Humanities MCQs

1. Conservatives in the late 1970s and 1980s criticized many trends in American culture. Ironically, one of their targets was also a key to their success. This was

the Congress.

the Supreme Court.

professional sports.

television.

2. All of the following groups voiced criticism of television programming EXCEPT

evangelicals.

feminists.

political conservatives.

advertisers.

3. An agreement at a 1987 summit in Moscow

ended testing of nuclear weapons.

provided for destruction of certain nuclear missiles with on-site inspection.

pledged Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan.

reduced conventional forces stationed in Central Europe.

4. In the 1980 election, a three-way race, the candidate who’d been governor of California was

Independent John Anderson, who finished second.

Republican Ronald Reagan, who won.

Democrat Jimmy Carter, who lost.

Republican Gerald Ford, who lost.

5. What was unique about the Democratic ticket in 1984?

A Greek immigrant headed the ticket.

Both presidential and vice-presidential candidates came from the same state.

Both presidential and vice-presidential candidates were southerners.

The vice-presidential candidate was a woman.

6. The Reagan administration focused on three priorities in foreign policy. Which of the following accurately states an initiative in one of the three areas?

Central America: an invasion of Panama to rescue American students and prevent a Marxist takeover

Middle East: successful retaliation against Libya and Lebanon for terrorist attacks

Soviet Union: both a sharp military build-up and a new arms control treaty

Far East: public rhetoric critical of China’s suppression of democratic reform

7. The word that describes a diverse group of conservative Protestant Christians, who in the late 1970s became noticeably influential as political and social activists, is

Pentecostals.

extremists.

Republicans.

evangelicals.

8. What is meant by “supply-side economics”—the new Reagan approach to economic policy in the early 1980s?

the attempt to increase domestic oil supplies

cutting back welfare and other programs for the poor, to force them to provide for their own needs

keeping interest rates high, to increase the money supply

encouraging, through tax cuts, private sector investment that would create new jobs, thus promoting economic growth and increasing net tax revenues

9. By the late 1980s, what nation owed the world’s largest foreign debt?

Nicaragua

the U.S.

Brazil

Mexico

10 Ronald Reagan came into office in 1981 with a threefold agenda, according to your text, including all EXCEPT

reduction in spending for social programs.

reduction in the power and activism of the presidency.

deregulation of the economy.

tax cuts.

10. Which statement best explains Bill Clinton’s victory in 1992?

As a southerner and liberal, Clinton rebuilt the traditional Democratic coalition and won a solid majority of both popular and electoral votes.

Middle-of-the-road voters turned to Clinton, who painted himself as a moderate.

Voters, in an upbeat mood, rejected the sour criticisms of Bush and Perot and embraced Clinton’s optimistic vision for change.

Worried about growing instability around the world, voters opted for the candidate with experience in foreign affairs

11. The story of Dorothy Sands in the Daily Lives feature “Life in the Underclass” raises a disturbing question for Americans, according to the text. The question is:

Will traditional family values be preserved in today’s diverse nation?

Can police brutality and racism be eliminated?

Can a basic undergraduate education be made available to all who want it?

Will the dependency and desperation of the invisible urban poor be dealt with in time?

13 The Reagan and Bush administrations sent American invasion forces abroad in all of the following cases EXCEPT

to Nicaragua to fight alongside the Contra rebels.

to Panama to capture the country’s dictator-president.

to a Caribbean island to protect Americans and topple a leftist government.

to the Persian Gulf to expel Iraqis from Kuwait.

14 The conservative revival

opposed the presidential candidacy of the divorced movie actor, Ronald Reagan.

affected Catholics as well as Protestants.

reflected rural ignorance about sophisticated modern technology.

stressed the rights of individuals to make social and economic choices free of government regulation.

15. What woman was the first to seek the office of the vice-presidency?

Coretta Scott King

Sandra Day O’Connor

Anita Hill

Geraldine Ferraro

16. In the 1988 presidential election, George H. W. Bush benefited from all the following EXCEPT

strong support from his party because of his loyalty.

his being associated with Reagan’s successes.

improved relations with the Soviet Union.

support from remnants of the Old Left in Washington.

17. The chapter introduction tells the story of San Diego’s Horton Plaza to make the point that

Ronald Reagan’s successful presidential campaign focused on California-style shopping malls.

malls, as centers of consumer culture, symbolized the private quest for personal fulfillment typical of the 1980s.

religious activists began to relocate Sunday services from traditional churches to the new retail malls.

malls like Horton Plaza caused the decline of downtown business districts.

18. Fundamentalists established Christian academies in part to protect their children from

television.

subjects such as Darwinian evolution.

the battle over abortion rights.

drug pushers.

19. Conservative Protestants (“evangelicals”) shared with conservative Catholics certain concerns about trends in American society. Which is NOT an accurate statement of beliefs they held in common?

Abortion should be legally restricted because it amounts to killing an unborn human being.

A major moral failure of contemporary society is the persistence of racism.

Mass entertainment promotes permissive social behavior and a liberal political agenda.

Non-public, religion-oriented schools provide a more morally acceptable education than the increasingly secular public schools.

20. In the 1980s, health-care costs skyrocketed along with a worldwide epidemic of a deadly new disease, in which

organic poisons were transmitted by the needles of drug users.

a parasite was transmitted in polluted streams.

a virus broke down the human immune system.

leaking nuclear radiation caused incurable brain cancers