The Wall Street Journal Weekly Quiz s15

The Wall Street Journal Education Program

Weekly Review & Quiz

Covering front-page articles from Dec 1-7, 2007

Quiz Fall 2007

Developed by: Scott R. Homan Ph.D., Purdue University

1. Retailers are offering services that notify potential gift givers of wish lists because

a. it often ends up fostering loyalty with the list-writer and the gift buyer

b. people are tired of returning gifts they don’t like

c. it saves husbands from agonizing over what to buy their wives

d. all of the above

2. In an August survey of 64,000 shoppers, _____ said they had set up wish lists with retailers at one time, up from 11% in 2005.

a. 15%

b. 19%

c. 25%

d. 29%

3. The US and China together account for about 40% of emissions of _____from fossil-fuel combustion.

a. methane gas

b. hydrogen

c. carbon dioxide

d. oxygen

4. The Kyoto treaty requires the industrialized countries that ratified it to reduce their overall emissions by _____ from 1990 levels.

a. 3%

b. 5%

c. 8%

d. 15%

5. Issues that will be on the tops of the list of concerns for US Presidential voters include

a. the economy and health care

b. the war on terrorism

c. tax cuts and college aid

d. both a and c

6. Republicans are mainly using economic concerns to push harder for:

a. higher interest rates

b. lower interest rates

c. tax cuts

d. reduced gasoline taxes

7. Companies are trying to lure employees by reversing what has traditionally been the worst part of working in a remote oil field:______.

a. grim lodgings

b. bad food

c. nothing to do after work

d. all of the above

8. In Canada riches are being pulled out of the earth via:

a. natural gas deposits

b. oil sands deposits

c. propane deposits

d. coal deposits

9. First came housing loans and the subprime-mortgage crisis. Now, signs of stress are creeping into another key consumer area:

a. high interest credit cards

b. auto loans

c. boat loans

d. Christmas club loans

10. "Auto-loan defaults tend to be ______, " says Dan Berce, chief executive of AmeriCredit Corp.

a. limited

b. seasonal

c. rare

d. event-driven

11. On Tuesday, Boeing will give Wall Street a progress report on its ______, as it scrambles to overcome a six-month delay in producing the jet.

a. 747 Dreamlifter

b. 767 Dreamflier

c. 787 Dreamliner

d. 888 Dreamcoaster

12. When the Chicago aerospace giant set out four years ago to build a new fuel-sipping jet, it figured the chief risk lay in perfecting a process to build much of the plane from ______instead of aluminum.

a. common recycled plastic

b. carbon-fiber plastic

c. nano-tubes

d. stainless steel

13. The deal brokered by top Democrats late Friday to boost average new vehicle fuel economy to ______by 2020 means that American cars will get smaller, and possibly more expensive.

a. 30 miles per gallon

b. 32 miles per gallon

c. 34 miles per gallon

d. 35 miles per gallon

14. Unemployed people make networking missteps which can include

a. sabotage an informational interview by ending up asking for a job

b. exaggerating your relationship with mutual acquaintances

c. bothering contacts excessively

d. all of the above

15. On a recent picket line, a giant inflatable pig smoking a fat cigar bobbed above a crowd of striking ______. The image was classic Hollywood, portraying a force of greed.

a. producers

b. actors

c. directors

d. screenwriters

16. The most frequently performed cosmetic procedure in the US:

a. liposuction

b. Botox shots

c. rhinoplasty

d. breast augmentation

17. The hardest to find video game system for the 2007 Christmas season is:

a. Microsoft Xbox 360

b. Nintendo Wii

c. Sony PlayStation 3

d. BluRay 5000

18. Based on analyses of 116 previous " corrections," or a 10% retreat in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, since 1900, Ned Davis Research, found that once the market falls 10%, there is a 50-50 chance it is heading for a 15% drop from its recent high. Then, if the 15% mark is breached, there is a 54% chance of a "_____," defined as a 20% decline.

a. bear market

b. bull market

c. dog market

d. dive market

19. In the first nine months of 2007, US venture investors poured ______into clean-tech firms, more than the total invested in all of 2006, according to data released last week by the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Financial.

a. $2.6 million

b. $2.6 billion

c. $1.8 million

d. $1.8 billion

20. Since last month, the Canadian dollar has ______against the US dollar.

a. fallen more than 9%

b. risen more than 9%

c. fallen more than 19%

d. risen more than 19%

21. ______firms raise money from big investors and use the cash to take over, change and resell companies.

a. Public-equity

b. Private-equity

c. Limited-equity

d. Reserved-equity

22. In Florida, Jefferson County officials say their inability to withdraw funds from the Local Government Investment Pool has already caused the school district to ______.

a. fire teachers

b. close schools

c. cancel field trips

d. bounce checks

23. A Hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico caused catastrophic damage in an August 2005 storm. Many insurers rejected claims contending that damage was caused by _____, as opposed to wind.

a. water

b. arson

c. neglect

d. homeowners

24. Commercial airlines were allowed to use _____ routes of military airspace over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend to ease congestion.

a. 2

b. 3

c. 4

d. 5

25. Most of the $150 billion in online retail volume in the US is paid using ______, according to research firm Javelin Strategy and Research in Pleasanton, Calif.

a. alternative payment services

b. cash

c. credit and debit cards

d. checks

26. College parental notification policies utilize an exception added in 1998 to FERPA that allows schools to call parents if:

a. a student is convicted of a felony

b. the student is unable to handle a problem on their own

c. the student is involved in a case of date rape or if seriously injured

d. a student gets an alcohol or drug violation and is under 21 years of age