EXAM #1 SAMPLE QUESTIONS
BASIC CONCEPTS
1. The key insight of sociology is:
a. an individual's internal psychological processes are the key to understanding their behavior.
b. human behavior is shaped by the groups to which we belong and social interaction within these groups.
c. human behavior is so complex and often random that theories are not a useful way to try to make sense of human behavior.
d. human behavior is determined by individual free will and not by culturally defined values and norms.
2. The language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and material objects passed from one generation to another are:
a. culture. b. social structure.
c. social action. d. socialization.
3. Social location is defined as:
a. the scientific study of society and human behavior
b. the group memberships that people have because of their location in history and society.
c. the patterns of behavior that characterize a social group.
d. the application of systematic methods to obtain knowledge and the knowledge obtained by those methods.
4. The song "Friends in Low Places" is an example of:
a. value contradictions. b. cultural diffusion.
c. cultural leveling. d. the importance of social class as a social fact.
5. ____________ is defined as something to which people attach meaning and then use to communicate.
a. Symbols b. Inuit c. Values d. Language
6. __________ is defined as people who share a culture and a territory.
a. Society b. Culture c. Social location d. Language
7. John is a WMU student who is spending his junior year in a study abroad program at a university in Great Britain. He
cannot understand all of the strange words that the British students use, he has almost been hit by cars when he was trying to
cross the street on several occasions because the British drive on the left side of the road, and he does not like that the bars
do not serve their beer ice cold. When he returns to Kalamazoo, he tells his friends that "Those British people are really
weird; they don't know how to talk or behave and I hated living there." This is an example of all of the following EXCEPT:
a. ethnocentrism.
b. the role of culture in providing a lens we use to evaluate the world.
c. culture shock.
d. cultural relativism.
8. John, Alan and Frank are teenagers in Kalamazoo who attend the same high school, hang out together all the time, and often take their girlfriends on dates together to the movies. During their senior year in high school, John and Alan both began to party heavily every weekend, drinking beer and smoking marijuana, and both of them broke up with their girlfriends when they refused to have sex and began dating other women who were willing to have sex with them. They tried to talk Frank into doing the same things, but Frank refused, arguing that his parents would not approve and that these behaviors did not seem morally appropriate because of his religious beliefs. Frank consistently refused to drink or smoke, and he refused to break up with his girlfriend or to pressure her to have sex with him. John and Alan eventually stopped hanging out with Frank and found new friends who shared their new interests. This is an example of all of the following EXCEPT:
a. religion as an agent of socialization. b. peer groups as an agent of socialization.
c. the family as a social institution. d. taboos.
9. Culture is defined as:
a. the language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and material objects passed from one generation to another.
b. using scientific methods to explain human behavior.
c. something to which people attach meaning and then use to communicate.
d. a system of symbols that can be combined in an infinite number of ways to represent objects and communicate abstract thought.
10. ___________ is defined as a process of exploitation of a periphery by a core nation that benefits the core nation's economic growth but leaves the periphery with a legacy of inequality, lost resources, political instability, and environmental degradation that makes future development very difficult to achieve.
a. Satellitization b. Peripheralization
c. Imperialism d. Underdevelopment
11. Peer groups are an important part of socialization because:
a. parents are playing a less and less important role in children's socialization in today's society.
b. the threat of expulsion is a strong pressure to conform to group guidelines.
c. athletes today refuse to serve as role models for children.
d. violence on t.v. teaches children to depend on their peers for protection.
12. Sam graduated from college in 1970. Although his grades were poor, he got a job with Ford Motor Company, since the U.S. economy was growing rapidly and companies were in desperate need of employees. He eventually rose through the managerial ranks to become a vice president earning more than $100,000 per year and supervising a large factory with 10,000 assembly line workers. This is an example of all of the following EXCEPT:
a. social location. b. social facts. c. culture shock. d. social class.
13. The key insight of sociology is:
a. a two-hour class at 3 in the afternoon is way too long.
b. human behavior is shaped by the groups to which we belong and social interaction within these groups.
c. material culture is the key to understanding how any society functions.
d. values and norms are the same in all societies.
