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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. According to Levitt, what do experts use their knowledge for?

2. Which two philosophers does Levitt cite who subscribe to the belief that people are inherently good?

3. What Supreme Court case involved Norma McCorvey as plaintiff?

4. What is the average annual salary of a bottom-tier sumo wrestler?

5. In New York City, what did analysts credit with the precipitous drop in violent crime?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How is the organizational structure of the Black Gangster Disciple Nation similar to McDonald's?

3. What argument do the authors make about experts?

4. What are the defining characteristics of conventional wisdom?

5. How are nylon stockings and crack cocaine similar?

6. How does terminology help real estate agents set a price for a house?

7. From what did the Ku Klux Klan derive its power in the twentieth century?

8. Why would some winning sumo wrestlers throw a match?

9. How does the inclusion of a small monetary compensation affect blood donation in the 1970s?

10. How did Stetson Kennedy use the information he compiled about the Ku Klux Klan?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The authors of FREAKONOMICS begin the book with five precepts that guided their writing, as opposed to a single subject. Write an essay about any one of these precepts. Why do Levitt and Dubner consider this rule central to their process? Choose three chapters from the book. How does the research done in these chapters reflect your chosen precept?

Essay Topic 2

FREAKONOMICS frequently angers readers, in part because it refuses to acknowledge the moral imperatives of either the right of the left. Write an essay about the willfully irreverent conclusions of the authors, focusing on an example that inflames either side of the political spectrum:

Part 1) What connection do the authors draw between the national legalization of abortion and the sudden drop in violent crime in the nineties? How could this conclusion give a certain credence to abortion rights activists? What caveat do the authors give regarding their conclusion, subtly defending the pro-life stance?

Part 2) What conclusion do the authors draw regarding programs like Head Start in the development of children's school performance? What do they determine is the most important fact overall in the performance of a child in life? What caveat do they add regarding this assertion at the very end of the book?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the final realization at the end of FREAKONOMICS that the two hypothetical children in Chapter 5 are Roland G. Fryer, Jr., and Ted Kaczynski. How does this realization fit in with the overall fatalism of the FREAKONOMICS view of human life? Are either or these figures typical of their upbringing? What, statistically, should have become of them based on their childhoods?

(see the answer keys)

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