Date CHAPTER 34 Form B CHAPTER TEST The United States in Today s World Part 1: Main Ideas Write the letter of the answer that best completes each sentence. (4 points each) 1. In the election of 2000, Al Gore first conceded defeat based on predictions made by a. the governor of Florida. c. the Supreme Court. b. television networks. d. George W. Bush. 2. One result of the global economy is that a. American workers now compete for jobs with workers in other countries. b. trade between the United States and other countries has decreased. c. prices on imported goods have risen steeply. d. environmental laws in other countries are becoming stricter. 3. In 1994, Proposition 187 was passed in California to a. keep illegal immigrants from taking jobs from residents. b. prevent illegal immigrants from entering the state. c. cut off education and health benefits to illegal immigrants. d. improve economic opportunities for both legal and illegal immigrants. 4. Urban flight has led to all of the following except a. a declining economic base in cities. c. higher taxes on homes in the suburbs. b. fewer downtown shopping districts. d. better schools in inner cities. 5. Bill Clinton became the second president in U.S. history to be a. elected without a popular majority. c. reelected to a third term. b. impeached by the House. d. denounced by the Republican Party. 6. The aging of America s population will strain the government s ability to a. control unemployment. c. pay Social Security benefits. b. provide services to children. d. prevent crime and terrorism. 7. Many workers felt less secure in the 1990s because a. strikes by unions were becoming common. b. many companies were downsizing. c. many companies were declaring bankruptcy. d. robots were making workplaces unsafe. 8. New high-tech businesses based on the growth of the Internet are called a. nanobots. c. dotcoms. b. genomes. d. V-chips. 9. One hoped-for benefit of genetic engineering is the ability to a. prevent inherited diseases. c. end the AIDS epidemic. b. create visual models on computers. d. perform long-distance surgery. The United States in Today s World 605
10. Soon after being elected, President George W. Bush pushed for a. lower tariffs. c. expanding Social Security. b. tax cuts. d. reducing the budget deficit. Part 2: Map Skills The map below is a cartogram, a drawing that presents statistical data in map form. Cartograms are useful for making rough comparisons quickly. Use the map to complete this section. Write the letter of the best answer. (2 points each) 11. According to this map, which of the following states has a population closest in size to Alaska s? a. Minnesota c. Rhode Island b. New Jersey d. Georgia 12. Which of the following are roughly equal in population? a. Hawaii and the District of Columbia c. Ohio and Indiana b. New York and New Jersey d. Minnesota and Arkansas 13. Only seven states send more than twenty representatives to Congress. Which of the following is one of those seven states? a. Iowa c. New York b. Georgia d. Missouri 14. On this map, in which region do the states appear most distorted larger or smaller than their actual land areas would appear? a. the Northeast c. the South b. the Midwest d. the Northwest The States in Proportion to Their Populations, 2000 ME AK HI CA WA OR NV AZ UT ND MT ID WY CO NM NE MN SD KS OK TX IA MO AR LA WI IL MI IN TN MI KY MS AL GA OH WV FL SC DC VA NC PA MD NY VT NH MA RI CT NJ DE 606 Unit 9, Chapter 34
15. Of the following, which information does the map reveal? a. the relative number of House members from each state b. the relative number of Senators from each state c. the relative number of immigrants in each state d. the relative number of businesses in each state Use the map on page 606 to answer the following questions in complete sentences. Write on the back of this page or on a separate sheet. (5 points each) 16. Describe the population of your own state relative to several others on the map. 17. The number of electors each state controls in the Electoral College is equal to the number of representatives the state sends to Congress. Based on this map, which state would likely have the greatest number of electoral votes in a presidential election? Explain. Part 3: Document-Based Questions Historical Context: Throughout U.S. history, close elections have stirred debate about the Electoral College system, which allows a presidential candidate to win an election even while losing the popular vote. The election of 2000 between George W. Bush and Al Gore again brought the Electoral College to the nation s attention. Study each document carefully and answer the question about it. (4 points each) Document 1 If only the popular vote counted, candidates would obviously concentrate their campaigning on the places with the most people. Democratic New York City... would love it. So would big-state candidates.... But the Electoral College protects minorities like farmers in smaller states and forces candidates to pay attention to African-Americans, Hispanics, Jews and union workers who form a much larger proportion of the electorate in large states than they do nationally. Jews, for instance, cast 14 percent of New York State s votes last week, but only 4 percent of the national vote. They are always courted by national candidates because they can influence who gets the state s electoral votes. Why would those same candidates appeal to New York s blacks and Jews, or California s Latinos, or Chicago s blacks, if they didn t need these votes as much as they do now? The Electoral College, by distorting the influence of minority groups, protects their interests. That is an argument either for or against the Electoral College, depending on your politics and where you live. Same for the small-state argument: the Electoral College greatly exaggerates the influence of states with small populations. For example, South Dakota s 310,000 voters on Tuesday earned Mr. Bush 3 electoral votes; New York s 6.2 million 20 times as many people resulted in only 11 times as many electors for Mr. Gore (33). You could contend that small states shouldn t have that much influence, and that minority voters shouldn t either. Then, however, you are supporting a drastic change in the nature of American politics. from Cart Before Horse Trading Just Won t Do by Joyce Purnick, New York Times, November 13, 2000 The United States in Today s World 607