14. The social institution of ___________ masters the environment.
a. the educational system b. economics c. politics d. science
15. Boots, tuxedos, champagne and beer in the song "Friends in Low Places" are all of the following EXCEPT:
a. images that describe the different social classes to which people belong.
b. symbols that represent the different social classes of the people in the song.
c. examples of the subjective method for measuring social class.
d. examples of how friendships and relationships tend to be formed with people from similar social class backgrounds.
16. The use of English around the world in business, science and technology is an example of:
a. cultural diffusion. b. cultural leveling. c. value contradictions. d. mores.
17. ______________ are defined as the expectations or rules of behavior that guide people's behavior.
a. Values b. Value contradictions c. Norms d. Symbols
18. One goal of any science is:
a. to provide a behavioral imperative.
b. to generalize beyond individual cases to broader patterns.
c. explain why everyone practices cultural relativism.
d. understand a people from the framework of its own culture.
19. ______ are cultural standards by which people define what is valuable or undesirable.
a. Cultural absolutes b. Values c. Norms d. Taboos
20. The ongoing debate over abortion in the U.S. and changing laws that govern abortion are examples of all of the
following EXCEPT:
a. value contradictions.
b. changing mores in U.S. society.
c. changing folkways in U.S. society.
d. changing values in U.S. society.
21. The Donner Party was used in class as an example of:
a. how values change over time in the same society. b. how values and norms are different in different societies.
c. mores. d. taboos.
22. ___________ is the idea that language creates ways of thinking and perceiving, shaping how people see the world.
a. Cultural relativism b. Cultural diffusion c. Hmong d. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
23. People or groups that affect our self-concept, attitudes or other orientations toward life are called:
a. socializers. b. agents of socialization.
c. stages of socialization. d. social actors.
24. Tom and Sarah met at WMU ten years ago. Tom's parents both worked on an assembly line at a GM plant, and Sarah's parents were both physicians. Despite opposition from both sets of parents and from their groups of friends, as well as some conflict between them about their career plans, who their friends would be, and where they would live, Tom and Sarah got married while they were still students. Tom did not have enough money to finish school, so he got a job at the GM plant where his parents worked. Sarah finished her undergraduate degree and got an MBA, eventually becoming a senior manager for a large computer firm. After the couple had a child, Tom focused on teaching their son how to follow rules, but Sarah focused on encouraging their son to be creative and ask questions. These conflicts eventually led Tom and Sarah to get divorced. After their divorce, their parents and friends all said "We knew it would never work out." This is an example of all of the following EXCEPT:
a. the family as a social institution. b. cultural leveling.
c. Melvin Kohn's research on socialization. d. the issues raised in the song "Friends in Low Places."
25. In U.S. society, when we see a line of people at a university office, we get in line and wait our turn. This is an example of all of the following EXCEPT:
a. the role of culture in social life. b. culture providing a behavioral imperative.
c. the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. d. culture providing a taken-for-granted orientation to life.
26. ________________ are defined as everyday habits and conventions that people obey without any thought; a type of norms that are not strictly enforced.
a. Folkways b. Taboos c. Values d. Folkways
27. Transportation, call, success, and party were used in class as examples of:
a. shared symbols. b. ethnocentrism. c. cultural relativism. d. mores.
28. ____________ is defined as people or groups that affect our self-concept, attitudes, or other orientations toward life.
a. Socializers b. Agents of socialization c. The family d. Social institutions
29. The patterns of behavior that characterize a social group are:
a. social facts. b. social locations.
c. social realities. d. social things.
30. The division of nations or people according to relative power, property and prestige is ________.
a. social stratification b. social class
c. social division d. social separation
31. A group of four friends who are enrolled in this class are talking in the hall after class one day. One of them suggests that
they have dinner together that night, they debate for half an hour about where to have dinner, and finally agree on where and
when to meet that night. This is an example of all of the following roles of language EXCEPT:
a. providing a shared future.
b. allows shared perspectives and understandings.
c. allows complex, shared, goal-directed behavior.
d. expands communication beyond immediate, face-to-face groups.
