HST 111 Ch 28 Practice Questions

d

All of the following contributed to the banking crisis of 2008 EXCEPT: a) The Federal Reserve Bank had kept interest rates at unprecedentedly low levels. b) Banks and other lending institutions issued "subprime" mortgages. c) Wall Street bankers developed complex ways of repackaging and selling "subprime" mortgages to investors. d) The Federal Reserve Bank and other regulatory agencies slowed the speculative frenzy. e) Public and private policies favored economic speculation and get-rich-quick schemes.

b

All of the following statements about John Kerry and the 2004 presidential campaign are true EXCEPT: a) Kerry was a Vietnam War veteran. b) Kerry was very in touch with the people and embraced by the common man. c) Kerry was from Massachusetts and a Catholic. d) Kerry was nominated by the Democrats. e) Kerry voted for the Iraq War in the Senate, but denounced the war while campaigning.

d

All of the following statements about President Obama's inaugural address are true EXCEPT: a) He promised a foreign policy based on diplomacy rather than on unilateral force. b) His address harked back to the Revolutionary-era ideal of putting the common good before individual self-interest. c) He blamed a culture of "greed and irresponsibility" for helping to bring on the economic crisis. d) He spoke about freedom repeatedly. e) He spoke of the need to combat income inequality and lack of access to health care.

d

All of the following statements about the 2008 Democratic primaries are true EXCEPT: a) The Obama campaign succeeded in making Hillary Clinton seem like a representative of the status quo. b) Barack Obama used the Internet to communicate with voters and to mobilize new voters. c) Hillary Clinton sought the Democratic nomination by emphasizing her political experience. d) Barack Obama was a well-known senator from Illinois when the campaign began. e) Barack Obama was the first black candidate to win the nomination of a major party.

d

Banks that the Federal Government labeled as "too big to fail": a) had more than 200 employees. b) had not invested in subprime mortgages. c) used government funds to assist homeowners threatened with foreclosure. d) were interconnected with other institutions, and the government argued that their collapse would drive the economy into a depression. e) received federal assistance and were forced to adhere to strict requirements as to its use.

c

By mid-2003, the American economy: a) had fully recovered from the impact of the terrorist attacks of September 11. b) was slowly recovering, as the number of new jobs increased. c) was mixed, as the recession ended but the unemployment rate rose. d) was especially strong in the technology sector. e) rebounded, as fewer jobs went overseas.

e

During his first year in office, George W. Bush: a) raised tax rates for wealthy Americans. b) sponsored legislation to protect the environment. c) supported the accelerated reduction of nuclear weapons. d) had the full support of Congress, which had a commanding Republican majority. e) persuaded Congress to enact the largest tax cut in American history.

c

Early in 2003, President Bush announced that the United States would go to war against Iraq: a) with the full support of the United Nations. b) because its dictator Saddam Hussein had ordered the terrorist attacks on September 11. c) because it was believed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. d) with the full support of the international community. e) and unlike during the Vietnam War, an antiwar movement did not develop.

b

Early in Bush's first term, his administration did which of the following? a) Signed a new Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union. b) Rejected the Kyoto Protocol. c) Established a new international criminal court. d) Raised taxes to balance the budget. e) Banned drilling for oil in Alaska's Artic National Wildlife Refuge.

e

George Bush became the first president since Herbert Hoover to: a) wage war on two fronts at the same time. b) approve tax cuts that benefit the wealthy most. c) fail to predict the coming of a recession. d) shrink the size of the federal government. e) see the economy lose jobs over a four-year term.

d

Hamdan v. Rumsfeld ruled that: a) Hamdan was so dangerous he ought to be sent back to Saudi Arabia. b) a prisoner held at Guantanamo Bay could challenge his incarceration in federal court. c) it was constitutional for the National Security Agency to wiretap domestic calls without a court order. d) the president had to uphold the Geneva Conventions. e) in times of war, the president had unlimited authority.

d

How did President Bush characterize the toppling of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan? a) As a "mission accomplished." b) As an end to the "axis of evil." c) As the triumph of a "coalition of the willing." d) As only the beginning of the war on terror. e) As the end of the al-Qaeda terror network.

a

How did immigrants respond to the House of Representatives bill that made it a felony to be in the country illegally and a crime to offer aid to illegal immigrants? a) They put on a series of massive popular demonstrations demanding their right to remain in the United States. b) They largely ignored it. c) They began a mass exodus out of the United States. d) They threatened major border crossings with bomb threats. e) They petitioned Bush for sympathy since he had been governor of Texas.

