The Wall Street Journal Weekly Quiz s6

The Wall Street Journal Education Program

Weekly Review & Quiz

Covering front-page articles from January 21 – 27, 2006

Answer Key Spring 2006 Issue #3

Developed by: Scott R. Homan Ph.D., Purdue University

1. A new situation comedy set to air on HBO ______.

a. is very similar to classic TV comedies such as “The Honeymooners” and “I Love Lucy”

b. uses such extensive profanity that child actors are not allowed on the set during certain scenes

c. is trying different techniques to break up the relentlessness of having no commercial breaks

d. Both b and c Correct

2. Television programs that show on cable networks like HBO ______.

a. do not have commercial breaks

b. are unbound by the rules constraining broadcast networks and ad-supported cable channels.

c. The Federal Communications Commission has no jurisdiction over its output

d. All of the above Correct

3. The deal between Toys R Us and Amazon.com began in 2000 was supposed to be for ____years

a. 2

b. 5

c. 10 Correct

d. 15

4. Toys R Us lost its title of #1 toy retailer to which company?

a. Target

b. Kmart

c. Walmart Correct

d. KBToys

5. The typical manufacturing approach at Ford was to______.

a. stop production during slow demand

b. build vehicles even when sales were slow

c. keep factories running and avoid paying wages to idled workers, as required by union contracts

d. Both b & c Correct

6.Ford said it’s restructuring plan will return its North American automotive operations to profitability "no later than _____."

a. 2008 Correct

b. 2010

c. 2012

d. 2015

7. The legal term for Published documents serving as evidence that a patent is invalid because the idea was already in the making is ______.

a. “shoe art”

b. “Mad art”

c. “bar code”

d. "prior art" Correct

8. According to Dennis Crouch, a Chicago patent attorney sometimes all you need is ___ reference(s) that was publicly available to invalidate a patent.

a. 1 Correct

b. 3

c. 10

d. 15

9. The biggest U.S. defense contractor is ______.

a. Boeing

b. General Dynamics

c. Lockheed Correct

d. AgustaWestland

10. Many U.S. defense contractor’s, are trying to transform from manufacturers to ______.

a. Stock holding firms

b. integrators Correct

c. assemblers

d. solo project managers

11. Many lobbyists are serving as principal _____ for lawmakers they're trying to sway.

a. advisors

b. cheer leaders

c. fund-raisers Correct

d. critics

12. Under federal election rules, lawmakers cannot donate more than _____ per election cycle from their own re-election coffers to the campaign of any colleague.

a. $200

b. $420

c. $2,200

d. $4,200 Correct

13. As a part of understanding its customer base, Ford has even given names to groups of consumers who are now uninterested in its vehicles, such as :

a. “Whiz Kids”

b. “Way Forward”

c. “ Homesteads” Correct

d. “Toxic Cliques”

14. A new wave of race-discrimination cases is appearing in the workplace: African-Americans who feel that they are being passed over for______

a. Chinese

b. Latinos

c. Hispanics

d. Both b & c Correct

15. In the $7.4 billion agreement by Disney to acquire Pixar, Mr. John Lasseter -- Pixar's top creative executive -- played an important role and now stands to assume an even more influential position as ______.

a. chief creative officer of Disney's animation studios

b. principal creative adviser of Walt Disney Imagineering

c. President of the Mouseketeers

d. Both a & b Correct

16. Ford Explorer sales were ______for all of 2005.

a. down 29% Correct

b. up 29%

c. down 9%

d. up 9%

17. In Philip Morris USA's ongoing war against counterfeiters, company officials say they could trace the artfully counterfeited smokes to one of the world's most isolated countries ______.

a. Chad

b. Timbucktoo

c. Norway

d. North Korea Correct

18. When the rich go shopping, they take their _____ cards.

a. AmEx Correct

b. Debit

c. Gold

d. Platinum

19. According to Securities regulators excessive client entertainment expense is ______.

a. anything over 100 dollars per person

b. anything over 300 dollars per person

c. anything over 3000 dollars per person

d. best determined by individual firms Correct

20. Rod Lache, an analyst for Deutsche Bank, estimates GM has health-care and pension liabilities of about $______.

a. 31 billion

b. 65 billion

c. 90 billion

d. 155 billion Correct

21. Some industry experts say that, if GM sells Suzuki's shares, one possible buyer of the stake could be

a. Subaru Motor Co.

b. Nissan Motor Co Correct

c. Honda Motor Co.

d. Saab Motor Co.

22. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires and CNBC estimate that GDP grew at an annual rate of ______last quarter.

a. 1.6%

b. 2.6% Correct

c. 3.6%

d. 4.6%

23. Last year, about ______first-time buyers received a gift from a relative or friend to make a down payment on a home.

a. one in four Correct

b. one in five

c. one in ten

d. one in twenty

24. Unlike storing addresses in a "favorites" folder on your computer, tagged pages _____.

a. lets you search among all your stored pages by key word, eliminating the need to scroll through dozens of sites

b. often means redoing the search

c. are stored on the Web and accessible from any computer

d. Both a & c Correct

25. Approximately ______Americans have a Blackberry device.

a. 1 million

b. 4 million Correct

c. 10 million

d. 25 million

26. At Walgreens stores, consumers can drop off their empty cartridge while they shop and get a refill within 15 minutes. The stores will charge $12.99 to $14.99 for a black-ink refill around______of some black-ink cartridges from H-P, Canon Inc. and others.

a. 25% more than the price

b. 25% less than the price

c. 60% less than the price Correct

d. 75% less than the price