Topic Test Answers

Read the excerpts from “Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry” and “Speaking Arabic.”My friend had concluded that if he took his language and culture out of his poetry, he stood a better chance of receiving a fellowship. He took out his native language, the poetic patois of our reality, the rich mixture of Spanish, English, pachuco and street talk which we know so well. In other words, he took the tortillas out of his poetry, which is to say he took the soul out of his poetry. At a neighborhood fair in Texas, somewhere between the German Oom-pah Sausage Stand and the Mexican Gorditas booth, I overheard a young man say to his friend, “I wish I had a heritage. Sometimes I feel—so lonely for one.” And the tall American trees were dangling their thick branches right down over his head.Which structural element is used in the excerpt by Anaya but not in the excerpt by Nye?

Read the excerpts from “Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry” and “Speaking Arabic.”My friend had concluded that if he took his language and culture out of his poetry, he stood a better chance of receiving a fellowship. He took out his native language, the poetic patois of our reality, the rich mixture of Spanish, English, pachuco and street talk which we know so well. In other words, he took the tortillas out of his poetry, which is to say he took the soul out of his poetry. At a neighborhood fair in Texas, somewhere between the German Oom-pah Sausage Stand and the Mexican Gorditas booth, I overheard a young man say to his friend, “I wish I had a heritage. Sometimes I feel—so lonely for one.” And the tall American trees were dangling their thick branches right down over his head.Which best states how the word choice is similar in both excerpts?

Read the excerpt from “Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry.”In other cases, the censoring has been direct and brutal. On February 28, 1981 the morning newspaper carried a story about the burning of my novel, Bless Me, Ultima. The book was banned from high school classes in Bloomfield, New Mexico, and a school board member was quoted as saying: “We took the books out and personally saw that they were burned.”Which best describes the rhetorical appeal used to illustrate the destructive nature of censorship?

Read this excerpt from "Why No Policeman on the Block?"Only in the last decade, with the ending of the Cold War, have these technologies finally been fully released to the public domain.What is the meaning of the underlined term?

Read the excerpt from Sandra Cisneros’s story "Mericans."I want to be a flying feather dancer too, but when he circles past me he shouts, “I’m a B-Fifty-two bomber, you’re a German,” and shoots me with an invisible machine gun. What does this detail reveal about the children?

Which statements show the importance of clean air? Check all that apply.Air is a natural resource.Governments manage air pollution to provide clean air.Lungs naturally purify the air, so air pollution does not harm people.Ultrafine particles contribute to 17,000 deaths per year in the United States.Particles in the air cause health problems.

The prices of consumer goods do not always exactly follow the CPI. The following chart shows several consumer items, along with their respective prices in 1983 and today.ItemPrice in 1983 ($)Current Price ($)Pair of boots67.45126.85Hair dryer15.2529.95Box of tissues1.152.25Toaster22.8544.25Using the prices shown on this chart, which of the following is a reasonable estimate of the current CPI?

Based on the supply graph and the demand graph shown above, what is the price at the point of equilibrium?

What is meant by the “right to redress”?

A store’s supply/demand graph for MP3 players is shown above. If the price is at the equilibrium point, how much money will the store make by selling MP3 players?

The following chart shows a store’s coat sales for two years. Identify the percent increase in total sales and the percent increase in sales of trench coats. Then find which percent of increase is greater and by how much greater it is than the other. (Round your answer to the nearest tenth.)

Minneapolis, MN has a CPI of 173. Anchorage, AK has a CPI of 226. How does the purchasing power of someone in Minneapolis earning a salary of $42,500 compare to the purchasing power of someone in Anchorage earning a salary of $67,000?

The following table shows the working populations, average salaries, and income tax rates of France and Germany.CountryWorkforceAverage Salary (€)Income Tax RateFrance31,491,23229,76669.3%Germany38,844,01732,10445.2%Based on the information in the table, how do the annual tax revenues of Germany and France compare to one another?

Say that Thailand has a workforce of 35,709,487 people, each of whom earns an average salary of (equivalent USD) $8,630 annually. If the Thai government wants to raise $70 billion in tax revenue, approximately where should it set the income tax rate?

Say that a company has treated you unfairly or dishonestly. Which of the following options could help you resolve the issue?I. Report them to the Better Business Bureau.II. Speak to their corporate consumer department.III. Seek the help of the Department of HHS.

Suppose that Lebanon has placed tariffs on its imports and exports. The import tariff is 13%, and the export tariff is 8%. If Lebanon has a balance of trade of (equivalent US dollars) $5,510,000 and received tariff revenue of $4,019,200, what are its imports and exports worth?

Which economic system has no government involvement in the market?

Cynthia, a resident of Ottawa, earns $41,875 annually. If the Canadian government levies an income tax of 18.6% on Cynthia’s tax bracket, what is her annual take-home pay?

The following chart shows a store’s records of sales of stuffed toys for two months. Which of the following are accurate assessments of trends displayed in this graph? I. The market share held by cats increased by about 6.5 percentage points. II. Roughly 22.2% more stuffed toys in the “other” category were sold in October than in September. III. The total number of stuffed toys sold increased by about 2%.

In 1983, a year-long newspaper subscription cost $12.75. Today, a year-long newspaper subscription costs $28.50. If the CPI is 193, what is the relation of the actual price of a year-long newspaper subscription to the expected price, to the nearest cent?