18. According to Joyce Purnick s article, how does the Electoral College force presidential candidates to consider the interests of minority voters? Document 2 In 1787, as the Constitution was being drafted in Philadelphia, James Wilson of Pennsylvania proposed direct election of the president. But James Madison of Virginia worried that such a system would hurt the South, which would have been outnumbered by the North in a direct election system. The creation of the Electoral College got around that: it was part of the deal that Southern states, in computing their share of electoral votes, could count slaves (albeit with a two-fifths discount), who of course were given none of the privileges of citizenship. Virginia emerged as the big winner, with more than a quarter of the electors needed to elect the president. A free state like Pennsylvania got fewer electoral votes even though it had approximately the same free population.... Now fast-forward to Election Night 2000. Al Gore appears to have received the most popular votes nationwide but may well lose the contest for electoral votes. Once again, the system has tilted toward white Southern males. Exit polls indicate that Mr. Bush won big among this group and that Mr. Gore won decisively among blacks and women. The Electoral College began as an unfair system, and remains so. So why keep it? Advocates of the system sloganeer about federalism, meaning that presidential candidates are forced to take into account individual state interests and regional variations in their national campaigns. But in the current system, candidates don t appeal so much to state interests (what are those, anyway?) as to demographic groups (elderly voters, soccer moms) within states. And direct popular elections would still encourage candidates to take into account regional differences, like those between the Midwest and the East. After all, one cannot win a national majority without getting lots of votes in lots of places. from The Electoral College, Unfair From Day One by Akhil Reed Amar, New York Times, November 9, 2000 19. According to this writer, how did the election of 2000 reflect the unfairness of the Electoral College? 608 Unit 9, Chapter 34
Document 3 Each State Is Like a Game Since he first read about the controversy in Life Magazine in the 1960 s, Dr. [Alan Natapoff, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology] has been using baseball to illustrate the essential worth of the Electoral College. In the World Series, he says, the team that scores the most runs overall is like a candidate who gets the most popular votes. But to win the Series, that team needs to win the most games. After all, the Atlanta Braves in this year s Series scored more runs (26) than the New York Yankees (18), but not in the right combination to win the championship. In a game that isn t close, the probability is small that one more run (vote) for the team that is ahead will ultimately change the game s outcome, as a Republican voting for Bob Dole in heavily Republican Utah will find. In a more competitive game, however, the value of an additional run (vote) increases substantially. In a nail-biting game (a close election in a state with a lot of electoral votes) the value of each additional run (vote) is at its greatest. If California, with 54 electoral votes, is closely contested, each popular vote for either President Clinton or Mr. Dole might clinch the election. (Truman won California by 17,865 votes in 1948 out of more than 4 million cast.) A run early in the season is worth less than one in Game Six of the World Series. And in a 15-to-2 rout, the 4th home run is less important than the first. Why? Because a team can t take the extra 12 runs and shift them to the next day s game. Similarly, in the contest for electoral votes, a candidate can t take some of his overwhelming popular vote in Texas and shift it to a close race in Oregon; each race is a separate game. Otherwise, Democrats would concentrate their efforts on big Democratic states and Republicans would target big Republican states in a mad rush to pile up votes. All this doesn t mean that a large popular vote isn t important. A baseball player wants to win games, but he also wants to improve his own statistics, as a bargaining chip for contract talks or a rationale for entry into the Hall of Fame. And a candidate wants a lot of votes to claim a mandate. 20. Explain what is meant by the title Each State Is Like a Game. from Why the Election Is Like Baseball by Anthony Ramirez, New York Times, November 3, 1996 The United States in Today s World 609
21. What are some arguments in favor of and against the Electoral College system? Which argument(s) do you find most convincing? Write a brief essay in response to this question, citing examples and evidence from the three documents. You may use the back of this paper or a separate sheet for your essay. (8 points) Part 4: Extended Response Answer each of the following questions in a short essay on the back of this paper or on a separate sheet. (10 points each) 22. What technological advance of the 1990s do you think is particularly important, exciting, or interesting? Explain your choice. Think About: how we communicate how we work how we analyze and treat medical problems 23. In what ways is the American population changing? Describe these changes and discuss some effects or consequences for American society. Think About: developments in immigration the age distribution of Americans where the most people live 610 Unit 9, Chapter 34