US Background - Multiple choice questions

1. What was the name of the first British settlement, and when was it established?

Jamestown (Virginia) - 1607
Washington - 1617
New Amsterdam - 1610

2. Who built the Central Pacific Railroad (the western part of the trans-continental railroad system)?

Irish workers
Japanese workers
Chinese workers

3. When was the Chinese Exclusion Act introduced?

1884
1883
1882

4. What were the two most important effects of the Chinese Exclusion Act?

It made it illegal for Chinese laborers to enter the United States, and it denied naturalized citizenship to the Chinese already there
It made it illegal for Chinese women to enter the United States, and it denied naturalized citizenship to the Chinese already there
It made it illegal for Chinese prostitutes to enter the United States, and it denied naturalized citizenship to the Chinese already there

5. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

Abraham Lincoln
Thomas Jefferson
George Washington

6. What was the most important aspect of the Homestead Act?

It offered 160 acres of free land in the east to citizens and immigrants who intended to become citizens
It offered 160 acres of free land in the west to citizens and immigrants who intended to become citizens
It offered 160 acres of free land to US citizens only

7. What does the word 'Sioux' mean (an Amerindian name on the Dakota nation)?

Enemies
Buffalos
Allies

8. Who were the first immigrants to America?

Columbus and his sailors on the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria
The Norwegian viking Leif Eriksson and his crew
Hunters from Siberia crossing the Bering Strait

9. Who did the Immigration Act of 1875 exclude?

Convicts and rapists
Rapists and prostitutes
Prostitutes and convicts

10. What was the name of the first permanent European settlement in North America?

St. Augustine

Jamestown

Santa Fe

11. Which one of the lists of US post-war presidents is in correct order?

Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Ford, Reagan, Bush senior, Clinton, Bush junior
Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Ford, Reagan, Bush junior, Clinton, Bush senior
Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush senior, Clinton, Bush junior

12. Which power does the President represent?

The Judiciary
The Excecutive
The Legislative

13. What is the Bill of Rights?

The first ten amendments to the Constitution
The first five amendments to the Constitution
The Constitution

14. What can the President do?

Propose laws
Make laws
Change laws

15. What are the 'unalienable rights' of the Declaration of Independence?

Life, peace and the pursuit of happiness
Life, equality and the pursuit of happiness
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

16. When did the US Constitution go into effect?

In 1887
In 1888
In 1889

17. Who said: "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country"?

President Roosevelt
President Kennedy
President Clinton

18. Ellis Island and Angel Island were two well-known places to millions of people. Why?

They were places of entry to the USA
They were important prisons
They were detention centres for illegal immigrants

19. Mention one major reason behind the stock market crash of 1929?

An increasing discrepancy between the number of shares and the real value of companies caused a dramatic reduction of the value of shares thereby triggering a panic-stricken sale.
An increasing discrepancy between the number of shares and the real value of companies increased the value of shares thereby triggering a panic-stricken sale.
An increasing discrepancy between the number of shares and the real value of companies increased the value of companies thereby triggering a panic-stricken sale.

20. What did President Roosevelt think he had to do to solve the economic crisis?

He wanted people to pull themselves up by their shoestrings. When they got hungry enough they would start working and thereby bringing trade back to life. It should not be the Government's responsibility to provide for jobs.
He wanted to produce jobs to make it possible for people to start buying goods and thereby bringing trade back to life. When shops, factories and farmers got customers they would have to produce more, profits would rise, and the number of jobs would increase.
He believed fully in the effects of the laws of the market. American liberal market economy made it very difficult for the President to take any action.

21. What made the USA take part in the Second World War?

The German attack on Poland in 1939
The Japanese attack on French Indochina in 1941
The Japanese attack om Pearl Harbor in 1941

22. Who ordered the atomic bombs to be dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

President Truman
President Eisenhower
President Roosevelt

23. Who was Joseph McCarthy?

Eisenhower's Vice-President
A US politician who started a 'witch-hunt' for people believed to be communist agents
A US Senator who started a 'witch-hunt' for people believed to be Nazi agents during the war

24. What was the result of the Watergate scandal?

President Nixon had to leave office (resign)
President Nixon was impeached
President Nixon was imprisoned

25. What was the Marshall Plan:

A plan to enable South Korea to withstand the agression from its communist neighbour.
A plan for the defence of Europe against the communist block culminating in the establishment of NATO
A plan for helping European countries after the war by giving them what they needed

26. What was meant by the 'Balance of Power' between the USA and the USSR?

Both powers were too strong. If one of the super-powers wanted to win a full-scale nuclear war, it would have to launch a massive, short-distance nuclear attack.
The super-powers divided the world into one US-influenced part and one Soviet-influenced part thereby creating a balance of power.
Both powers were too strong. In a full-scale war between the two countries there could be no winner. They would simply destroy each other, so none of the powers wanted to attack.

27. Who was President during the Cuba crisis?

Kennedy
Eisenhower
Johnson

28. The Vietnam War created a crisis in the USA setting its people against one another. This was clearly seen at the Kent State University in Ohio in 1970. What happened?

The students burned down the Governor's office as a protest against the war
About 1000 protesting students were fired on by soldiers. Four students were killed and ten others were wounded
A group of about 1000 protesting students were fired on by snipers. Four students were killed and ten others were wounded

29. Which two top politicians have been credited for ending the cold war between the USA and the USSR?

Henry Kissinger and President Gorbachev
President Jeltzin and President Reagan
President Gorbachev and President Reagan

30. What happened in the USA September 11th, 2001?

Terrorist attacks destroyed the Empire State Building in New York and parts of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Terrorist attacks destroyed the World Trade Center in New York and parts of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Terrorist attacks destroyed the World Trade Center in New York and parts of the White House in Washington, D.C.