32. _____________ is defined as the alteration of culture and societies over time.
a. Social change b. Cultural change c. Development d. Underdevelopment
33. One social fact about race is that:
a. there are 2 different races in the world. b. there are 2,000 different races in the world.
c. race is defined in all societies based on skin color. d. race is a social and cultural category.
34. Blacks in South Africa were used in class as examples of all of the following EXCEPT:
a. a minority group. b. social stratification based on race and ethnicity.
c. genocide. d. internal colonialism.
35. _____________ is defined as the extensive interconnections among nations due to the expansion of capitalism.
a. Peripheralization b. Globalization c. Underdevelopment d. Colonization
36. ___________ is defined as people singled out for unequal treatment and who regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination.
a. Race b. Ethnic group c. Minority group d. Genocide
37. In the American class structure, members of the __________ have typically attended high school or college and work as semiprofessionals, lower managers, and foremen.
a. upper middle class b. lower middle class c. working class d. working poor
38. If a sociologist studies social class by asking people what class they belong to, the _____ method of measuring social
class is being used.
a. subjective b. objective c. reputational d. Marxist
39. According to sociologist Melvin Kohn, one way that social class affects our lives is:
a. members of higher classes are more likely to vote and to run for public office than are members of lower classes.
b. parents' jobs affect how they socialize their children.
c. infants born in poor inner city neighborhoods in the U.S. are 50% more likely to die during the first year of life than are
other children.
d. friendships and relationships tend to be formed with people from similar social class backgrounds.
40. The idea that language creates ways of thinking and perceiving, shaping how people see the world is called:
a. ethnocentrism.
b. cultural relativism.
c. the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis.
d. cultural leveling.
41. The 22" piece of string was used in class as an example of the system of _________ stratification:
a. social class b. racial and ethnic c. global d. gender
42. The symbols that members of this class share, such as that transportation means cars and call means using a telephone,
are examples of all of the following EXCEPT:
a. values in U.S. society.
b. mores in U.S. society.
c. the role of language in allowing shared perspectives and understandings.
d. culture providing a taken-for-granted orientation to life.
43. In a fictional country called Nowhereland, the members of an ethnic group called the Smiths decided to kill all the members of a rival ethnic group, the Jones. The members of Smiths were much wealthier and politically powerful than the Jones group. The Smiths succeeded in killing almost all of the members of the Jones group. This is an example of:
a. genocide. b. ethnic cleansing. c. internal colonialism. d. assimilation.
44. Sam dropped out of high school when he was sixteen and now earns $9,000 per year working as a clerk in a convenience store twenty hours per week. In the American class structure, Sam is a member of the _____ .
a. working poor b. underclass c. working class d. lower middle class
45. Examples of _________ differences between males and females include average height and reproductive organs, while examples of _________ differences between males and females include higher wages for males than for females and male babies wearing blue and female babies wearing pink.
a. biological; sex b. sex; gender c. social; gender d. gender; sex
46. College students today have many of the same concerns that college students in 1950 had, including grades, finding a
job, and forming romantic relationships. However, college students today also have many different concerns compared to
earlier generations, such as developing the skills needed to utilize computer technology and the risk of AIDs. These
similarities and differences are examples of the importance of:
a. individual differences. b. psychological differences.
c. social class. d. social location.
47. The organized, usual, or standard ways by which a society meets its basic needs are called:
a. cultural universals. b. social structure.
c. social institutions. d. cultural institutions.
48. In Ecuador, one of the poorest countries in Latin America, the government has tried to reduce poverty by inviting companies such as General Motors and Coca-Cola to build factories in Ecuador and by borrowing money from the World Bank to build the roads, hydroelectric dams, and other infrastructure needed to supply these factories. Despite these efforts, Ecuador remains extremely poor. This is an example of all of the following EXCEPT:
a. neocolonialism. b. imperialism. c. transnational corporations. d. the periphery.
