BLTS-10e Practice Quiz
Chapter 4: Torts and Cyber Torts
1. The basic purpose of tort law is to:
a. provide remedies for the invasion of protected interests.
b. punish criminal wrongdoers.
c. ensure that Congress does not overstep its legal authority.
d. make sure that citizens follow appropriate immigration regulations.
ANS:
a. Correct. The purpose of tort law is to provide remedies when legally protected interests have been invaded.
b. Incorrect. This is not the basic purpose of tort law.
c. Incorrect. Tort law is not primarily concerned with the scope of legal authority of Congress.
d. Incorrect. Tort law does not deal with immigration regulations.
2. If you are falsely imprisoned, you are:
a. made fearful of an unwanted contact with another person.
b. touched by another person in an unwanted or offensive way.
c. confined or restrained by another person intentionally and without justification.
d. intentionally bad-mouthed by another person.
ANS:
a. Incorrect. This describes an assault, not false imprisonment.
b. Incorrect. This describes a battery, not false imprisonment.
c. Correct. False imprisonment does not mean that you have to be in prison, only that you must be confined or restrained by someone intentionally and without justification.
d. Incorrect. Such an action may constitute slander, but not false imprisonment.
3. If Sal sends Max a high-priority e-mail message telling Max that his wife has just died, when in fact Sal knows this is untrue, Max may be able to
sue Sal for:
a. infliction of emotional distress.
b. libel.
c. violations of the First Amendment.
d. battery.
ANS:
a. Correct. Sal's actions were extreme and outrageous and may well have caused Max severe emotional distress.
b. Incorrect. Libel involves harmful things said about someone in print or in another permanent form, such as a videotape or audiocassette.
c. Incorrect. The First Amendment protects our freedom of speech, but this kind of speech is not protected by the first amendment.
d. Incorrect. Battery involves an unwelcome or offensive physical contact.
4. Which of the following is not an element of the tort of fraudulent misrepresentation?
a. A causal connection between the misrepresentation and the injury suffered.
b. A lack of intent to cause reliance on the misrepresentation.
c. Damages suffered as a result of reliance on the misrepresentation.
d. Justifiable reliance by the party that was deceived.
ANS:
a. Incorrect. This causal connection is an essential element of the tort.
b. Correct. Rather than show a lack of intent, the plaintiff must show intent to cause reliance on the misrepresentation.
c. Incorrect. The plaintiff must show that he or she suffered damages as a result of his or her reliance on the misrepresentation.
d. Incorrect. The plaintiff must also show that he or she was justified in relying on the defendant’s misrepresentation.
5. Which of the following would not constitute trespass to land?
a. Without permission, you tunnel under your neighbor's land.
b. With permission, you walk across your neighbor's land.
c. Without permission you shoot an arrow across your neighbor's land.
d. Without permission, your neighbor sets up a vegetable stand on your land.
ANS:
a. Incorrect. This tunneling would constitute trespass to land.
b. Correct. By giving you permission to walk on his or her land, your neighbor eliminates the possibility that you have committed trespass.
c. Incorrect. Causing something to cross your neighbor's land, without his or her permission, is trespass to land.
d. Incorrect. Your neighbor commits a trespass to land by staying on your land without your permission.
6. Slander of quality is also known as:
a. conversion.
b. trade dress.
c. trade libel.
d. wrongful interference.
ANS:
a. Incorrect. Conversion concerns the wrongful taking and retaining of personal property belonging to another.
b. Incorrect. Slander of quality is not also known as trade dress.
c. Correct. Trade libel is another term for slander of quality.
d. Incorrect. Wrongful interference refers to interference with a contractual arrangement or a business relationship, not to slander of quality.
7. If a dentist violates his or her duty of care to you by negligently cracking two of your teeth, you may be able to sue the dentist for:
a. malpractice.
b. appropriation.
c. trespass.
d. puffery.
ANS:
a. Correct. A professional who violates a duty of care towards a client may be sued for malpractice. This applies to physicians, dentists, lawyers, accountants, and other professionals.
b. Incorrect. Appropriation is a tort involving the wrongful use or possession of another's property.
c. Incorrect. Trespass is a tort involving a harm done to land.
d. Incorrect. Puffery is the act of bragging about a product.
8. Which of the following is a defense to a negligence claim?
a. Self-defense.
b. Defense of property.
c. Assumption of risk.
d. Truth.
ANS:
a. Incorrect. In tort law, self-defense is a defense to assault and battery.
b. Incorrect. In tort law, defense of property is a defense to assault and battery or trespass.
c. Correct. If you knowingly assume the risk of engaging in a certain action, you may not sue for negligence if you are hurt while engaging in the risky behavior.
d. Incorrect. Truth is a defense to defamation.
9. Res ipsa loquitur means:
a. “you're on your own.”
b. “buyer beware.”
c. “ignorance is no excuse.”
d. “the facts speak for themselves.”
ANS:
a. Incorrect. The phrase does not mean "you're on your own."
b. Incorrect. Caveat emptor is Latin for "buyer beware."
c. Incorrect. The phrase does not mean "ignorance is no excuse."
d. Correct. Res ipsa loquitur does mean "the facts speak for themselves."
10. One of the legal difficulties posed by defamatory remarks made online is that:
a. it makes it difficult for Internet service providers (ISPs) to stay in business, because they are held liable for the defamatory remarks made by those using their services.
b. the Internet makes it is so easy to locate those who make the defamatory statements that the courts are overburdened with tort lawsuits.
c. defendants in online defamation suits retaliate by spamming the plaintiffs, thus overloading the plaintiffs’ Web sites and causing them to suffer further harm.
d. it is difficult to learn the identity the person who made the defamatory remarks.
ANS:
a. Incorrect. ISPs were exempted from such liability by the Communications Decency Act of 1996.
b. Incorrect. In the online environment, it is, in fact, very difficult to locate those who commit defamation via the Internet.
c. Incorrect. Spamming plaintiffs in defamation lawsuits has yet to become a problem.
d. Correct. Because of this, those who are the targets of defamatory comments in the online world find it difficult to obtain a remedy for the harm suffered.