Quiz created: 110917

Vocabulary Quiz 16

Instructions: Answer the multiple choice questions, guessing if necessary; then click on the "Process Questions" button at the end of the quiz to see your score in the adjacent message box. The program will not reveal which questions you got wrong, only how many points you have. Go back and change your answers until you get them all right. (The message box will rejoice at that point and the page will change color to show it is tickled pink.)

Points to note: (1) Questions with only one possible answer are one point each. (2) Questions with one or more possible answers (represented by check boxes) give a point for each correct answer, but also subtract a point for each wrong answer! (3) The program will not attempt to score your efforts at all if you have not tried at least half of the questions. (4) This quiz is for your own use only. No record of your progress is kept or reported to anyone.

1. “Innovation and jobs have become [popular] in Washington, D.C. Everyone … wants lots more of both, or so they say. So how come Congress and the White House have decided not merely to underfund a crucial COG in America’s innovation machine, but actually to take away the revenue it earns? And at a time when that COG, the Patent and Trademark Office, is already struggling to keep up with the growing demands upon it?” (The Economist 110507, p. 12) Although frequently used metaphorically (as here), a “cog” literally is
the part of a broken machine where the break occurred 
an animal (usually a rat) living in a poorly kept machine shop 
part of a machine that controls its speed 
an anchor bolt by which a piece of machinery is held in place when in use 
one of the teeth on a gear wheel 
No Answer
2. “Lawyers are less than 1% of American adults, but they are well represented in government. Both the president and the vice-president trained as lawyers. So did 55% of senators and 100% of Supreme Court justices. There are advantages to having a bit of legal expertise among those who write and execute the nation’s laws or ASSESS their constitutionality. But there is also a potential conflict of interest.” (The Economist 110507, p. 14) “Assessing” something means
taxing it 
evaluating it 
defending it 
getting it backwards 
elaborating it 
No Answer
3. “It seems inconceivable that parts of the Pakistani establishment were unaware that Osama bin Laden was living in their midst. You might think it also seems unbelievable that Pakistan could be so breathtaking DUPLICITOUS and take such a risk of antagonising America, its most important ally. In fact you would be wrong: high-risk DUPLICITY has long been the hallmark of Pakistani foreign policy.” (The Economist 110507, p. 44) “Duplicity” means
stupidity 
helping an enemy 
gaining a short-term advantage at the cost of long-term harm 
double-dealing 
incompetence 
No Answer
4. “In the past Mr Ahmedinejad has TRODDEN warily when it comes to Mr Khamenei. Both are conservatives. They have seldom differed on issues such as … [foreign] policies. Theirs is a battle for internal power, in both economic and political fields.” (The Economist 110507, p. 53) A person who has always “trodden” warily is probably still “treading” warily. To “tread” means to
speak 
sleep 
criticize 
scold 
step 
execute a policy 
extravagantly praise 
No Answer
5. “This makes it hard to blow the whistle on corrupt officials because the bribe-giver has also broken the law. If he complains, he risks prosecution or, more likely, being asked for another bribe by the police. In a PROVOCATIVE paper based on game theory, Mr Basu argues for the legalisation of some kinds of bribe-giving [to encourage bribe-givers to turn in officials who have demanded bribes]. “ (The Economist 110507, p. 82) An essay is “provocative” when it is
well documented 
counter-productive 
widely read 
popular 
likely to inspire thought 
No Answer
6. “In winter, storms can brew up fast and rage for days. That is one reason why Mediterranean people who make their living from the sea do not share the romantic emotions of those who splash about for fun. Indeed before the age of tourism not many LITTORAL folk learned to swim; the risk of drowning was too high.” (The Economist 110507, p. 89) The word “littoral” means
coastal 
word-for-word 
sea-going 
messy 
timid 
north-African 
the southern third of the Italian peninsula 
No Answer
7. [In an exhibit of work by Francis Alÿs] we’re being asked to replace our love of art with a vicarious appreciation of someone else’s pranks and caprices. Even so, Alÿs is more enjoyable when he’s chasing a whim than when he’s tipping toward DIDACTICISM. His paintings, for instance, beguile with surreal imagery. Not that they’re stunning, mind you.” (The Week, 110603, p. 25) When “tipping toward didacticism,” presumably the artist produces works that are “didactic,” that is,
8. “Such [polling] trends are reassuring for Democrats. Perhaps surprisingly, it is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee [a pro-Israel lobby] that has less reason to feel assured. This is because the attachment that American Jews feel to Israel is not only too weak in most cases to sway their vote. It may also be WANING.” (The Economist 110528, p. 38) When something is “waning,” it is
growing weaker 
unpopular 
annoying 
misleading 
increasing in intensity 
becoming more widespread 
No Answer
9. “The idea that some shadowy group or other is running things for their own benefit, not that of the ordinary working man, is, after all, the constant SOLACE of the unsuccessful.” (The Economist 110528, p. 89)
consolation 
complaint 
underlying problem 
misperception 
insight 
No Answer

      Points out of 9:

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This consummately cool, pedagogically compelling, self-correcting,
multiple-choice quiz was produced automatically from
a simple text file of questions using D.K. Jordan's
dubiously original, but publicly accessible
Think Again Quiz Maker
of April 25, 2010.