49. People learn what to take for granted in their culture via the process of:
a. acculturation. b. cultural learning.
c. socialization. d. the latent functions of education.
50. The nine month school year in the U.S. is an example of:
a. cultural lag. b. urbanization. c. voluntary assimilation. d. globalization.
51. _________ is the group memberships that people have because of their location in history and society.
a. A status symbol b. Social location
c. A social role d. Social action
52. _________ are people or groups that affect our self-concept, attitudes, or other orientations toward life.
a. Looking-glasses b. Agents of socialization
c. Stereotypes d. Socializers
53. __________ are the expectations or rules of behavior that guide people's behavior.
a. Norms b. Values c. Statuses d. Culture
54. Peer groups are a major factor in socialization because of:
a. their ability to provide role models.
b. their role in helping us choose our careers.
c. their role in teaching us right and wrong.
d. the threat of expulsion.
55. A group's ways of thinking and doing are called its:
a. social structure. b. nonmaterial culture.
c. social location. d. material culture.
56. Each society develops organized ways to meet its basic needs. These organized ways are called:
a. social fixtures. b. social groups.
c. social associations. d. social institutions.
57. In the U.S., equality, racism and group superiority coexist as values. This is an example of:
a. value clusters. b. value contradictions.
c. value differences. d. value inconsistencies.
58. ______________ is a proposed treaty that would eliminate virtually all government regulation of TNC investment anywhere in the world.
a. Neocolonialism b. Kyoto Accord
c. Multilateral Agreement on Investment d. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
59. The key insight of sociology is that:
a. the crime rate is the most important social fact in our society.
b. using scientific methods to understand human behavior is hopeless because people are often unpredictable individuals who
don't behave the way that theories would predict.
c. social action is pointless because social structure determines our statuses, roles, attitudes and values, leaving individuals
with few choices or options.
d. human behavior is shaped by the groups to which we belong and social interaction within these groups.
60. The patterns of behavior that characterize a social group are:
a. social actions. b. social statuses.
c. social facts. d. social locations.
61. The process by which people learn what to "take for granted" is called:
a. rationalization. b. socialization.
c. acculturation. d. social learning.
62. The idea that language creates ways of thinking and perceiving, shaping how people see the world is:
a. the Thomas Theorem. b. cultural relativism.
c. ethnocentrism. d. the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.
63. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, attended Harvard University and is now the wealthiest person in the world. In the American class structure, Bill Gates is a member of the _______.
a. middle class b. upper middle class c. capitalist class. d. upper class
64. __________ is defined as people who perceive themselves and are perceived by others as distinctive on the basis of certain biologically inherited traits.
a. Sex b. Gender c. Ethnic group d. Race
65. ______________ is defined as a nation's attempt to create an empire through pursuit of unlimited geographical expansion.
a. Imperialism b. Neocolonialism c. Capitalism d. Development
66. The video "The Global Assembly Line" examined:
a. maquiladoras. b. the World Bank. c. the IMF. d. colonialism.
67. In Hungary, the government used to own all of the factories, stores, and other businesses, but the government has sold all of these business to private companies. As a result, hundreds of thousands of employees of these businesses have been fired as these private companies have sought to become more competitive in the world economy. Hungary is an example of a _________ country.
a. peripheral b. core c. semi-core d. semi-peripheral
68. When asked what social class they belong to, most Americans:
a. greatly exaggerate their annual income.
b. report that they are members of the middle class.
c. report that they are members of the upper class.
d. greatly underreport their annual income because of the American value of equality.
69. John and Mary work on the assembly line at a General Motors automobile factory. Their work is closely supervised and
repetitive. Based on Melvin Kohn's research, they are more likely as parents to:
a. encourage their children to learn conformity to rules.
b. encourage their children to be creative.
c. refuse to use physical punishment to discipline their children.
d. teach their children to ask "Why?" questions
70. Walking on the right side of hallways is an example of:
a. a folkway in our society. b. a taboo in our society.
c. the value of individualism. d. a more in our society.
