Quiz created: 121013

Vocabulary Quiz 23

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. “As much as many well-meaning Asian Americans try to banish the character, Charlie Chan the Chinaman is here to stay. He is an American folk hero in the same tradition of Paul Bunyan (that scourge of environmentalism), or more complicated, nuanced characters such as Nigger Jim and Huck Finn, without whom American literature would be PENURIOUS.” (Huang, Yunte 2010 Charlie Chan. New York: Norton. P. 286) When a tradition is “penurious,” it is
vacuous 
offensive 
politically correct 
intellectually shallow 
impoverished 
No Answer
2. “Just as guilt was heritable under the feudal [Korean] Chosun dynasty, so the Kim régime [today] divides the population into hereditary classes of the ‘loyal’, ‘wavering’, and ‘hostile’. The GULAG is filled with the third kind, people perceived to be Christian or from the wrong background, or thought to have insulted the honour of the Kim dynasty.” (The Economist, 120421, p. 20.) A “gulag” is a
place of imprisonment or exile for political prisoners 
census category 
central archive where records of criminal activity are kept 
public cemetery 
wax museum with representations of famous criminals and the punishments due to them 
No Answer
3. “Last year [the Chamber of Commerce of the USA] paid a team led by Michael Mukasey, a former United States attorney-general, $180,000 to call for amendments to DECLAW the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.” (The Economist, 120421, p. 77.) When something is “declawed” it is
revised 
enforced 
broadened 
removed 
rendered ineffective 
No Answer
4. “[The Chamber of Commerce of the USA] can be particularly harsh on Democrats it dislikes, sometimes overstepping the mark: $2m-worth of TV spots upbraiding Sherrod Brown for backing higher taxes used an apparently doctored picture showing the Ohio senator with a stubbly beard that made him look DODGY.” (The Economist, 120421, p. 78.) A person who looks “dodgy” seems to be
tired 
grouchy 
untrustworthy 
on vacation 
stupid 
No Answer
5. “Actually, this perfect Rorschach test of a report lets both Democrats and Republicans see whatever they want to see. Those looking for a positive spin can point to the fact that the economy is still adding jobs; pessimists can cite stagnant wages and the chronic problem of long-term unemployment. In a sense, they’re both right, since these figures show the jobs picture getting neither better nor worse.” (The Week, 120518 p. 3) A Rorschach test presents the person tested with
a report of rate of blood flow in the coronary arteries 
ambiguous images for interpretation 
difficult statistical problems to be solved 
a crucial policy decision to be considered 
a score used in college admissions 
No Answer
6. “West Virginia (like most of the rest of APPALACHIA) is older, whiter, less educated, more religious, and more rural than most of America, attributes that correlate with voting Republican.” (The Economist, 120707, p. 35.) “Appalachia” refers to
mountainous parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina 
evangelical Protestantism 
the collectivity of States where Republicans hold both governorships and legislative majorities 
the collectivity of states that Mr. Obama lost to Mr. McCain in the election of 2008 
No Answer
7. “Mr Harper has acquired a reputation for playing fast and loose with the rules. He twice PROROGUED [the Canadian] Parliament, once to avoid a censure vote and then apparently to duck embarrassing questions from a parliamentary committee.” (The Economist, 120707, p. 38.) A prime minister who "prorogues" parliament
avoids its sessions 
deceives it 
seeks to "stack" it with people of the MP's own party 
temporarily suspends it 
calls it into session at a deliberately awkward time when members are likely not to attend 
No Answer
8. “Facebook’s success depends on the Internet becoming a more profitable advertising platform than traditional media are, and that’s turning out to be one of the great business FALLACIES of our time.” (The Week, 120601 p. 34, edited) A “fallacy”
a truism 
a discovery 
a prediction 
incorrect reasoning 
an opportunity 
No Answer
9. “By May, Fox News, showing a PROTEAN ability to blame the president for everything, was already calling the drop in petrol prices a sign of the president’s weak economy.” (The Economist, 120630, p. 32) Something which is “protean”
is very basic 
can readily change shape 
is free of excess fat 
happens before drinking tea 
is ingenious 
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.