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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How did most literate Greek and Romans consume literature in the earliest days of the written word, according to Carr in Chapter Four?
(a) Slaves read to them.
(b) They had crude recordings of the authors reading their own works.
(c) They always had their children read to them.
(d) They went to mass where the priests read the religious texts to congregations.

2. Which famous philosopher from the 1800s wrote an appreciative small piece about his love for the typewriter?
(a) Friedrich Nietzsche.
(b) Karl Marx.
(c) William Shakespeare.
(d) Sigmund Freud.

3. Which media mogul at RCA and NBC dismissed criticism of the mass media on which his career was built in the year 1955?
(a) Walter Winchell.
(b) David Sarnoff.
(c) Walter White.
(d) Les Moonves.

4. In Chapter Three, what does Carr say thinking is governed by in a purely oral culture?
(a) The ability of its teachers to impart debating skills.
(b) The length of the candles.
(c) The storytelling skills of its elders.
(d) The capacity of human memory.

5. What did a 2006 study by Jupiter Research reveal a huge overlap in, according to Carr in Chapter Five?
(a) Smartphone use and computer use.
(b) Web surfing and eating.
(c) TV viewing and Smartphone use.
(d) TV viewing and Web surfing.

6. According to Carr, language itself is NOT which of the following?
(a) A technology.
(b) A group exercise.
(c) A critical means of communication.
(d) Usually learned by the age of 5.

7. Who was one of the first biologists to argue that the human brain might be in a constant state of flux?
(a) Michael Moskovitz.
(b) J.Z. Young.
(c) Marion Crace.
(d) Jessica Joyner.

8. In Chapter Three, what does Carr say Theuth thought about the art of writing?
(a) He thought it would make Egyptians wiser and improve their memories.
(b) He thought it would lead people to more secular lives.
(c) He thought it would lead to unrest among the farmers.
(d) He thought it would lead to uprisings against the ruling classes.

9. Who wrote the book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man?
(a) Walter Winchell.
(b) Marshall McLuhan.
(c) Nicholas Carr.
(d) Merrion Crace.

10. How did Francis Bacon say that Gutenberg's press affected the globe?
(a) He said it made books much less expensive.
(b) He said it made societies much more equal.
(c) He said it made everyone, everywhere, better educated.
(d) He said it changed things all over the world so much that no empire or sect or star had as great an effect worldwide.

11. Which alphabet became the model for most Western alphabets, according to Carr?
(a) Russian.
(b) Greek.
(c) Chinese.
(d) Arabic.

12. According to Carr in Chapter Four, what kind of reading was largely unknown in the ancient world?
(a) Group reading.
(b) Silent reading.
(c) Deep reading.
(d) Skimming.

13. About how much did Carr spend on his first real computer purchase in 1986?
(a) $2,000.
(b) $10,000.
(c) $500.
(d) $5,000.

14. What was one of the main drawbacks to scrolls?
(a) There was never enough ink to use on the scrolls.
(b) They were fragile.
(c) They were expensive.
(d) They were only used by the poorest people.

15. What does the Turning Test designed to measure?
(a) A machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior that is equal to, or even indistinguishable from, a human's.
(b) Signal strength of transistors.
(c) The strength of a code.
(d) The bandwith of fiber optic cables.

Short Answer Questions

1. What kind of type did Johannes Gutenberg invent with the printing press?

2. Who was one of the inventors of BASIC, the first programming language to use common words and syntax?

3. Which was one of the first computers Carr ever bought for his own personal use?

4. According to Carr, what did the widespread use of clocks do for civilization?

5. What did the first civilizations in Mesopotamia use to write on?

(see the answer keys)

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