c

How did the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico illustrate the downsides of globalization and deregulation? a) Most of the oil produced on the destroyed platform was marked for export. b) The workers on the platform all came from China, India, and Bangladesh. c) The Korean-built oil rig was operated by a Swiss company under contract with BP. d) The broken oil pipeline transported crude from New Orleans to Venezuela. e) The oil rig at fault for the oil spill was in international waters.

b

In 2008 testifying before Congress, Alan Greenspan, the former head of the Federal Reserve Bank: a) argued that regulation would damage banks, Wall Street, and the mortgage market. b) admitted that there had been a "flaw" in his long-held conviction that free markets would produce the best results. c) argued that the federal government should allow unregulated economic competition. d) argued that banks and investment firms should regulate themselves. e) called for deregulation and artificially low interest rates.

c

In Lawrence v. Texas (2003), the Supreme Court extended the right of freedom to: a) religion. b) thought. c) intimate conduct. d) belief. e) expression.

b

In a Supreme Court decision in 2003, the right to use affirmative action in college admissions was: a) found unconstitutional. b) reaffirmed. c) supported by President Bush. d) declared unnecessary in the twenty-first century. e) left intentionally vague.

e

In response to the nation's economic woes, the Bush administration: a) did nothing. b) raised taxes and interest rates. c) raised taxes but cut interest rates. d) cut taxes but raised interest rates. e) cut taxes and interest rates.

b

In response to the terrorist attacks on Washington, D.C., and New York City on September 11, 2001, President Bush: a) appealed to the United Nations to start peace talks. b) declared a war on terrorism. c) declared war on Saudi Arabia. d) declared war on all Muslim countries. e) disbanded the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

d

In the 2008 election, when Barack Obama "redrew the nation's political map": a) he only won in Democratic strongholds. b) he did extremely well in cities. c) he only won in the North and West. d) he won in states that had been reliably Republican for years as well as in Democratic strongholds. e) he won 53 percent of the popular vote and a large majority in the Electoral College.

a

In the midst of the stock market crash of 2008 and the housing crisis, most Americans: a) cut back on spending, leading to business failures and a rapid rise in unemployment. b) bought up stock in Lehman Brothers. c) invested in property as housing prices increased. d) attempted to invest in mortgage-based securities. e) were confident that the economic crisis would be short-lived.

a

Operation Enduring Freedom was launched in October 2001: a) against Afghanistan, because the nation was harboring Osama bin Laden. b) against Saudi Arabia, because they were harboring Osama bin Laden. c) against Afghanistan, because the United States did not approve of the Taliban's treatment of women. d) against Afghanistan, because the Afghan government had ordered the terrorist attacks of September 11. e) as a way to combat rising unemployment.

b

President George W. Bush insisted that the war on terror was: a) not a war on crime. b) not a war on Islam. c) not a war on women. d) not a war against Afghanistan. e) not related to the war in Iraq.

d

Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee, selected Sarah Palin as his running mate: a) because she was a Washington insider with extensive political experience. b) because her attacks on Americans as being unpatriotic, lacking traditional values, and not representing the "real America" proved extremely popular with the Democratic Party's base. c) because she was a third-term senator from Alaska. Correct! d) because he sought to draw Democratic women into the Republican Party. e) because she lacked familiarity with many domestic and foreign policy issues.

b

The Kyoto Protocol of 1997: a) was an apology to Japan for the dropping of the atomic bombs. b) addressed the issue of global warming and was rejected by President Bush. c) addressed the issue of global warming and was supported by President Bush. d) was a trade agreement between Japan and the United States. e) was a declaration of war guilt by the Japanese.

b

The USA Patriot Act: a) overhauled airport security measures. b) expanded the rights of law enforcement agencies to conduct secret searches and detain suspected aliens. c) required every American to swear a loyalty oath. d) ceased all Islamic immigration into the United States. e) was vetoed by George W. Bush for violating civil liberties, but his veto was overridden by Congress.

c

Two landmark Supreme Court cases in 2003 dealt with: a) homosexuality & abortion. b) affirmative action & disabled persons. c) homosexuality & affirmative action. d) abortion & affirmative action. e) disabled persons & homosexuality.

e

What did the Justice Department label the captured members of Al Qaeda in order to get around the Geneva Conventions? a) Prisoners of an insurgency. b) Detainees. c) Army regulars. d) Rebel forces. e) Unlawful combatants.

