Review Questions - Fasttrack Civics
   Unit CE 11 - Economic Decisions and the Marketplace
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Review Questions for CE 11 in Fasttrack Civics - Economic Decisions and the Marketplace


1.  Does the principle of scarcity mean that there are always enough resources for everyone to have everything they want, or does it mean that resources are always limited?

2.  As a result of the economic principle of scarcity, people, businesses, and governments must make _____________ about what they want or value most.  (Answer choices:  guesses, choices, bets.)

3.  In economics, the principle that says that there is never enough to satisfy the total of what everyone wants is the principle of ________________.  (Answer choices:  consumer sovereignty, scarcity, opportunity cost.)

4.  Economics teaches that when making any choice, it is always important to consider the alternatives you could pick.  When you have made your best choice, you are giving up the second choice, the next-best pick.  What is the term economists use for that second choice that you give up?

5.  Jill decides to go to California this summer to visit her grandmother, who offered to pay for all her expenses.  Her only other plan was a job offer from a local water park, which she will not be able to accept if she goes away.  What is the opportunity cost of Jill's decision to visit her grandmother?


Use this picture to help you answer the next four questions.

Oil rig

6.  The crew in the picture above is drilling for oil.  Is oil a natural resource or a capital good?

7.  As a resource, what is the drilling equipment and machinery called?

8.  As a resource, what is the skill and labor of the crew of the oil rig called?

9.  As a resource, what is the ability to start a new kind of oil exploration business called?

10.   Production can be defined simply as the combining of _____________ to make goods and services.   (Answer choices:  skills, resources, prices, money.)

11.  Consumption is the act of ____________ goods and services (Answer choices:  using, making, designing.)

12.  What gets purchased for consumption in our economy is determined mainly by consumer preferences and by _____________.  (Answer choices:  government action, voting, price.)


Use this picture to help you answer the next two questions.

boss promise

13.  In economics, what is the term for the bonus promised by the boss in the picture above?  (Answer choices:  incentive, demand, price.)

14.  What effect will the promise made by the boss in the picture above probably have on the behavior of the sales people as they go about their jobs the rest of the year?


tomatoes

15.  The price the tomatoes in the picture above will sell at is determined by
      A. the sellers of the tomatoes only.
      B. the buyers of the tomatoes only.
      C. the interaction of supply and demand for tomatoes.
      D. the government.

16.  In economics, the amount of a good or service that sellers are willing to sell is called the __________________.   (Answer choices:  price, supply, demand, profit.)

17.  In economics, the amount of a good or service that buyers are willing to buy is called the _________________.  (Answer choices:  price, supply, demand, profit.)

18.  If a grocery store gets twice as many baskets of tomatoes in a delivery as it normally gets, what will the manager probably decide to do to make sure they all sell?  (Answer choices:  throw out the extra baskets, raise the price, lower the price.)

19.  A society in which almost all economic decisions are based on custom has a ______________ economy.  (Answer choices:  command, mixed, traditional.)

20.  In which economic system does the government have the smallest role, with almost all economic decisions left to individuals and businesses?  (Answer choices:  free market economic system,  mixed economy, command economy.)

21.  In which economic system does the government have the largest role, making most of the economic decisions in society?  (Answer choices:  free market economic system, mixed economy, command economy.)

22.  What is the term for economies in which there is a sharing of economic decisions between the government, individuals, and business?  (Answer choices:  free market economic system, mixed economy, command economy.)

23.  America's economy is primarily a free market system, but what is the best and technically most accurate description of the American economy?  (Answer choices:  a traditional economy, a mixed economy, a command economy.)


consumer king

24.  What is the term for the economic principle featured in the poster shown above?  (Answer choices:  profit motive, competition, consumer sovereignty.)

25.  Competition in our economic system normally results in better products at ____________ prices for everyone.  (Answer choices:  higher, lower, the same.)

26.  When people are allowed to own and control their own property, we say that system recognizes the principle of __________________.  (Answer choices:  competition, consumer sovereignty, private property.)

27.  Businesses in America normally make decisions based on what will create the largest profit.  Give a simple formula that shows how profit is calculated.

28.   If Jane's Health Food Shop sells $12,000 worth of groceries this month, and has total costs of $10,000 the same month, how much profit did Jane's company earn?  (Answer choices:  $12,000; $10,000; $2,000.)

29.  In what economic system are prices and production decisions made through central planning by the government, allowing very little choice to consumers?  (Answer choices:  free market system, mixed economy, command economy.)

30.  What is the most common economic system in the world today?  (Answer choices:  free market system, mixed economy, command economy.)





Copyright 2007, 2015 by David Burns
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Copyright 2006, 2015 by David A. Burns.  All rights reserved.  No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.   Contact:  Fasttrack Civics Project, 6215 Lavell Court, Springfield, VA 22152.

This work is a guide to the Virginia Civics SOL exam, and follows the organization and content of the Virginia Standards of Learning framework for that subject.  Some pages necessarily include phrases or sentences found in the Virginia SOL, which is available online from the Virginia Department of Education.  The author’s copyright extends to this work's original text and graphic content, unique design and layout, and other related material.
                       
Illustrations appearing in this publication are taken from sources in the public domain and from private collections used by permission.  Sources include: the Dover Pictorial Archive, the Library of Congress, The Hart Publishing Co., Corel Corporation and its licensors, Nova Development Corporation and its licensors, and others.  Maps were created or adapted by the author using reference maps from the United States Geological Survey and Cartesia Software.