Questions

1. All but which one of the following are given as reasons for the lack of skilled workers in the manufacturing industry?
a) U.S. schools aren't graduating students with the math and science skills needed to operate and repair sophisticated computer-controlled factory equipment
b) the number of manufacturing jobs has increased recently, therefore more workers are needed from the same job pool
c) these jobs pay very low wages
d) many workers in factories are older and starting to retire

2. In trying to find skilled workers, manufacturers are doing all but which one?
a) hiring interns from high schools and vocational schools
b) recruiting skilled workers from China and North Korea
c) actively recruiting former military who have machinist skills
d) hiring men who've been in prison and learned machinist skills while in jail

3. The March 11 earthquake that hit eastern Japan moved the entire country and caused some parts of it to sink up to 4 feet. This has caused coastal towns like Ishinomaki:
a) to sink into the ocean
b) to flood twice a day during high tide
c) to declare the town a total loss and move the entire populace into new homes farther inland
d) to hire gondoliers and market itself as the "Venice of Japan"

4. Problems the city government faces in building up the neighborhoods affected in Ishinomaki include all but:
a) dealing with the effects of radiation in the city
b) construction crews can only work short shifts as they are interrupted two times a day for the high tide flooding
c) major construction projects to raise the roads were completed before the tsunami, but they need to be redone now that the ground below them sank
d) finding money to pay for the work

5. To acquire the money needed to build more fence along its border with Mexico, the Arizona government:
a) will create a website to solicit public donations online to build the fence
b) plans to use money confiscated from illegal immigrant drug dealers
c) will hold a fund-raiser starring rapper Common and comedian George Lopez
d) will ask Congress and President Obama to fulfill their duty to build the fence

6. The state government has selected a source of cheap labor to build the border fence in Arizona:
a) illegal immigrants
b) National Guard troops
c) unemployed Americans looking to earn some extra cash to supplement their unemployment checks
d) minimum security prisoners

7. Victims of the recent tornadoes in Alabama and throughout the South worry that as people across the country forget about their plight:
a) the Red Cross, Samaritans Purse and other charities will as well
b) Charlie Sheen will do a reality show from the center of the storm damage in Tuscaloosa
c) FEMA will cut off their assistance
d) donations and out-of-state volunteers likely will drop off

8. After a natural disaster hits an area, the national media typically:
a) stay with the story for six months to a year
b) provide periodic follow up stories to give progress reports to the nation until the first anniversary of the disaster
c) follow the story for three to four days
d) provide ongoing coverage of disaster relief until the area is rebuilt

9. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will likely open the Morganzana Floodway in Louisiana to:
a) avert flooding in Baton Rouge and New Orleans
b) help ease the flooding in Mississippi
c) save Graceland from flooding
d) all of the above

10. The negative impact of opening the Morganza spillway in Louisiana would include:
a) flooding as much as 90,000 acres of farmland
b) the forced evacuation of thousands of residents in the neighboring Atchafalaya River Basin
c) both a and b
d) neither a nor b