The Wall Street Journal Weekly Quiz s10

The Wall Street Journal Weekly Review & Quiz

Covering front-page articles from October 1 – 7, 2005

Answer Key Fall 2005 Issue #7

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

Questions 1 – 12 from The First Section, Section A

1. Who is the new chief executive of Walt Disney Co?

a. Michael Eisner

b. Robert Iger Correct

c. Mickey Mouse

d. Anne Sweeney

2. The Disney-ABC Television Group President recently handed out ______to her staff loaded with programming.

a. Dell MP3 Players

b. Dell Laptops

c. Sony's PSP Correct

d. DVD’s

3. Since March, Beijing has opened ______with South Korea, Pakistan, Australia and Iceland.

a. bank accounts

b. free-trade talks Correct

c. technical colleges

d. Starbucks Coffee Shops

4. China is positioning itself as a ______, rivaling the U.S. in one of its traditional spheres of influence.

a. humanitarian leader

b. technology leader

c. manufacturing leader

d. leader of global trade and investment Correct

5. A growing number of young Japanese use mobile phones to write and exchange _____, an ancient form of unrhymed poetry whose roots reach back at least 1,300 years.

a. binka

b. bang

c. tanka Correct

d. tang

6. The new, freewheeling wave of poetry on cellphones is roiling the traditional world. There, budding writers apprentice in poetry societies called kessha, under the guidance of a master poet. Many labor for ______before the master decides they're good enough to put out their own poetry collections.

a. 10 or 20 weeks

b. 10 or 20 months

c. 10 or 20 seasons

d. 10 or 20 years Correct

7. A study by economist Allen Sinai, released in October 2003, suggested a temporary cut in the tax on foreign earnings would create ______jobs over five years.

a. 6000

b. 6066

c. 66,000

d. 666,000 Correct

8. A law signed by President Bush shortly before the 2004 election allows companies to transfer profit from overseas operations back to the U.S. this year at a special low tax rate of ______.

a. 1.00 %

b. 3.00 %

c. 5.25 % Correct

d. 25.25 %

9. Russian President Vladimir Putin has largely succeeded in his campaign pledge to make ______-- the powerful tycoons who emerged in the chaos of post-Soviet Russia -- disappear "as a class."

a. monogarchs

b. polygarchs

c. oligarchs Correct

d. bankers

10. In Russian business, where hostile takeovers often involve burly men with masks and submachine guns, toughness has long been a key to ______.

a. getting customers

b. getting money

c. failure

d. success Correct

11. In August three al Qaeda operatives crossed from Iraq into ______, smuggling seven Katyusha missiles in the underbelly of an aging Mercedes with a hidden second gas tank.

a. Afghanistan

b. Iran

c. Kuwait

d. Jordan Correct

12. Al Qaeda's efforts in Iraq resemble the way Osama bin Laden and other Islamic leaders used ______in the 1980s to promote global jihad.

a. Afghanistan Correct

b. Iran

c. Kuwait

d. Jordan

Questions 13 – 17 from Marketplace, Section B

13. Winn-Dixie operates ______supermarkets in the New Orleans region.

a. 12

b. 25

c. 125 Correct

d. 1250

14. As Jacob Marmolejo carefully laid slabs of Colorado sandstone against a wall more than 100 feet high rising in the center of this town last summer, several things set him apart from most Texas bricklayers: his youth, his skill and, most of all, his shirt, which read, "Proud to be ______."

a. employed

b. union Correct

c. young

d. skilled

15. Golf prodigy Michelle Wie announced that she is turning pro. Her four-year contract pays up to $5 million a year to help Nike Inc. try to gain a foothold in the women's golf market. Michelle Wie is ______years old.

a. 15 Correct

b. 20

c. 21

d. 17

16. Few of the spectators who will be lining the catwalk at the Celine fashion show have heard of Guido Boragno. Mr. Boragno is a ______.

a. marketing professor

b. handbag designer Correct

c. shoe designer

d. hat designer

17. Using the error rate identified by the FBI about ______possible mismatched finger prints could be occurring every year.

a. 90

b. 900

c. 1,900 Correct

d. 19,000

18. A ______lets people set aside pretax money from their pay to cover health-care costs that insurance doesn't.

a. flexible-spending account Correct

b. money market account

c. passbook account

d. debit card account

19. Less than ______of China's 1.3 billion people own a credit card.

a. 50 %

b. 30 %

c. 15 %

d. 1 % Correct

20. Bain Capital, a private-equity firm, took control of KB Toys in 2000 by putting up just $18 million. It all worked out well for Bain Capital, which in April 2002 collected a ______dividend.

a. $1 million

b. $11 million

c. $12 million

d. $121 million Correct

21. Regarding the Enron scandal the government has identified more than _____ individuals in court filings as co-conspirators with Messrs. Lay, Skilling and Causey.

a. 10

b. 50

c. 100 Correct

d. 1000

22. In late August, shareholders of TIAA-CREF ______proposed fee increases on the funds.

a. rejected Correct

b. approved

c. outlined

d. doubled

23. The U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that American gasoline consumption in September ______compared with the same period last year.

a. fell by 2.6% Correct

b. rose by 2.6%

c. fell by 26%

d. rose by 26%

Questions 24 – 26 from Personal Journal, Section D

24. U.S. car and light-truck sales ______in September.

a. fell 7.6% Correct

b. rose 7.6%

c. fell 17.6%

d. rose 17.6%

25. Numerous studies have found that our happiness level through our lives follows a U-shape, with folks becoming increasingly dissatisfied as they approach their ______and then bouncing back from there.
a. 30s

b. 40s Correct

c. 50s

d. 20s

26. In September, Toyota's Prius, the top selling hybrid in the U.S., saw sales jump by ______compared with the same period last year.

a. 30 %

b. 50 %

c. 70 %

d. 90 % Correct