Mary and her family owned a house in the suburbs with two cars and sent their kids to
private school. After she and her husband both lost their jobs they experienced
__________ and now live in a two-bedroom apartment and rely on public
transportation to get to and from their part-time work.
A) homelessness
B) a windfall
C) life chances
D) downward mobility
Julia is Hispanic and her family is poor. When a local reporter came to visit her school,
she was appalled at the learning conditions and ended up reading the sociological
research which shows that poor children are __________ the children of the affluent to
attend schools with poor resources.
A) more likely than
B) less likely than
C) more inclined
D) not as inclined
The U.S. federal government largely defines disability from the __________ model.
A) social
B) paramedical
C) paralegal
D) individual
Unemployment and financial instability put __________ at risk of abuse.
A) parents
B) women
C) men
D) children
A family is __________.
A) a construct of meanings and relationships
B) any collection of people
C) a group that lives in the same home
D) a relatively modern social institution
Relying too heavily on a person-blame approach to social problems is a problem
because __________.
A) it legitimizes the right to initiate system-change rather than person-change
B) societal conditions (such as norms that are racist, sexist, or homophobic) go
unchallenged
C) it directs blame at the system and away from the individuals
D) it absolves individuals from responsibility for their actions
The authors assert that exclusively focusing on the individual when studying social
problems __________.
A) overlooks deviations from society’s norms as potential problems
B) takes an overly deterministic view of social problems
C) ignores the strains that are caused by the inequities of the system
D) treats social problems as being the product of systematic inequity
As a result of extensive and universal social services, the social welfare states have
__________ than the United States.
A) higher infant mortality rates
B) lower literacy rates
C) lower rates of violent crime
D) higher rates of violent crime
In contrast to socialism, capitalism is characterized by __________.
A) autocratic rule
B) free market competition
C) centralized government
D) state ownership of corporations
__________ refers to the way that heterosexuality is glorified while homosexuality is
stigmatized in the United States.
A) Compulsory heterosexuality
B) Mandatory homosexuality
C) Mandatory sexual orientation
D) Compulsory homosexuality
The most significant factor determining access to mortgage credit is __________.
A) the gender of the applicant
B) the bank account balance of the applicant
C) the race of the applicant
D) whether the applicant has a car
Many in the United States support continued military spending based at least in part by
the idea that our vast military superiority discourages our enemies from attacking. This
is known as __________.
A) the Bush doctrine
B) the Cold War
C) peace through strength
D) a conflict of interest
According to the text, which of the following is a means through which power can be
wielded?
A) Consensus
B) Cooperation
C) Democracy
D) Persuasion
The United States and its allies__________.
A) make sure to spend twice as much as “rogue states” on defense
B) account for about 80 percent of all military spending in the world
C) have significantly reduced spending since the end of the Cold War
D) spend about the same as Russia does on defense
Political conservatives stand for __________.
A) a larger safety net
B) incentives to work
C) increased size of government
D) progressive social policy
Mark works in a large, bureaucratic organization with stable production and sales. It is
likely that Mark works in the __________.
A) primary sector
B) secondary sector
C) dual sector
D) segmented sector
Laws against moral issues such as pornography, drug use, and gambling illustrate
__________ as the powerful try to coerce others into accepting dominant morals.
A) the political nature of law creation
B) the lack of accountability for corporations
C) how rare political crimes really are
D) the violence inherent in the justice system
Which of the following is a major source of water pollution?
A) Wild animals
B) Naturally grown fish
C) Industries
D) Vehicles
Jeremy consistently exceeds the speed limit by two or three miles per hour when he
drives. His actions are breaking the law and they are __________ considered deviant.
A) never
B) always
C) sometimes
D) most of the time
The sharing of knowledge by members of a society exists in a(n) __________.
A) environmental justice league
B) biosphere
C) culture
D) ecosystem
The recent decisions by the U.S. federal government to spend more money on the War
on Drugs illustrates which approach to drug policy described in the text?
A) Regulation of trade or use through licensing and taxation
B) A public health approach focusing on decriminalization
C) Addressing the social causes of drug use
D) Enacting and enforcing criminal laws
The fact that two-thirds of new HIV infections occur among Black women illustrates
__________.
A) that Black women do not care about their long-term health
B) the intersection of race, class, and gender with HIV
C) the lack of public awareness about HIV
D) that White people are less genetically susceptible to HIV infection
Some people disagree with a strong centralized government and vote for moving all
things down to the state level; historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., points out that
__________ has historically been more progressive. .
A) a plutocracy
B) centralized government
C) international governance
D) a system of anarchy
The policy of planned obsolescence by many U.S. companies accomplishes the goal of
consumption, but it __________.
A) is not valued by American culture
B) does not allow for the mass production of goods
C) offers little in the development of materialism
D) overlooks the problems of disposal
A business operation that seeks profit by supplying illegal goods and services refers to
__________.
A) racial profiling
B) recidivism
C) organized crime
D) political crime
The program that provides a heroin substitute to addicts under medical supervision is
called __________.
A) decriminalization of drugs
B) the politics of drugs
C) methadone maintenance
D) the social construction of drugs
Bill is attracted to people of the same sex. Bill is _________.
A) homosexual
B) heterosexual
C) bisexual
D) asexual
The new poor __________.
A) have it easier than the old poor
B) have it harder than the old poor
C) have the same chance as the old poor of breaking out of poverty
D) have a greater likelihood of breaking out of poverty
Geoffrey is a paraplegic. His disability sets him apart and he often feels the
__________ of being devalued and disgraced.
A) stigma
B) matrix of domination
C) master status
D) social movement
In 2007, over __________ California schools were identified as “chronic failures.”
A) 1,000
B) 2,000
C) 3,000
D) 4,000
Individuals in the civil rights movement worked together toward racial equality by
__________.
A) pursuing legal actions that would attack private businesses with arson
B) organizing economic boycotts to change discriminatory practices
C) practicing violent disruptions of everyday activities to gain attention to their cause
D) staging mass kidnappings and holding people for ransom to raise funds
The belief and practice that enforces heterosexual behavior as normal while
stigmatizing other forms of sexual expression, known as compulsory _________, is the
dominant mode of sexual expression in the United States.
A) heterosexuality
B) homosexuality
C) homophobia
D) asexuality
One of the main social forces that profoundly disturbs the earth’s ecosystem is
__________.
A) the increase in human population
B) the astronomical anomalies in the last decade
C) the growing of food in greenhouses
D) the decrease in economic growth