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1 | | America's economic prosperity in the 1950s was fueled by |
| | A) | increased public funding of schools, housing, veterans' benefits, welfare, and interstate highways. |
| | B) | massive military spending inspired by the Cold War. |
| | C) | the "baby boom" and rapid expansion of the suburbs. |
| | D) | increased spending on social programs. |
| | E) | All these answers are correct. |
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2 | | Prosperity helped many Americans to ignore which of the following pressing issues during this period? |
| | A) | the 20 percent of Americans who lived in poverty in the 1950s |
| | B) | the discrimination suffered by minorities |
| | C) | the discontent of many American women in their traditional roles |
| | D) | the discontent of returning veterans |
| | E) | All these answers are correct. |
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3 | | Which portion of the nation grew most rapidly during the late 1940s and 1950s? |
| | A) | Northeast |
| | B) | Southeast |
| | C) | Midwest/Great Plains |
| | D) | West |
| | E) | New England |
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4 | | The prosperity of the 1950s was accompanied by |
| | A) | a decrease in government spending. |
| | B) | corporate mergers and the formation of conglomerates. |
| | C) | equitable distribution of corporate profits. |
| | D) | the survival and renewal of the family farm. |
| | E) | a decrease in military spending. |
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5 | | All of the following trends marked the American labor movement of the 1950s EXCEPT |
| | A) | the merger of the AFL and CIO to create the giant federation, the AFL-CIO. |
| | B) | fairly stable membership numbers. |
| | C) | greater success in organizing new workers than in winning benefits for workers already organized in strong unions. |
| | D) | signs of corruption and indifference among some labor leaders as the unions themselves became wealthy, powerful bureaucracies. |
| | E) | booming corporations' reluctance to allow strikes. |
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6 | | According to many social observers, American culture in the 1950s seemed dominated by a(n) |
| | A) | restless search by individuals for identity and purpose. |
| | B) | quest for economic political justice within the United States. |
| | C) | absorption with consumer goods by a growing middle class. |
| | D) | isolationist desire to avoid international affairs or commitments. |
| | E) | collective desire to rid the world of communism. |
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7 | | In contrast to that of the central cities, life in suburbia became attractive to many American families in the 1950s because the suburbs seemed to provide |
| | A) | variety and excitement in lifestyles and entertainment. |
| | B) | racial integration in neighborhoods and schools. |
| | C) | greater opportunities for cultural and educational advancement. |
| | D) | larger, safer, and more private homes. |
| | E) | a chance to obtain individuality. |
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8 | | According to the widely respected child-care expert of the late 1940s and 1950s, Dr. Benjamin Spock, mothers should |
| | A) | fulfill their career and professional goals. |
| | B) | resist pressures to stay at home to raise a family. |
| | C) | share the role of parenting equally with the fathers. |
| | D) | work to supplement the family income. |
| | E) | subordinate their activities and interests to the needs of their children. |
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9 | | According to the text, during the 1950s, television |
| | A) | affected only a small percentage of the total population. |
| | B) | encouraged independent value formation among members of the white middle class. |
| | C) | heightened the sense of alienation and powerlessness among minority groups. |
| | D) | failed to attract significant interest from commercial advertisers. |
| | E) | saw a rapid decline in popularity. |
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10 | | According to the text, the most widely revered heroes of the United States during the early 1960s were the nation's |
| | A) | medical researchers. |
| | B) | professional athletes. |
| | C) | mothers. |
| | D) | industrial tycoons. |
| | E) | astronauts. |
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11 | | Critics of the increasing influence of organized society argued that these changes |
| | A) | drained Americans of self-reliance. |
| | B) | made Americans more focused on their own values and less on the concerns of society. |
| | C) | allowed only men to find fulfillment in American society. |
| | D) | focused too much on the needs of the youth culture. |
| | E) | called for Americans to engage in too much independent thought. |
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12 | | Both the beats and rock 'n' roll |
| | A) | fought for more racial inclusion in American society. |
| | B) | came predominantly from the thriving new cultural centers on the West Coast. |
| | C) | tried to resist the conformity of American culture in the 1950s. |
| | D) | became the basis of the youth rebellion movement of the 1950s. |
| | E) | were strong supporters of organized society. |
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13 | | When the governor of Arkansas and, later, an angry mob of citizens attempted to prevent the court-ordered racial integration of a high school in Little Rock, President Eisenhower responded by |
| | A) | ordering the governor to be arrested. |
| | B) | negotiating a settlement that delayed local integration for a three-year "cooling-off" period. |
| | C) | sending federal troops to uphold the court order. |
| | D) | refusing to involve the federal government in what he considered to be strictly a state matter. |
| | E) | supporting the resistance. |
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14 | | The Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott was significant in establishing a new form of racial protest and in elevating which black leader to prominence as a new leader in the civil rights movement? |
| | A) | Malcolm X |
| | B) | H. Rap Brown |
| | C) | Stokely Carmichael |
| | D) | Martin Luther King, Jr. |
| | E) | Earl Warren |
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15 | | Joseph McCarthy's influence in the nation waned quickly mainly as a consequence of |
| | A) | the Oppenheimer case. |
| | B) | his expulsion from the Senate. |
| | C) | the reports that he was an alcoholic. |
| | D) | his behavior in the Army-McCarthy hearings. |
| | E) | his opposition to the Brown v. Board of Education decision. |
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16 | | The expression "more bang for a buck" was related to Secretary of State John Foster Dulles's announced policy of |
| | A) | liberation. |
| | B) | containment. |
| | C) | mutual security. |
| | D) | integration. |
| | E) | massive retaliation. |
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17 | | In his farewell address in January 1961, Eisenhower warned the American people against |
| | A) | the rise of military pacifism. |
| | B) | the tendency to hysterical anticommunism. |
| | C) | the risk of creeping socialism. |
| | D) | the influence of the military-industrial complex. |
| | E) | the rise of racism in America. |
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18 | | Which of the following scientists made his most valued contribution during the 1950s? |
| | A) | Alexander Fleming |
| | B) | Almorth Wright |
| | C) | Jonas Salk |
| | D) | Edward Jenner |
| | E) | John Foster Dulles |
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19 | | What outcome did UNIVAC correctly predict for CBS television news, marking a breakthrough in public awareness of computer technology? |
| | A) | stalemate in the Korean War |
| | B) | Eisenhower's election in 1956 |
| | C) | Eisenhower's election in 1952 |
| | D) | the Soviet launch of Sputnik |
| | E) | the Brown v. Board of Education decision |
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20 | | Which of the following events served to revitalize the environmental movement in the 1950s? |
| | A) | Hetch Hetchy |
| | B) | Love Canal |
| | C) | Sputnik |
| | D) | Echo Park |
| | E) | entreaties of the United Fruit Company |
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21 | | To whom is the quote "what was good for our country was good for General Motors, and vice versa" attributed? |
| | A) | Charles Wilson |
| | B) | John Foster Dulles |
| | C) | Dwight Eisenhower |
| | D) | Dick Clark |
| | E) | Fidel Castro |
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