d

What happened at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq? a) American soldiers were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their conduct under tough circumstances. b) Over 100 Al Qaeda prisoners escaped in an elaborate scheme, embarrassing the United States. c) Saddam Hussein was tried and hanged by an American military tribunal. d) Under the supervision of U.S. military personnel, many prisoners were mistreated, humiliated, and tortured; some even died. e) It was blown up in an insurgency attack, killing the United Nations' chief ambassador to Iraq.

d

What made Bush's 2002 "National Security Strategy" fundamentally different from previous American policy? a) It began by defining freedom. b) It called for a huge military buildup. c) It did not refrain from nuclear weapons. d) it advocated the use of preemptive war. e) It called for multilateral action.

c

What term did the Occupy movement introduce into American political vocabulary in 2011 and 2012? a) "Mission accomplished." b) "The 47 percent." c) "The 1 percent." d) "Unlawful combatants." e) "Toxic assets."

c

Which entity was responsible for disaster planning and relief within the United States at the time of Hurricane Katrina? a) Red Cross of America. b) Coast Guard. c) Federal Emergency Management Agency. d) State Department.

c

Which industry saw its overall workforce drop from 520,000 in 1970 to 120,000 in 2004? a) Auto. b) Retail. c) Steel. d) Telecommunications. e) Healthcare.

c

Which of the following actions won President Obama wide acclaim in May 2011? a) He successfully shut down the Guantanamo prison. b) He signed a four-year extension of the USA Patriot Act. c) He authorized the raid on a Pakistani compound that killed Osama Bin Laden. d) He orchestrated the overthrow and assassination of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. e) He abolished the military tribunals established by his predecessor George W. Bush.

c

Which of the following statements about Saddam Hussein turned out to be true? a) He possessed a mobile chemical weapons laboratory. b) He had hidden weapons of mass destruction in his many palaces. c) He was a horrible tyrant who ruled Iraq ruthlessly. d) He was hiding in his palace as a safe haven from the war. e) He was seeking to acquire uranium in Africa to build nuclear weapons.

e

Which state's supreme court ruled that homosexual marriages must receive legal recognition, spurring a moral values debate during the 2004 presidential election? a) Vermont. b) California. c) Florida. d) Oregon. e) Massachusetts.

e

Which statement about Hurricane Katrina is true? a) Michael Brown was well qualified to lead the emergency efforts. b) President Bush was on the scene immediately. c) No one realized that the city was vulnerable to flooding. d) New Orleans had "dodged the bullet," as Bush proclaimed. e) The mayor of New Orleans was slow to order an evacuation of the city.

d

Which statement is true about illegal immigrants? a) They raise wages at the bottom of the economic ladder. b) Only about one-third of the illegal immigrants are members of the workforce. c) Most of them are from South America. d) They mostly work as domestic, construction, and agricultural workers. e) They are highly skilled and educated.

b

Who among the cabinet members strongly urged President Bush to ban torture in the war on terror—with certain exceptions provided? a) Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. b) Secretary of State Colin Powell. c) National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. d) Vice President Dick Cheney. e) Central Intelligence Director George Tenet.

e

Who was America's sole ally during the initial phase of the Iraq War? a) Russia. b) China. c) Germany. d) Spain. e) Great Britain.

d

Why did American consumers cut back on borrowing and spending after 2008? a) Most American households were saturated from a decade of binge consumption. b) High interest rates and tight credit made further borrowing impossible. c) An unregulated mortgage and consumer credit industry scared increasingly careful consumers. d) The net worth of Americans had shrunk by trillions of dollars in the great recession. e) Most Americans heeded the president's advice to be less wasteful.

c

Why did Goldman Sachs have to pay a fine of half a billion dollars in 2010? a) It had underwritten most of the subprime mortgages during the real estate boom. b) It had failed to document its business structure to the Securities and Exchange Commission. c) It had knowingly sold toxic mortgage-based securities and then bet on their failure. d) It had illegally financed the presidential campaign of Democratic President Obama. e) It had failed to reform its management and business practice in the wake of the mortgage crisis.

c

Why did the number of Americans receiving food stamps rise after 2008? a) President Obama had eased eligibility requirements. b) The Midwestern farm lobby had pushed for an expansion of the program. c) The number of needy Americans skyrocketed with the recession. d) Americans had become increasingly comfortable with handouts. e) Illegal immigrants had become eligible for food stamps in 2009.

c

Why is the characterization of the war on terror as a "clash of civilizations"—the West vs. Islam—unhistorical? a) It denies the militancy of Christian sects. b) It ignores the militant tendencies of Buddhism. c) It denies a long past of cultural exchanges between the two. d) It exaggerates the diversity of Islamic countries. e) It undermines the liberation struggle of the Arab Spring.