71. When Jennifer visited Germany, she found it difficult to buy train tickets or to purchase items in stores because people
pushed ahead of her. When she went home to the U.S., she told her friends that the Germans were the rudest people that she
had ever encountered. Her judgment about German behavior is an example of:
a. ethnocentrism. b. universalism.
c. cultural relativism. d. cultural leveling.
72. One major characteristic of the periphery is:
a. a colonial heritage.
b. economies formerly based on socialism.
c. postindustrial economies based mainly on services.
d. most powerful nations economically, politically and militarily.
73. Race is:
a. determined on the basis of skin color in all societies.
b. a social and cultural category based on shared social definitions, perceptions,
and beliefs.
c. people who perceive themselves and are perceived by others as sharing
distinctive cultural traits such as language, religion, family customs, and food preferences.
d. people singled out for unequal treatment and who regard themselves as objects
of collective discrimination.
74. Jane is a freshman at WMU. She believes that, in order to be attractive to
men, she needs to be thin like the models in the fashion magazines and on t.v. In
order to look like that, she limits herself to one small meal a day, spends at
least two hours a day exercising, and constantly weighs herself to make sure that
she is not gaining weight. This is an example of all of the following EXCEPT:
a. anorexia.
b. sex.
c. gender.
d. how social definitions in our culture about what is appropriate for men and
women shape our behavior.
75. Susan has a master's degree in business administration and earns about $90,000
per year as a vice president at a large computer services company in Chicago. In
the U.S. class structure, Susan is a member of the ________ class.
a. lower middle
b. working
c. upper middle
d. capitalist
76. The social characteristics that a society considers proper for its males and
females are called:
a. gender stereotypes. b. sex.
c. gender. d. cultural ideals.
77. One main cause of imperialism and neocolonialism is:
a. the need for core nations to get access to natural resources from other parts
of the world.
b. the rapid growth of peripheral cities makes them ideal locations for colonization.
c. globalization.
d. the collapse of socialism in the Second World.
78. British Petroleum, an oil company headquartered in England, has bought
Standard Oil of Ohio, Amoco, and Arco, three American oil companies, during the
past decade, creating the world's largest oil company. British Petroleum now
explores for and extracts oil from more than a dozen different countries around
the world and competes with other large oil companies around the world. This is an
example of:
a. socialism. b. globalization.
c. colonization. d. imperialism.
79. Sam dropped out of high school in the tenth grade, works part time in a
grocery store as a stockboy, and earns about $10,000 per year. In the U.S. class
structure, Sam is a member of the:
a. working class. b. working poor.
c. underclass. d. middle class.
80. Companies based in the core that operate in many countries around the world
are called _______ Corporations.
a. Fortune 500 b. Transnational c. Global d. Imperial
81. The fact that most clothing sold in the U.S. is made in countries such as
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Mexico, and China is an example of the concept of:
a. internationalization. b. transnationalization.
c. immigration. d. globalization.
82. Zambia, a nation in central Africa, has an economy based on copper mining for
export and is one of the poorest nations in the world; these characteristics mean
that Zambia would be considered:
a. a core nation. b. a Second World nation.
c. a Newly Industrializing Country. d. a peripheral nation.
83. Men's and women's unequal access to power, prestige, and property on the basis
of their gender is called:
a. social class. b. gender class.
c. sex stratification. d. gender stratification.
84. The alteration of culture and societies over time is called social:
a. revolution. b. change. c. modernization. d. restructuring.
85. The process in which one nation takes over another nation, usually to exploit
its labor and natural resources, is called:
a. neocolonialism. b. globalization.
c. colonization. d. ethnic cleansing.
86. State ownership of the means of production and state planning of production
and distribution are characteristics of:
a. capitalism. b. socialism.
c. newly industrializing countries. d. core nations.
87. People who perceive themselves and are perceived by others as sharing
distinctive cultural traits such as language, religion, family customs, and food
preferences are a(n):
a. ethnic group. b. race. c. cultural group. d. minority group.
