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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Gladwell say David Boies applied for law school?
(a) Because he had always been disputatious.
(b) Because he did not need a B.A. to get in.
(c) Because he had a friend who encouraged him to apply.
(d) Because he loved research.

2. How does Gladwell characterize “disagreeableness” (118)?
(a) The refusal to care what others think.
(b) The refusal to see downsides to decisions.
(c) The inability to hear criticism.
(d) The failure to involve other people in decisions.

3. How did Gary Cohn get his big break?
(a) He shared a cab with a trader.
(b) He fell in with a party playing golf.
(c) He met executives through friends.
(d) He talked his way into the executive washroom.

4. How old was Gladwell’s powerful Hollywood friend, when he started a snow-shoveling business with other students?
(a) 10.
(b) 18.
(c) 16.
(d) 12.

5. Gladwell says that 77% of Americans would rather decrease class size than do what?
(a) Increase teacher pay.
(b) Pay for new school books.
(c) Fund job creation programs.
(d) Consolidate schools.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Gladwell say is the benefit of bigger classes?

2. What technical aspect of the game of basketball did Ranadivé take advantage of?

3. What trend does Gladwell say the notion of “relative deprivation” also explains?

4. What percentage of successful entrepreneurs does Gladwell say are dyslexic?

5. What is the name of the valley in which David and Goliath faced off?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the strategy Ranadivé used so effectively?

2. What is Harvard’s theory of the “happy bottom quarter” (90)?

3. Why does Gladwell say that Caroline Sacks should have gone to University of Maryland instead of Brown University?

4. What is “relative deprivation” (77)?

5. What does Gladwell say caused the changing demographics of Shepaug Valley Middle School in Connecticut?

6. What is Gladwell’s hierarchy of professions?

7. How does Gladwell characterize Goliath’s size and equipment?

8. What kind of lesson does Gladwell derive from the story of Jules Holtzapffel?

9. Where were the Philistines expanding into, when they encountered the armies of the Israelites?

10. What does Gladwell say is the advantage David has over Goliath?

(see the answer keys)

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