An Enlightenment Guide to Winning the Lottery (Reading)

Click the link below for the reading passage:

An Enlightenment Guide to Winning the Lottery

1) It can be inferred that Francois-Marie Arouet had problems with:

A) authority
B) investments
C) insurance
D) publicity


2) The word "pen-name" in paragraph 2 (line 3) is closest in meaning to:

A) pseudonym
B) title
C) designation
D) nomenclature


3) The word "panacea" in paragraph 2 (line 5) is closest in meaning to:

A) solution
B) idea
C) pledge
D) remedy


4) What decision caused the French government to suffer economic problems?

A) Issuing bonds
B) Raising money
C) Cutting interest rates
D) Avoiding credit


5) The sentence "Condamine realized that a group of people could buy up a lot of cut-price bonds, split them into tiny parcels of 1,000 livres, buy up cheap lottery tickets, and thus easily win the huge jackpot," (paragraph 6) can best be paraphrased as:

A) As a result of purchasing lottery tickets cheaply and splitting bonds, Condamine realized he could win the lottery.
B) The lottery could be won by dividing cheap bonds into smaller parts which allowed the purchase of bargain lottery tickets.
C) Condamine devised a scheme by which the jackpot could easily be won.
D) The mathematician's plan was to cut large bonds into diminutive shares and purchasing prize tickets.


6) The word "understanding" in paragraph 7 (line 9) is closest in meaning to:

A) plan
B) agreement
C) involvement
D) piracy


7) Voltaire and Condamine's scheme was uncovered because:

A) Voltaire always went to collect the money.
B) Voltaire was not creative enough with the names he signed.
C) The number of lottery tickets being sold was unreasonable.
D) Condamine made a mathematical error.


8) Which of the following was NOT a consequence of the inquiry into the lottery scandal?

A) The lottery was shut down.
B) The finance minister was fired.
C) Ticket sales stopped during the proceedings.
D) Voltaire was allowed to keep his money.


9) Why does the author mention Micromegas (paragraph 14)?

A) To illustrate to problems Voltaire caused with his wealth.
B) To explain why he fought with Frederick the Great.
C) To show why he was banned from Paris.
D) To provide an example of one of Voltaire's achievements.


10) Which of the following best summarize the topic (Choose three answers)?

A) Voltaire used his winnings to support his writing career, allowing him to become one of the greatest French authors of all time.

B) The French government concluded that nothing illegal had occurred.

C) One of the key problems they faced with the fact that only a few notaries were allowed to issue lottery tickets.

D) Condamine's plan involved purchasing cheap lottery tickets through small bonds.

E) Voltaire struggled early in his writing career due to a lack of finances and disagreements with the aristocracy.

F) Condamine and Voltaire orchestrated a scheme to win the lottery.

Inflation (Listening)

1) What is the lecture mainly about?

A) The meaning of inflation.
B) The goods and services used by the average household.
C) The influence of the CPI on inflation calculations.
D) The way to calculate inflation.


2) Which of the following is true of the Consumer Price Index?

A) It is used to calculate average spending on luxury items.
B) It allows the government to monitor price increases.
C) It would cost approximately $100.
D) It is a measurement of average consumer income.


3) At 1:17, the lecturer says, "And let's say that in year one, that it costs them a hundred dollars - the actual basket CPI constructs would not cost a hundred dollars, but I am going to do this for the sake of simplicity."

What does the lecturer mean when he says, "but I am going to do this for the sake of simplicity"?

A) He thinks that students will not understand the actual data used by the CPI.
B) He doesn't have the real data available at the moment.
C) He is stating that the real costs would be much higher than $100.
D) He wants to make the math as easy as possible so students understand the process.


4) Why does the speaker mention the "money supply"?

A) He is discussing the distinction between two definitions of inflation.
B) He is explaining why inflation occurred in his diagram.
C) He is clarifying the government's role in the economy.
D) He is introducing a second main topic for this discussion.


5) What can be inferred about the speaker's explanation?

A) It is not entirely correct.
B) The calculation is much less complicated in the real world.
C) There are many other factors that real economists consider.
D) It is too basic to be useful for the average person.

Arab Spring (Listening)

1) At the beginning of the lecture, the speaker says, "My talk today is about something maybe a couple of you have already heard about. It's called the Arab Spring. Anyone heard of it?"

Why does she say, "Anyone heard of it"?

A) She thinks her audience will be unfamiliar with the topic.
B) She doesn't know if the audience can hear her well.
C) She is joking with the audience.
D) She thinks the audience will not understand the topic.


2) What is the lecture mainly about?

A) The reasons for and ramifications of Middle Eastern revolutions.
B) The goals of the Arab middle class and their influence on the economy.
C) Poverty's effect on politics in Muslim societies.
D) Data supporting theories of the causes of revolutions around the world.


3) The speaker believes that a key cause of the Egyptian revolution was:

A) the desperation of fruit vendors.
B) the disparity between the population's expectations and experience.
C) unemployment and poverty caused by years of economic mismanagement.
D) the unequal distribution of wealth in the country.


4) Which of the following can be inferred about the Egyptian government?

A) It has strict control over its population.
B) Until recently it was unconcerned about public opinion.
C) Its leaders are as optimistic about the future as its citizens.
D) It has not changed significantly in the last 5 years.


5) Which of the following is NOT a factor that influences men's support for women's rights in the Middle East?

A) Their country's Human Development Index
B) Their education levels
C) Their country's level of secularization
D) Their employment rate


6) The lecturer's opinion about the future of Egypt is most likely:

A) Somewhat pessimistic
B) Extremely apathetic
C) Mostly ambivalent
D) Cautiously optimistic

How Economic Inequality Harms Societies (Listening)

 The questions are based on the first 6 minutes of the lecture.

1) What is the lecture mainly about?

A) The effect of income divisions on the global economy.
B) The degradation of wealth distribution systems in several countries.
C) The underdevelopment of social services in the United States.
D) The social damage done by poor wealth distribution.


2) At 1:48 in the lecture, the professor says, "The explanation of that paradox is that, within our societies, we're looking at relative income or social position, social status -- where we are in relation to each other and the size of the gaps between us. And as soon as you've got that idea, you should immediately wonder: what happens if we widen the differences, or compress them, make the income differences bigger or smaller?  And that's what I'm going to show you"

Why does he say, "what happens if we widen the differences, or compress them, make the income differences bigger or smaller?"

A) He is making a suggestion to governments with developed economies.
B) He is introducing the main point of the lecture.
C) He is asking the audience to come up with an answer.
D) He is introducing plans developed by the British government.


3) Which of the following would you expect from increased income inequality in a society? (Mark Yes/No for each choice)

A) Decreased social mobility.
B) Increased drug and alcohol addiction.
C) Improved children's math and literacy scores.
D) Increased life expectancy.
E) Increased infant mortality.


4) Why does the professor mention the UNICEF index of child well-being?

A) He wanted to use an independent set of criteria to strengthen his argument.
B) He believes that child well-being is the best indicator of the health of a society.
C) He believes his study is more convincing than the UNICEF one.
D) He is attempting to present a counter-argument to his research.


5) What is the relationship between trust and income inequality in a society?

A) Increased income inequality leads to higher levels of trust.
B) Lower levels of trust lead to increased income inequality
C) Higher levels of trust lead to decreased income inequality.
D) Decreased income inequality leads to higher levels of trust.