 |
1 | |
America's economic prosperity in the 1950s was fueled by: |
| | A) | increased public funding of schools, housing, veterans' benefits, welfare, and interstate highways. |
| | B) | massive cold-war-inspired military spending. |
| | C) | the "baby boom" and rapid expansion of the suburbs. |
| | D) | all of the above. |
| | E) | none of the above. |
|
|
2 | |
Prosperity helped many Americans to ignore which of the following pressing issues during this period? |
| | A) | The 20 percent of Americans who lived in poverty in the 1950s. |
| | B) | The discrimination suffered by minorities. |
| | C) | The discontent of many American women in their traditional roles. |
| | D) | All of the above. |
| | E) | None of the above. |
|
|
3 | |
Which portion of the nation grew most rapidly during the late 1940s and 1950s? |
| | A) | Northeast |
| | B) | Southeast |
| | C) | Midwest/Great Plains |
| | D) | West |
|
|
4 | |
According to the principles of Keynesian economics, which of the following tactics should government employ to combat recession? |
| | A) | Reduce interest rates. |
| | B) | Cut the federal budget. |
| | C) | Raise taxes. |
| | D) | All of the above. |
|
|
5 | |
Keynesian economics seemed to offer government the proper theories to eliminate forever the problems of: |
| | A) | maldistributed wealth. |
| | B) | trade deficits. |
| | C) | financial injustice. |
| | D) | economic instability. |
|
|
6 | |
The prosperity of the 1950s was accompanied by: |
| | A) | a decrease in government spending. |
| | B) | corporate mergers and the formation of conglomerates. |
| | C) | equitable distribution of corporate profits. |
| | D) | the survival and renewal of the family farm. |
|
|
7 | |
All of the following trends marked the American labor movement of the 1950s except: |
| | A) | merger of the AFL and CIO to create the giant federation, the AFL-CIO. |
| | B) | fairly stable membership numbers. |
| | C) | greater success in organizing new workers than in winning benefits for workers already organized in strong unions. |
| | D) | signs of corruption and indifference among some labor leaders as the unions themselves became wealthy, powerful bureaucracies. |
|
|
8 | |
The "consensus" thesis promulgated by leading historians and other intellectuals of the 1950s argued that American history had been characterized by a(n): |
| | A) | fundamental and basic conflict between the haves and have-nots. |
| | B) | broad general agreement about the value of market capitalism. |
| | C) | understanding that a middle ground emerged from the sharp clash of competing fringe ideologies. |
| | D) | shared belief in the ultimate goal of collectivism. |
|
|
9 | |
According to many social observers, American culture in the 1950s seemed dominated by a(n): |
| | A) | restless search by individuals for identity and purpose. |
| | B) | quest for economic political justice within the United States. |
| | C) | absorption with consumer goods by a growing middle class. |
| | D) | isolationist desire to avoid international affairs or commitments. |
|
|
10 | |
In contrast to that of the central cities, life in suburbia became attractive to many American families in the 1950s because the suburbs seemed to provide: |
| | A) | variety and excitement in lifestyles and entertainment. |
| | B) | racial integration in neighborhoods and schools. |
| | C) | greater opportunities for cultural and educational advancement. |
| | D) | larger, safer, and more private homes. |
|
|
11 | |
Between 1950 and 1980: |
| | A) | both the population of the U.S. and the number of automobiles on the nation's roads doubled. |
| | B) | The American population remained static, while the number of cars on the nation's roads doubled. |
| | C) | The U.S. population grew by 50% and the number of cars on the nation's roads quadrupled. |
| | D) | The U.S. population grew by 50% and the number of cars on the nation's roads grew by ten times. |
|
|
12 | |
According to the widely respected child-care expert of the late 1940s and 1950s, Dr. Benjamin Spock, mothers should: |
| | A) | fulfill their career and professional goals. |
| | B) | subordinate their activities and interests to the needs of their children. |
