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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what country is the daycare service examined at the beginning of this chapter?

2. What additional response does Venkatesh later state should be added to his questionnaire?

3. In 1987, why did many people stop claiming fake children on their tax returns?

4. Which two groups are the most discriminated against on Weakest Link?

5. By what percentage did violent crime drop between 1995 and 2000?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Paul Feldman learn about honesty from his bagel business?

2. How is a sumo wrestler's life affected by his ranking?

3. How is this book different from other nonfiction books, according to the authors?

4. What is the nature of discrimination on The Weakest Link?

5. Why would a foot soldier risk death or arrest in a gang that pays him less than minimum wage for his labor?

6. How have attitudes toward public bigotry changed in recent years?

7. What tactics do researchers use to determine if CPS teachers are cheating on standardized tests?

8. According to the authors, what motivates everyone?

9. What example do the authors use at the end of the chapter to show that people will cheat if they know they won't be caught?

10. What unorthodox theory do the authors offer regarding the drop in crime in the late 1990s?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Much of the early section of FREAKONOMICS is dedicated to the idea of honesty in society. Write an essay about three of the analyzed systems and what they say about honesty. What incentives does each person in the system have either to act truthfully or cheat? How does this create a system in which cheating is common? How do arbiters attempt to affect the dynamic to stop cheating? Is it successful?

Part 1) The Sumo wrestling leagues of Japan.

Part 2) The Chicago Public School System.

Part 3) Paul Feldman's bagel business.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay on crack cocaine, dealing with its societal role in two parts: its origin and its effect. Where did crack cocaine come from, and how did it fill a hole in American drug culture? Why did it become so immensely popular in America? Secondly, how did it affect social trends regarding udban black Americans?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay detailing the authors' comparison between America and Communist Romania's abortion policies. How is Roe v. Wade and Nicolae Ceausescu's accession drastically alter the availability of abortions? What affect id these changes have on the populace and social order in each country? According to Levitt and Dubner, what was the unexpected end result of these separate changes in abortion policy?

(see the answer keys)

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