88. ________ are the biological characteristics that distinguish females and males.
a. Gender b. Sex c. Waifs d. Stereotypes
89. Gender is an important social fact for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
a. there are very different social roles for each gender.
b. the most important biologically based differences between men and women are
related to strength and speed.
c. traits defined as masculine are more highly valued than those defined as feminine.
d. we learn gender roles and values during socialization.
90. Race and ethnicity are important social facts because:
a. biologically based racial differences divide every society.
b. cultural diversity is a fact of life in every nation.
c. global migration is bringing an end to prejudice and discrimination.
d. societies are becoming increasingly homogeneous.
91. When studying race, scientists have found all of the following EXCEPT:
a. there is no scientifically valid biological definition of race.
b. thousands of years of migration and intermarriage have mixed the gene pool.
c. race is a social and cultural category based on shared social definitions,
perceptions and beliefs.
d. in all societies, social definitions of race are based mainly on skin color.
92. Samantha is a lawyer with a major law firm in Kansas City and earns $95,000
per year. In the U.S. class structure, Samantha is a member of the:
a. upper middle class. b. lower middle class.
c. capitalist class. d. working class.
93. Peru has been an independent nation since the early 1800s, when it won its
independence from Spain. However, most of the large industries in Peru are owned
by foreign companies, most Peruvians are poor, and the nation is classified as
part of the Third World. This is an example of all of the following EXCEPT:
a. neocolonialism.
b. the results of socialism.
c. the role of transnational corporations.
d. the lack of alternatives to foreign companies as a source of jobs.
94. Japan and Germany were defeated in World War II and their economies were
almost completely destroyed, but over the last fifty years they have developed
market economies with large industrial and service sectors and are two of the
wealthiest nations in the world. Japan and Germany are examples of:
a. newly industrializing nations. b. Second World nations.
c. core nations. d. peripheral nations.
95. England conquered India during the 1700s in order to get supplies of cotton
for English factories and to have a market for English industrial products such as
clothing. This is an example of:
a. imperialism. b. globalization.
c. neocolonialism. d. transnationalization
THE AMAZON
96. During the Amazon Rubber Boom, Antonio bought 1,000 square miles of land with
many rubber trees, built a network of trading stations, and invested in a fleet of
boats to move supplies and rubber tappers into the area and the rubber out to the
market in Belem. Antonio recruited unemployed agricultural workers from
Northeastern Brazil to work as rubber tappers on his plantation, loaned them the
money for supplies, and collected the rubber at his network of trading stations at
the river junctions on his plantation. When his rubber tappers failed to earn
enough money from selling rubber to pay off their debts to him, he ordered them to
keep working for him until they could pay their debts. Those who refused to keep
working for him and tried to leave were killed by Antonio's gunmen. However, when
rubber prices crashed in the 1910s, Antonio's business collapsed and he went
bankrupt because no one wanted to buy rubber plantations or boats in the Amazon
because they were worthless. This is an example of all of the following EXCEPT:
a. debt peonage.
b. the shortage of labor in the Amazon during the Rubber Boom.
c. the sunk and inflexible nature of investment in rubber.
d. the inevitability of the bust after decades of boom in the rubber business in
the Amazon.
97. European conquest and exploitation of the Amazon resulted in:
a. political control being maintained by building an extensive network of roads to
conquer and supervise the indigenous peoples.
b. the indigenous population declined rapidly.
c. the Jesuit missionaries exploited the indigenous peoples to make profits to
send home to Europe.
d. manatees and other large river mammals increased in number because the European
conquest forced the indigenous peoples to retreat deeper in the forest and stop
using the rivers' resources so heavily.
98. The rubber boom collapsed because:
a. American scientists stole rubber seeds and established rubber plantations in
the southern U.S.
b. dependence on natural rubber from Brazil limited economic growth in the core.
c. overexploitation of rubber trees led to the destruction of the trees, the
natural basis on which the industry depended.
d. river transport was unable to move enough rubber out of the Amazon fast enough
to satisfy demand in the core.
99. The military government in Brazil:
a. implemented a socialist development strategy.
b. implemented a communist development strategy.
c. supported a Pan-Latin Americanist development strategy.
d. supported U.S. Cold War anti-communist efforts.
