamental turning points in human history. What and when was the first of these two major turning points?

A) Neolithic agricultural revolution that began about 8000 BC
B) Industrial Revolution that began in Great Britain in the 1780s
C) Immigration Revolution that began in the United States in the 1990s
D) American Revolution that began in 1776

Question 18

The term capital flight is defined as

A) the movement of corporate money from one investment to another through investment in plants located in other nations, plant relocation within the United States, and mergers.
B) when a company moves its production to another country, producing the same products in the same way, but with cheaper labor, lower taxes, and lower benefits to workers.
C) taking some specific task that a company was doing in-house-such as research, call centers, accounting, or transcribing-and transferring it to an overseas company to save money and then reintegrating that work back into the overall operation.
D) independent contractors working from their homes, paying for their own health care and retirement plan, and furnishing their own equipment.

Question 19

Among other changes, new _____ have, most significantly, magnified the connections among all peoples across the globe.

A) agragrianism
B) ways of thinking
C) technologies
D) spirituality

Question 20

Today, _____ of the people in the United States are either African American, Latino, Asian American, or Native American.

A) more than one-third
B) just under half
C) more than half
D) nearly three-quarters

Question 21

Donald is against immigration, especially illegal immigration from Mexico. He complains loudly that immigrants expect social services but do not pay the taxes that support them. His brother, Bernie, points out that

A) in the short run, immigrants consume less in public services and benefits than they pay in taxes.
B) undocumented immigrants pay a variety of taxes, such as income, Social Security, Medicare, and sales taxes.
C) undocumented immigrants annually receive about $1.5 billion from Medicare and $7 billion from Social Security.
D) the state and local taxes paid by immigrants are relatively high, especially because their children are not allowed to attend public schools.

Question 22

On average, life expectancy for an African American is about _____ years than for a White person the same age.

A) four fewer
B) four more
C) 40 fewer
D) 40 more

Question 23

About one million people legally migrate into the United States every year. How many unauthorized people per year enter the country and stay?

A) About 525,000
B) About 1.5 million
C) About 2.5 million
D) About 11.12 million

Question 24

A study by the Academy of Sciences found that by the time a typical immigrant with a family dies, that immigrant and his or her children will have paid _____ government benefits.

A) no taxes, despite receiving
B) no more in taxes than they received in
C) $80,000 more in taxes than they received in
D) $80,000 less in taxes than they received in

Question 25

Immigrants are more likely than the rest of the population to _____, which in turn creates jobs and adds strength to local economies.

A) be self-employed and to start their own businesses
B) be college graduates
C) enter the country with significant savings
D) hold white-collar jobs, especially in finance and banking

Question 26

The chapter argues that immigration can be understood as an act of _____, because people make a choice to leave all they know behind in order to come to a new place for economic opportunity or to flee repression.

A) folly
B) human agency
C) terrorism
D) hubris

Question 27

The evidence is that immigrants _____ on the wages of most Americans, except for the low-wage, poorly skilled, poorly educated segment of workers.

A) have positive effects
B) have negative effects
C) do not have negative effects
D) do not have an effect

Question 28

About _____ of elderly women and _____ of elderly men live alone in the United States.

A) 40%; 19%
B) 55%; 42%
C) 75%; 68%
D) 91%; 60%

Question 29

Women's greater longevity, the social norm for men to marry younger women, and the traditional Social Security bias against women combine to create two problems for elderly women: _____ and _____.

A) remarriage; excess income
B) boredom; health problems
C) isolation; poverty
D) job security; injuries

Question 30

Henry is a healthy baby boy who was just born today. Based on current projections, his chance of living to be 100 is

A) highly unlikely.
B) about one in 200.
C) practically guaranteed.
D) about fifty-fifty.

Question 31

Because life expectancy is about five years more for women than men, older women outnumber older men by a ratio of

A) three to two.
B) four to five.
C) 10 to one.
D) 20 to one.

Question 32

Up until the 20th century, the United States was a youthful nation. What has changed that situation?

A) The nation is now more than 200 years old.
B) A falling birthrate combined with greater longevity.
C) Immigration is mostly among people age 50 or older.
D) The birthrate is rising thanks to modern technology.

