The ECONOMY and WELFARE

THE STRUCTURE OF THE US ECONOMY

Test your knowledge (p. 82)

1. What are the three basic sectors in the US economy?

2. When did the American economy begin to develop rapidly?

3. What was the result of the stock market crash?

4. What was the New Deal and who initiated it?

5. What is the present state of the U.S. economy?

Test your knowledge (p. 85)

1. What are the three basic forms of business in the private sector?

2. Who owns a corporation?

3. What were the contributions of John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan to the development of the American economy?

4. What is small business?

5. What is the difference between proprietorship and franchising?

6. What is partnership?

7. Name some of the major business companies in the US today.

Test your knowledge (p. 85)

1. What is the difference between the private and public sectors?

2. Name a few major public expenditures.

Test your knowledge (p. 86)

1. Explain the following abbreviations: GATT, WTO, NAFTA.

2. What is the size and role of the international sector in the US economy?

3. What is outsourcing?

Test your knowledge (p. 87)

1. Name and describe a few categories of tax in the US.

2. What states do not levy any individual income tax?

3. Who pays a federal corporate income tax?

Test your knowledge (p. 89)

1. What is the Federal Reserve Board?

2. What does Wall Street symbolize?

3. What is the Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ?

Test your knowledge (p. 90)

1. What is the role of primary industries?

2. How did American agriculture develop?

3. Why is overproduction a major problem for American agriculture?

4. How big are US timber resources?

5. What are the chief mineral resources in the US?

6. Where is coal mined in the US?

7. Where are the major oil deposits in the US?

Test your knowledge (p. 92)

1. In which region did manufacturing industries begin to develop after the Revolution?

2. Which is the leading manufacturing state at present?

3. Where is the motor car industry concentrated?

4. Where is the centre of high-tech industry?

5. What is the best-known product of Microsoft?

6. What are the causes of US energy problems?

Test your knowledge (p. 92)

1. Are service industries expanding or decreasing in the US? Why?

2. Name a few service industries.

Test your knowledge (p. 93)

1. What was the rate of unemployment in 2004?

2. What transformations in the employment structure are now occurring in the USA?

3. Why do US companies prefer to transfer their capital to other countries?

Test your knowledge (p. 93)

1. When did the labor movement start in the US?

2. When was the AFL-CIO created?

3. Why is labour union membership decreasing?

WELFARE

Test your knowledge (p. 94)

1. When were the first welfare programmes established in the US and what did they ensure?

2. What was the attitude of the Reagan administration to welfare?

Test your knowledge (p. 94)

1. What benefits does social security provide?

2. What is Supplemental Security Income?

3. Who is eligible for Food Stamps?

4. What is a social security number used for?

Test your knowledge (p. 95)

1. What is the poverty level?

2. Which groups of people on the average earn less?

3. What percentage of Americans lived under the poverty level in 2004?

Test your knowledge (p. 95)

1. What is Medicaid?

2. What is Medicare?

3. Why is the American system of health care criticize?

MORE TESTS AND TASKS

TRUE OR FALSE

Carefully read each statement. If the statement is true according to information in the book, write T after it, if it is false, write F.

Try to give reasons why a statement is false.

1. The U.S. economy is the first largest economy in the world.

2. The U.S. economy is based mostly a system of state ownership.

3. The U.S. trade deficit is very small.

4. Corporations are the most characteristic forms of business activity in the U.S.

5. John D. Rockefeller developed automobile industry in the United States.

6. McDonald's is no longer a U.S. company.

7. Self-employed people do not have to pay taxes in the United States.

8. J.P. Morgan & Chase is a major U.S. bank.

9. Texas and Oklahoma are centers of U.S. domestic oil production.

10. General Motors is the largest U.S. automobile manufacturer.

MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST

Circle the letter a), b) or c) with the correct answer.

1. The leading manufacturing state is …..

1. California b) Nevada c) New York

2. The third Industrial Revolution began in the ….. .

1. 1950s b) 1980s c) 1990s

3. The largest U.S. corporation in 2008 was ….

1. Ford Motor b) General Motors c) Wal-Mart Stores

4. The financial capital of the United States is …..

1. Washington, D.C. b) New York c) San Francisco

5. Automobiles are mostly manufactured in ….. area

1. Michigan b) Texas c) California

6. Silicon Valley is in ……….

1. Florida b) California c) New Mexico

7. Unemployment in the U.S. in 2008 was ….

1. a little less than 5 percent b) a little more than 5 percent c) 20 percent

8. The earliest possible retirement age in the United States is …. years.

1. 60 b) 62 c) 65

9. The United States has a system of ………. health care.

1. private b) public c) private and public

10. Medicare is a federal program that pays for certain health care expenses for people aged …. or older.

1. 60 b) 62 c) 65

---