100. Early studies of the potential for the cattle industry in the Amazon in the 1960s concluded that:
a. cattle ranching would require large amounts of skilled labor.
b. cattle ranching would require large amounts of unskilled labor.
c. cattle ranching would be environmentally sustainable.
d. cattle could be easily exported using the region's large rivers.
101. Building roads in the Amazon:
a. is the single largest cause of deforestation.
b. is easy to do because the region is relatively flat, meaning that roads do not need to climb over high mountains.
c. disrupts natural water flows.
d. needs few bridges, since the region's rivers are small.
102. When Europeans first arrived in the Amazon,
a. they found many large indigenous peoples' villages with several thousand
residents in each village.
b. the indigenous people lived in harmony with the environment and did not alter
the local ecosystems.
c. the indigenous people lived in small bands of hunters and gatherers in the forest.
d. the Inca Empire based in Peru controlled the Amazon's indigenous peoples.
103. Large numbers of workers were required in the Amazon during the Rubber Boom
because of all of the following EXCEPT:
a. the wide dispersion of trees throughout the forest.
b. the need to maintain trails between trees.
c. the need to extract rubber quickly from each tree to meet the rapidly growing
demand in the core.
d. the need to extract rubber slowly from each tree to protect the health of the
tree.
104. The Amazon Rubber Boom was caused by:
a. a decrease in the indigenous population that made rubber trees available to
transnational companies that produced tires and automobiles.
b. an increase in the indigenous population that made more workers available to
gather rubber from wild rubber trees.
c. technological and economic changes in the core.
d. the successful development by the British of rubber plantations in the Amazon
that were resistant to pests.
105. One reason why the Amazon may never develop the way the U.S. frontier did is:
a. indigenous peoples are an obstacle to development.
b. high transport costs.
c. dams in the Amazon cannot produce enough electricity to supply demand from growing numbers of factories.
d. lack of services for the upper class.
106. Vegetation in the Amazon has:
a. a high degree of species diversity.
b. marked seasonality.
c. most of its roots deep in the soil to support the massive weight of the huge
trees in the region.
d. a high concentration of members of one species per acre.
107. Most of the Amazon (the area that is now part of Brazil) was conquered by the
_________ empire.
a. Portuguese b. British c. Spanish d. French
108. The military government in Brazil:
a. implemented a socialist development strategy.
b. implemented a communist development strategy.
c. supported a Pan-Latin Americanist development strategy.
d. supported U.S. Cold War anti-communist efforts.
109. The most important cause of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is:
a. cattle ranching. b. road building.
c. mining. d. the timber industry.
110. ___________ are land owned by the Brazilian government that is used by
caboclos and settlers for extraction at sustainable rates.
a. Growth poles b. National forests
c. Extractive reserves d. Garimpeiros
111. In the Brazilian Amazon, animals:
a. are often very large. b. compete intensely with other species for food.
c. often live in the trees. d. aggressively colonize cleared areas.
112. Mining in the Brazilian Amazon is important because:
a. the Brazilian economy has grown rapidly and needs raw materials from the Amazon for its factories.
b. the Amazon is one of the few mineral rich frontiers left to supply core industries.
c. large iron ore and bauxite mines in the region have created more than one million jobs in the region.
d. export earnings from mining allowed the Brazilian military government to pay for wars against neighboring countries to protect the borders of the region from regional rivals.
113. Alberto was hired by the Brazilian government in 1970 to create a plan to develop the Brazilian Amazon. Alberto argued that the government should build highways to connect thousands of farms and cattle ranches to the cities in southern Brazil and to ports to export their products, especially cattle, to Europe, Japan and the U.S. Alberto also argued that the government should offer incentives to large mining companies from the U.S. and Japan to build mines and factories in the region using loans from the World Bank to supply raw materials to the U.S. and Japan. These plans, Alberto argued, would build a large population in the Amazon and make a large contribution to the national economy by exporting raw materials. The Brazilian government adopted Alberto's plan, and these farms, ranches, mines, and factories were built in the Amazon. This is an example of all of the following EXCEPT:
a. neocolonialism. b. national security. c. globalization. d. imperialism.
