The questions that Owen’s and Wendy’s 6th-grader had to answer are over there. My mostly-correct answers, including a wholesale criticism of one of those questions, are below the fold.
1. British soccer athlete David Beckham has recently signed to play with an American professional team, the LA Galaxy. His contract pays him $25 million.
2. The US military recently bombed (one, two, three) village(s) in Somalia in an unsuccessful attempt to kill three (al Qaeda, Taliban) terrorist members. Somalia has not had a government for (4, 8, 16) years. Note; there is an internationally-recognized government, but until the current offensive, it did not have control over much the country.
3. Until recently the capital city Mogadishu had been controlled by an Islamic religious group called ICU, the Islamic Courts Union. The capital has been recaptured from these Muslims with the help of soldiers from (DR Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan).
4. Somalia is now led by the TFG, the Transitional Force Government, but it is challenged by the ICU and regional (wargods, warlords) who desire to take control.
5. The newly organized (House, Senate) has begun work on its agenda and has passed a bill that would raise the (maximum, minimum) wage from $5.35 per hour to $7.25 per hour. This is the first time that the wage has changed since (1997, 2000, 2003). The new wage will increase over the next (two, three, four) years.
6. The first minimum wage was $1.25 and hour in (1878, 1908, 1938).
7. "an increase in prices and a decrease in the dollar’s buying power”– Many economists and me describing a couple of effects of raising the minimum wage
8, T/F The possibility exists tht the new minimum wage may force some small busineses to raise prices and lay off workers to meet these higher wages.
9. This new legislation will impact 7.5 million American workers who currently earn less than $7.25 an hour.
10. Last night President George W. Bush gave the president’s annual report to Congress called the State of the Union speech.
11. This annual speech was included as part of the US (Bill of Rights, Constitution). It was first delivered by (George Washington, Abraham Lincoln) in (New York City; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.). For many years the report was just read to the combined Congress, but in 1935, it was first broadcast by (cable, radio, television) None of the above. This last sentence is quite incorrect. For many years, between 1801 and 1913 (with a couple of exceptions), this message was transmitted to Congress via a letter, with that letter also being sent to newspapers to be printed either in full or in part. As for broadcast, the first radio broadcast of what was to later become known as the State of the Union speech was in 1923, with the first television broadcast in 1947. The only significance of 1935 was that Franklin D. Roosevelt called the message the “State of the Union” for the first time that year.
12. T/F Some schools are beginning to include body mass index (BMI) as grades on student report cards.
13. Approximately (5, 10, 15) percent of American children are obese.
14. A food (cube, globe, pyramid) is a useful tool in helping a person eat a healthy diet. Healthy diets greatly limit the amount of calories consumed. According to health experts one should consume at least six servings each day of fruits and vegetables.
15. Guatemala is located in (North, Central, South) America. Its population is (a wild stab) approximately 35 million people, making it the largest population in the region. This land was once ruled by the (Aztec, Maya, Olmec). This area was overtaken by the (English, French, Spanish) in the early 1500s.
16. "a narrow strip of land between two larger land masses”–isthmus
17. A (civil, revolutionary) war occurred in Guatemala between 1960 and 1975 (the years). Today (25, 50, 75) percent of its citizens live in poverty. Depending on one’s definition of poverty
18. Name three important agricultural products of Guatemala: coca bananas coffee
19. No clue was the first woman to graduate from medical school in the US. She graduated first in her class on January 23, unknown. After becoming a doctor she faced (great, little) assistance from male doctors. She eventually set up her own (clinic, hospital, medical college). When she died in a time long ago, there were (5,000; 7,000; 10,000) female doctors. Today a (quarter, third, half) of all students in medical college are women.
20. Felipe Calderon, president of Mexico, recently announced that he will do all in his power to help bring down the rapidly rising cost of (gasoline, oil, tortillas). In recent months, the price has increased 100 percent due to the increasing price of corn.
21. Steve Jobs is the president of Apple,0 one of the most important companies in the world. Its sales of the iPod portable music device has created great success. Its newest release is the (iCamera, iPhone, iRecorder) which is a music and video player, a camera phone, and an internet browser. Mr. Jobs also owns Pixar Animation Studios.
22. The American embassy in (Greece, Spain) was recently bombed. (Many, No) deaths or injuries occurred).
23. ETA is a terrorist group in (Greece, Spain) that is seeking independence for its Basque people. A recent car bomb in (Athens, Madrid) has ended peace talks between this group and the federal government.
Locate on a map: Guatemala (located just south of Mexico on the Caribbean Sea coast), Somalia (located on the east coast of Africa just south of Ethiopia, Ethiopia (located on the east coast of Africa at the Horn of Africa, separating the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, opposite Yemen), Greece (located at the southeast corner of Europe), Spain (located at the southwest corner of Europe, encompassing most of the Iberian Peninsula except the far southwest portion).