Question 33

The states with the most _____ have the highest levels of anti-immigrant feeling.

A) unemployment
B) immigrants
C) diversity
D) conservatives

Question 34

Currently, the largest racial-ethnic group among the elderly in the United States is

A) Asian Americans.
B) Latinos.
C) African Americans.
D) Whites.

Question 35

In the 1920s, the United States established the _____ rule to limit the number of immigrants it would accept, to limit the number of Eastern Europeans who enter the country, and to deny entry to Asians.

A) immigrant quota
B) third wave
C) Yellow Peril
D) national origins

Question 36

There are several categories of elderly people, due in part to the fact that old people in our society are living longer. People age 85 and older fall into the category of the

A) young-old.
B) middle-old.
C) old-old.
D) older than old.

Question 37

Peter, a third-generation Mexican American, goes by this name instead of his birth name (Pedro) because he does not speak Spanish and just finds it easier. He works as an architect and is married to a young woman of Korean descent who only speaks Korean with her parents. As a member of an ethnic minority whose life is no different from his White peers, Peter can be considered

A) an illegal immigrant.
B) socialized.
C) diverse.
D) assimilated.

Question 38

For immigrants who remain in the United States, evidence shows that they are a burden on the economy for two decades mainly because of educational costs. After that

A) they must return to their countries of origin.
B) they are automatically citizens.
C) they must repay that money or be deported.
D) the society benefits monetarily.

Question 39

Arizona has a particularly tough law penalizing employers who hire illegal immigrants (who are paid significantly less than American citizens). The irony of this situation is that

A) most of the immigrants labeled illegal in Arizona are actually legal.
B) employers in Arizona do not tend to hire illegal immigrants in the first place.
C) there are no Arizona citizens who want to do those jobs anyway.
D) jobs in Arizona's semiconductor industry have been outsourced to foreign countries with cheaper labor.

Question 40

Which term refers to the process by which individuals or groups adopt the culture of another group, losing their original identity?

A) Immigration
B) Acculturation
C) Assimilation
D) Socialization

Question 41

What is defined as the proportion of the population who are workers compared to the proportion not working?

A) Ratio scale
B) Dependency ratio
C) Nominally unemployed
D) Chronically employed

Question 42

Social Security is a(n) _____ tax, meaning it takes a larger percentage from people with the lowest incomes.

A) regressive
B) progressive
C) agressive
D) adjustable

Question 43

Personal income is usually reduced by one-third to one-half after retirement. Research shows that in old age, the poor get _____ and the affluent _____.

A) not much poorer; increase their economic advantage
B) somewhat poorer; get much poorer
C) poorer; maintain their economic advantage
D) richer; lose their economic advantage

Question 44

The higher probability of older African Americans being poor is a direct consequence of their

A) cultural unwillingness to care for the elderly.
B) unwillingness to pay into the Social Security Administration.
C) failure to plan.
D) cumulative disadvantages over a life span.

Question 45

The elderly make up about 13% of the U.S. population, and consume _____ of all health care in the United States.

A) about a quarter
B) more than one-third
C) almost half
D) 89%

Question 46

Financed by payroll taxes, premiums paid by recipients, and a government subsidy, _____ automatically entitles everyone to hospital insurance, home health care, and hospice care through this program.

A) Medicaid Part B
B) Medicaid Part A
C) Medicare Part B
D) Medicare Part A

Question 47

Marilyn and Carolyn are both retirees from Detroit, Michigan. Marilyn has decided that she is fed up with winter and is moving to Phoenix, Arizona. Carolyn is going to stay in Detroit. Based on the chapter, which of the following statements is most likely to be true?

A) Marilyn is older than Carolyn.
B) Marilyn is more affluent than Carolyn.
C) Marilyn requires more public assistantce than Carolyn.
D) Marilyn is less affluent than Carolyn.

Question 48

Currently, the elderly account for around 20% of the voting public. By 2038, they are projected to make up _____ of the electorate.

A) almost 60%
B) at least half
C) more than one-third
D) only about 15%