114. The most important environmental and human health threat in the Amazon today is:
a. mercury used in gold mining. b. deforestation. c. hydroelectricity. d. bauxite mining.
115. Jose is a farmer in the Brazilian Amazon. In order to be successful as a farmer in the Amazon, Jose should take into account all of the following natural characteristics of the Amazon in choosing the location for his farm and in operating his farm EXCEPT:
a. soils along the riverbanks are very fertile. b. nutrients are concentrated in the soil.
c. rapid plant growth. d. year round warmth allows the proliferation of pests.
116. The Brazilian military government emphasized building roads in the Amazon because:
a. roads were essential to Midwest-style agricultural development.
b. roads were essential to allow mining companies to explore for minerals in the region.
c. roads were essential to allow mining companies to export their products from the region.
d. roads were essential to allow the Brazilian military to fight communism in the region.
117. The cattle industry in the Brazilian Amazon:
a. was very profitable. b. initially appeared cheap and ecologically easy to do.
c. used river transportation. d. required a large amount of labor, creating jobs for unemployed rubber workers.
118. The Rubber Boom in the Brazilian Amazon ended because:
a. a proliferation of pests killed a large part of the rubber trees in the region.
b. rubber barons extracted rubber too quickly from the rubber trees, leading to the death of many of the region's trees.
c. the British government stole rubber tree seeds.
d. Charles Goodyear developed synthetic rubber in the U.S.
119. Before the arrival of Europeans in the Brazilian Amazon, the indigenous peoples:
a. mostly lived in large villages. b. mostly lived in small family groups in the rainforest.
c. built roads to travel through the rainforest. d. relied on hunting large grazing animals in the rainforest.
120. The Kayapo Indians opposed dam building in the Brazilian Amazon by:
a. taking a gold mining town hostage and using royalties from gold mining to protect their lands.
b. selling rubber from their lands to raise money to protect their lands.
c. selling Brazil nuts from their lands to raise money to protect their lands.
d. building a casino and using the revenues from tourists to protect their lands.
121. Investments in the rubber industry during the Rubber Boom were all of the following EXCEPT:
a. sunk. b. inflexible. c. highly profitable. d. mainly made by TNCs.
122. Ernesto was a rubber baron in the Brazilian Amazon in the late 1800s. In order to be successful, one strategy that Ernesto should use to ensure the profitability of his operation is:
a. enslaving Indians with the help of the Marquis de Pombal.
b. build roads through the rainforest to ensure the quickest, lowest cost transport of his rubber to port for shipment to Great Britain.
c. use debt peonage to control workers.
d. plant rubber trees on his plantation in rows to increase the efficiency of rubber production, following the model of Henry Ford's plantation.
ANSWER KEY
1. b
2. a
3. b
4. d
5. a
6. a
7. d
8. d
9. a
10. d
11. b
12. c
13. b
14. d
15. c
16. a
17. c
18. b
19. b
20. c
21. d
22. d
23. b
24. b
25. c
26. a
27. a
28. b
29. a
30. a
31. d
32. a
33. d
34. c
35. b
36. c
37. b
38. a
39. b
40. c
41. d
42. b
43. a
44. b
45. b
46. d
47. c
48. b
49. c
50. a
51. b
52. b
53. a
54. d
55. b
56. d
57. b
58. c
59. d
60. c
61. b
62. d
63. c
64. d
65. a
66. a
67. d
68. b
69. a
70. a
71. a
72. a
73. b
74. b
75. c
76. c
77. a
78. b
79. c
80. b
81. d
82. d
83. d
84. b
85. c
86. b
87. a
88. b
89. b
90. b
91. d
92. a
93. b
94. c
95. a
96. d
97. b
98. b
99. d
100. c
101. c
102. a
103. c
104. c
105. b
106. a
107. a
108. d
109. a
110. c
111. c
112. b
113. d
114. a
115. b
116. a
117. b
118. c
119. a
120. a
121. d
122. c