Technology and Society Quiz

Grade 11 · Social Studies · Quiz

Test your knowledge of how technology has shaped American society, politics, the economy, and individual rights from the Industrial Revolution through the digital age.

Questions

1. Which New Deal program created in the 1930s brought electricity to rural areas that private companies had no economic incentive to serve?

   1. The Federal Communications Commission
   2. The Rural Electrification Administration
   3. The Tennessee Valley Authority
   4. The Public Works Administration
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   Answer: The Rural Electrification Administration

   The Rural Electrification Administration (1935) provided low-cost loans to rural electric cooperatives; by 1939, it had connected nearly one million farms, transforming rural American life.

2. The 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, first applied to break up technology monopolies in the modern era against Microsoft in the late 1990s, was designed to:

   1. Regulate railroad prices to protect farmers and small businesses
   2. Prohibit monopolistic practices and combinations that restrain free trade and competition
   3. Require corporations to obtain federal licenses before operating
   4. Set maximum working hours in industrial facilities
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   Answer: Prohibit monopolistic practices and combinations that restrain free trade and competition

   The Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) prohibits contracts, combinations, or conspiracies in restraint of trade and monopolization; the DOJ used it in its landmark antitrust case against Microsoft (1998-2001).

3. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) 2017 rollback of net neutrality rules raised concerns primarily because:

   1. It would allow internet service providers to block, slow, or charge more for specific websites or content
   2. It would require social media companies to remove hate speech
   3. It would give the government authority to monitor all internet traffic
   4. It would break up large technology companies like Google and Facebook
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   Answer: It would allow internet service providers to block, slow, or charge more for specific websites or content

   Net neutrality rules prevented ISPs from creating 'fast lanes' for paying companies or slowing competing services; without them, ISPs could theoretically prioritize their own content or charge streaming services more, raising costs for consumers.

4. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), enacted by the European Union in 2018, is significant for Americans because:

   1. It banned the sale of American technology products in Europe
   2. It established a global standard for data privacy that influenced U.S. policy debates and how American companies handle user data
   3. It required all social media companies to store European user data in the United States
   4. It prohibited American technology companies from operating in EU countries
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   Answer: It established a global standard for data privacy that influenced U.S. policy debates and how American companies handle user data

   GDPR established strong data privacy rights for EU citizens, including the right to be forgotten and consent requirements; because American companies operate globally, many adopted GDPR-compliant practices and it fueled U.S. state-level privacy law debates.

5. Which of the following best describes the concept of 'techno-optimism' in debates about technology and society?

   1. The belief that technology companies should be publicly owned
   2. The view that technology inevitably creates more problems than it solves
   3. The belief that technological innovation will solve major social and environmental challenges
   4. The position that internet access should be treated as a public utility
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   Answer: The belief that technological innovation will solve major social and environmental challenges

   Techno-optimism holds that human ingenuity and technological innovation can overcome challenges like climate change, disease, and poverty; critics argue it understates unintended consequences and social disruption.

6. The Cambridge Analytica scandal (2018) revealed that this political consulting firm had:

   1. Hacked into U.S. election voting machines
   2. Obtained personal data from approximately 87 million Facebook users without consent to build voter profiling models
   3. Created fake news websites to spread disinformation during elections
   4. Bribed social media executives to suppress political content
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   Answer: Obtained personal data from approximately 87 million Facebook users without consent to build voter profiling models

   Cambridge Analytica harvested data from ~87 million Facebook users through a personality quiz app; the data was used to build psychographic profiles of American voters for the 2016 Trump campaign, raising major concerns about data privacy.

7. The United States has a comprehensive federal data privacy law equivalent to the European Union's GDPR.

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   Answer: False

   The U.S. lacks a single comprehensive federal data privacy law; privacy is regulated through a patchwork of sector-specific laws (HIPAA for health data, COPPA for children) and state laws like California's CCPA (2020).

8. The practice of companies paying workers just for completed tasks through apps, without employee benefits or labor protections, is part of the so-called _______ economy.

   Show answer

   Answer: gig

   The gig economy refers to a labor market where workers are classified as independent contractors rather than employees, often working through apps like Uber or TaskRabbit, without access to benefits, minimum wage guarantees, or collective bargaining rights.

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