The Wall Street Journal Weekly Quiz s16

The Wall Street Journal Education Program

Weekly Review & Quiz

Covering front-page articles from April 14-20, 2007

Answers Spring 2007

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

1. A special committee of the board of directors has accused Charles Wang, founder and former chairman of Computer Associates International Inc, of participating in _____ during the 1980s and 1990s.

a. record profit making

b. fraudulent accounting Correct

c. sexual harassment

d. discriminatory promotions

2. A type of litigation designed to recover funds for a company is called ____.

a. Tenure

b. Penure

c. shareholder derivative suits Correct

d. shareholder punitive suits

3. The Securities and Exchange Commission is exploring a new policy that could permit companies to resolve complaints by aggrieved shareholders through _____, limiting shareholders' ability to sue in court.

a. arbitration Correct

b. collective bargaining

c. attrition

d. court attendance

4. The SEC staff is studying whether corporations should be permitted to amend their ______to allow for arbitration, a change that in some cases might require shareholder approval.

a. bonds

b. charter

c. policies

d. bylaws Correct

5. A number of notable Washington insiders are earning big fees these days by representing controversial clients from ______.

a. Florida

b. the European Union

c. the Soviet Union Correct

d. Japan

6. For a ______fee, Bob Dole, the former Senate majority leader and 1996 Republican presidential nominee, helped a billionaire accused by rivals of bribery obtain a visa to visit the US in 2005.

a. $56,000

b. $65,000

c. $560,000 Correct

d. $650,000

7. In late 2005, Dot Smith gave up offering health insurance to her employees at Pepper Patch Inc, which makes jellies and cakes in a middle Tennessee town. At _____ a month per employee, the premiums were just too high.

a. $4

b. $40

c. $400 Correct

d. $4000

8. In a new Tennessee health insurance program participants can get coverage up to _____ for health expenses annually.

a. $2500

b. $25,000 Correct

c. $250,000

d. $2,500,000

9. Although most petroleum-based chemicals remain substantially cheaper, high oil prices have bolstered the economic rationale for making _____ from plants grown in the Midwest.

a. plastics Correct

b. milk

c. steel

d. animal feed

10. Ford Motor Co is considering using soy-containing foam in car seats, armrests and headrests. Now that its scientists have figured out how to use ultraviolet light to eliminate a _____ from the foam.

a. brittleness

b. strange color

c. yellow residue

d. rancid odor Correct

11. Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp, has been _____ partner in making cars in China for a decade.

a. Ford's

b. BMW’s

c. Saab’s

d. GM's Correct

12. GM's profit from China operations in the final quarter of 2006 _____.

a. fell nearly 9%

b. fell nearly 19% Correct

c. increased nearly 9%

d. increased nearly 19%

13. A remedy for burnout is to do something every day that is ______.

a. difficult and unrelated to work

b. pleasurable and related to work

c. childish and selfish

d. pleasurable and unrelated to work Correct

14. ______isn't about having a strategy that fails, but a failure that succeeds.

a. Strategic incompetence Correct

b. Strategic competence

c. Tactical incompetence

d. Tactical competence

15. The evening before an ice storm swept over the University of Texas at Austin, in January, administrators sent an urgent message to its 67,000 students, faculty and staff: Stay home tomorrow. Thanks to a state of the art emergency communications system, students received the alert as ______.

a. text messages Correct

b. voice mail

c. junk mail

d. smoke signals

16. Around 8:15 pm EDT on Tuesday April 17, 2007 ______devices stopped working.

a. RedBerry

b. BlueBerry

c. CrackBerry

d. BlackBerry Correct

17. "Get Smarter" is part of a new push Warner is making into the _____ business.

a. direct to consumer

b. direct to DVD Correct

c. internet to DVD

d. internet to consumer

18. A host of online appraisers with names like Telepraisal Inc and artbusiness.com1 now accept photos of your art work by email and zap back their appraisals for _____ or less per piece.

a. $5

b. $50 Correct

c. $500

d. $5000

19. According to the Commerce Department, manufacturers' orders for durable consumer goods have been ____.

a. increasing 20 percent per quarter

b. doubling each quarter

c. increasing

d. falling Correct

20. The Coca Cola company is scoring a surprise hit with ______.

a. bottled water

b. juice drinks

c. Coca-Cola Nero

d. Coca-Cola Zero Correct

21. The slated purchase of SLM Corp, commonly known as ______, by two private-equity firms, has investors searching for other financial stocks that might be targets.

a. Paullie Mae

b. Sallie Mae Correct

c. Paullie Sue

d. Sallie Sue

22. Hershey may attempt to purchase ______.

a. Cadbury Schweppes PLC Correct

b. Dentyne

c. Wrigley Co

d. Kraft Foods Inc

23. Wal-Mart's share price this decade is off _____ compared with a gain of 24.4% in the Dow Jones Wilshire Retail Index.

a. 3%

b. 10%

c. 13%

d. 30% Correct

24. Airline travel this summer is predicted to be

a. more congested because of leaner staffing and more recovery time when storms cause delays

b. much better than the winter

c. worse than the winter

d. both a and c Correct

25. A good way of dividing up sentimental family heirlooms is ____.

a. sneaking in to snatch what you want before your siblings get it

b. fistfights

c. arm wrestling

d. family auctions with “virtual points” to spend on desired items Correct

26. To deal with shrinking summer vacations many families

a. have declared a set time far in advance no matter what else may be on the calendar

b. call their kids in “sick” to get some extra time

c. are splitting up and taking separate, shorter trips

d. all of the above Correct