| | C) | share the role of parenting equally with the fathers. |
| | D) | work to supplement the family income. |
|
|
13 | |
According to the text, during the 1950s, television: |
| | A) | affected only a small percentage of the total population. |
| | B) | encouraged independent value formation among members of the white middle class. |
| | C) | heightened the sense of alienation and powerlessness among minority groups. |
| | D) | failed to attract significant interest from commercial advertisers. |
|
|
14 | |
According to the text, the most widely revered heroes of the United States during the early 1960s were the nation's: |
| | A) | medical researchers. |
| | B) | professional athletes. |
| | C) | astronauts. |
| | D) | industrial tycoons. |
|
|
15 | |
The United States accomplished which of the following feats before the Soviet Union did? |
| | A) | launching of a satellite into outer space |
| | B) | sending a manned flight into outer space |
| | C) | landing a man on the surface of the moon |
| | D) | none of the above |
| | E) | all of the above. |
|
|
16 | |
What was the most popular television show of the 1950s? |
| | A) | I Love Lucy. |
| | B) | Father Knows Best. |
| | C) | Leave it to Beaver. |
| | D) | The Ed Sullivan Show. |
|
|
17 | |
Three of the following statements accurately describe the American economic and demographic conditions in the 1950s. Which is the exception? |
| | A) | The rate of population growth declined. |
| | B) | There was a continual annual growth in GNP. |
| | C) | Unemployment was a tolerable 5 percent or less. |
| | D) | Inflation was in the range of a modest 3 percent per year. |
|
|
18 | |
Critics of the increasing influence of organized society argued that these changes: |
| | A) | drained Americans of self-reliance. |
| | B) | made Americans more focused on their own values and less on the concerns of society. |
| | C) | allowed only men to find fulfillment in American society. |
| | D) | focused too much on the needs of the youth culture. |
|
|
19 | |
Both the beats and rock 'n' roll: |
| | A) | fought for more racial inclusion in American society. |
| | B) | came predominantly from the thriving new cultural centers on the West Coast. |
| | C) | tried to resist the conformity of American culture in the 1950s. |
| | D) | became the basis of the youth rebellion movement of the 1950s. |
|
|
20 | |
When the governor of Arkansas and, later, an angry mob of citizens attempted to prevent the court-ordered racial integration of a high school in Little Rock, President Eisenhower responded by: |
| | A) | ordering the governor to be arrested. |
| | B) | negotiating a settlement that delayed local integration for a three-year "cooling-off" period. |
| | C) | sending federal troops to uphold the court order. |
| | D) | refusing to involve the federal government in what he considered to be strictly a state matter. |
|
|
21 | |
The Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott was significant in establishing a new form of racial protest and in elevating which black leader to prominence as a new leader in the civil rights movement? |
| | A) | Malcolm X |
| | B) | H. Rap Brown |
| | C) | Stokely Carmichael |
| | D) | Martin Luther King, Jr. |
|
|
22 | |
The black man who broke the race barrier in major league baseball was: |
| | A) | Henry Aaron. |
| | B) | Roy Campanella. |
| | C) | Willie Mays. |
| | D) | Jackie Robinson. |
|
|
23 | |
Joseph McCarthy's influence in the nation waned quickly mainly as a consequence of: |
| | A) | the Oppenheimer case. |
| | B) | his expulsion from the Senate. |
| | C) | the reports that he was an alcoholic. |
| | D) | his behavior in the Army-McCarthy hearings. |
|
|
24 | |
The expression "more bang for a buck" was related to Secretary of State John Foster Dulles's announced policy of: |
| | A) | liberation. |
| | B) | containment. |
| | C) | mutual security. |
| | D) | massive retaliation. |
|
|
25 | |
In his farewell address in January 1961, Eisenhower warned the American people against: |
| | A) | the rise of military pacifism. |
| | B) | the tendency to hysterical anticommunism. |
| | C) | the risk of creeping socialism. |
| | D) | the influence of the military-industrial complex. |
|