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Social Studies 9

Social Studies 9 · Worksheets

Mixed review · Economies and consumerism

Ten questions of mixed difficulty, covering Consumerism and politics, Economies. Print it, or work through it on screen — the answer key starts on its own page.

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Mixed review · Economies and consumerism

Social Studies 9 · maddyhelps.com

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Circle the best answer for each question. Use the space to note the reasoning or the source detail that decided it.

  1. What is a Crown corporation?

    1. a) A business owned by the royal family
    2. b) A private company that sells mostly to the government
    3. c) A charity that receives grants from the government
    4. d) A business owned by a federal or provincial government

  2. A line from an invented party's platform: "We will cut income taxes, reduce regulations on business and shrink the size of government." Where does this platform sit on the economic spectrum?

    1. a) On the right, favouring less government involvement
    2. b) On the left, favouring more government involvement
    3. c) Nowhere, because a tax promise cannot be placed
    4. d) In the centre, favouring equal public and private roles

  3. From an invented party's platform: "Every family deserves affordable child care, and we will pay for it by raising taxes on the largest corporations." Which value most clearly underlies this promise?

    1. a) Corporations should be free of taxes and regulation
    2. b) Government should use taxes to provide shared services
    3. c) Families should pay for services privately, as they choose
    4. d) Families should rely on charities instead of government

  4. A table compares doctor and hospital care. Canada: covered by public health insurance in every province. United States: mostly private insurance, with public programs for people 65 and older and for some people with low incomes. Which conclusion does the table best support?

    1. a) Canada's government has a bigger role in health care
    2. b) The United States has no public health insurance at all
    3. c) Canadians pay nothing at all for their health care
    4. d) Both countries run the same kind of health system

  5. A diagram shows a line with "Command economy" at one end and "Market economy" at the other. Country X has public health care, several Crown corporations and mostly private businesses. Where does Country X belong on the line?

    1. a) Between the two ends, as a mixed economy
    2. b) Off the line, since it has both public and private parts
    3. c) At the command end, because it has Crown corporations
    4. d) At the market end, because most businesses are private

  6. A headline: "Spring frost wipes out much of the Okanagan cherry crop; demand expected to stay strong." In a market economy, what will most likely happen to the price of cherries?

    1. a) It will fall, because fewer cherries are for sale in stores
    2. b) It will rise, because supply fell while demand held steady
    3. c) It will be set by the government until the next crop
    4. d) It will stay the same, because demand has not changed

  7. A headline: "Grocery workers' union wins 4% raise over two years after members vote to authorize a strike." Which conclusion about labour unions does this source best support?

    1. a) Unions are run by the government in a mixed economy
    2. b) Workers bargaining together can win terms one alone could not
    3. c) A strike vote means the workers have already stopped work
    4. d) Unions set the wages of every worker in the province by law

  8. A news report: "After thousands of shoppers signed a pledge to stop buying its jeans, a clothing company agreed to allow safety inspections at its overseas factories." What does this source show?

    1. a) Governments must approve how clothing companies are run
    2. b) Safety inspections are required by law in every country
    3. c) Individual shoppers have no influence over big companies
    4. d) Consumers acting together can change how a business acts

  9. Scarcity, the basic economic problem, means that

    1. a) some goods are rare, so they cost more than others
    2. b) governments print too little money for people's needs
    3. c) wants are unlimited but resources are limited
    4. d) a country has used up one of its natural resources

  10. Speaker 1: "Selling the government-owned power company would raise money, and competition would lower prices." Speaker 2: "Electricity is essential. It should be run for the public, not for shareholders." Which statement best describes the debate?

    1. a) Both agree the government should set every electricity price
    2. b) Speaker 1 favours a command economy; Speaker 2, a market one
    3. c) Speaker 1 favours privatization; Speaker 2, public ownership
    4. d) Speaker 1 favours nationalization; Speaker 2, selling it off

Answer key · Mixed review · Economies and consumerism

Social Studies 9 · maddyhelps.com

  1. d) A business owned by a federal or provincial government — "Crown" means the state, not the royal family: Canada Post and the CBC are federal Crown corporations, and ATB Financial is owned by the Province of Alberta. Governments create them where they decide a service should be publicly owned.
  2. a) On the right, favouring less government involvement — Lower taxes, fewer regulations and smaller government sit on the right of the economic spectrum, toward the market end. A platform on the left would expand public services and make more use of taxes and regulation.
  3. b) Government should use taxes to provide shared services — Paying for a public service through taxes reflects the view that government should share costs across society, a position toward the left. Critics answer that higher corporate taxes can cost jobs and investment, which is the other side of the same debate.
  4. a) Canada's government has a bigger role in health care — Both countries mix public and private, but public insurance covers doctor and hospital care for everyone in Canada, while in the United States it mainly covers older and low-income people through Medicare and Medicaid. "Canadians pay nothing" ignores that taxes fund the system.
  5. a) Between the two ends, as a mixed economy — Real economies sit between the ends, mixing private business with some public ownership and social programs. Having Crown corporations does not make an economy command-based, and having mostly private firms does not make it a pure market.
  6. b) It will rise, because supply fell while demand held steady — With fewer cherries and the same number of buyers, buyers compete for what is left and the price rises. "Demand has not changed" is true, but price depends on supply and demand together.
  7. b) Workers bargaining together can win terms one alone could not — Collective bargaining gives workers more power than negotiating one at a time, and a strike vote adds pressure without anyone walking out. A strike vote only authorizes a strike; the headline shows a deal was reached.
  8. d) Consumers acting together can change how a business acts — One shopper's choice barely registers, but thousands acting together threatened the company's sales, which is consumer power used collectively. Nothing in the source says a government ordered the inspections.
  9. c) wants are unlimited but resources are limited — Every society faces scarcity, rich or poor, because wants always outrun resources, so choices must be made. Rarity is a narrower idea; scarcity applies even to ordinary things such as time, land and workers.
  10. c) Speaker 1 favours privatization; Speaker 2, public ownership — Selling a public company to private owners is privatization; Speaker 2 wants it kept as a Crown corporation run for the public. Nationalization is the opposite, a government taking over a private company, which is the swap the tempting wrong answer makes.