i>Clicker Questions

1. Chapter 26:Triumph of the Middle Class, 1945–1963 i>Clicker Questions

2. 1. What was the main purpose of the new institutions and policies formulated by the Bretton Woods Agreement, which included the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)? a. To promote economic development and free trade b. To promote American economic domination c. To maintain European economic control over former colonies d. To use credit and trade to weaken communism in the Eastern Bloc

3. 2. Why did President Eisenhower persuade Congress to appropriate additional money for college scholarships and university research in 1958? a. To put financial teeth behind educational desegregation b. To expand the American middle class c. To overcome a perceived gap in science and technology with the Soviet Union d. To train a new cadre of experts to administer overseas aid programs

4. 3. Which of the following statements correctly assesses the economic record of the United States after World War II? a. Expanding prosperity reduced poverty rates dramatically. b. Expanding prosperity aided the rich and the poor but left out the middle class. c. Growing prosperity depended mostly on government welfare. d. American society became more prosperous and more egalitarian.

5. 4. Which piece of federal legislation served to expand the middle class and fuel the growth of domestic consumption in the postwar United States? a. Serviceman's Readjustment Act of 1944 b. Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 c. McCarran Walter Act of 1952 d. Consumer Credit Act of 1950

6. 5. Religious change in the United States during the 1950s led to what development? a. A decrease in church membership b. Growth in evangelical Protestant denominations c. A population of aging and conservative preachers d. Support for ideological diversity

7. 6. What was the impact of the baby boom on the educational system in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s? a. The baby boom generation depleted the limited resources of American schools and colleges in this period. b. Baby boom parents placed a high value on education and contributed to the expansion of the U.S. educational system. c. Parents of baby boomers took education for granted and did little to challenge the system's traditions and rules. d. Unruly baby boomers burdened school buildings and budgets and drove the American educational system into decline.

8. 7. Which statement describes the role of middle-class domestic ideology in women's lives in 1950s America? a. Middle-class domestic ideology had faded with the nineteenth century and no longer shaped American women's lives after World War II. b. Although working-class women still embraced the dominant domestic ideal, middle-class women in the 1950s had discarded it. c. The emphasis on the importance of femininity and motherhood in the 1950s influenced most American women's experiences at that time. d. Middle-class domestic ideology in the 1950s wielded a stronger influence over American women's lives than at any time in the past.

9. 8. What made William J. Levitt's homes affordable for so many families in the postwar years? a. At less than $8,000, they were within everybody's reach. b. FHA and VA loans made mortgages more affordable. c. They were extremely small and poorly built. d. They tended to be built in the least desirable locations.

10. 9. What was the impact of urban renewal projects on the nation's older cities in the 1950s and 1960s? a. Displacement of black and working-class populations b. The return of wealthy and middle-class residents to cities c. Intensification of white flight from those cities d. Increasing levels of urban poverty and pollution

11. 10. Why did American cities in the Northeast and Midwest experience the problems of poverty, slum housing, and cultural dislocations with new intensity in the postwar period? a. These social problems were a byproduct of economic stagnation. b. These social conditions were the product of an oppressive police force. c. They were produced by children who suffered the neglect of their working mothers. d. The manufacturing sector was losing thousands of unskilled and semiskilled jobs.

12. Answer Key 1. The answer is a. 2. The answer is c. 3. The answer is d. 4. The answer is a. 5. The answer is b. 6. The answer is b. 7. The answer is c. 8. The answer is b. 9. The answer is a. 10. The answer is d.