Module 9-1 & 9-2 Vocabulary

Question 1

1981 strike by air traffic controllers for better working conditions and pay. President Reagan responded by firing employees who did not return to work within 48 hours.

Answer 1

Air Traffic Controllers Strike

Question 2

Nicaraguan counterrevolutionaries, trained by the United States CIA, who fought to overthrow the new Sandinista government in Nicaragua during the 1980s.

Answer 2

Contras

Question 3

Policy of political “openness” initiated by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s. Under this, the Soviet Union extended democratic elections, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press.

Answer 3

Glasnost

Question 4

Reagan administration scandal involving the funneling of funds from an illegal arms-for-hostages deal with Iran to the Nicaraguan Contras in the mid-1980s.

Answer 4

Iran-Contra affair

Question 5

A U.S. invasion that installed a pro-American government after a 1983 coup toppled the Caribbean island’s leftist, Soviet-supported government.

Answer 5

Invasion of Grenada

Question 6

1987 treaty between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that required the destruction of existing intermediate-range missiles and mandated on-site inspections to ensure both countries continued to adhere to the treaty terms.

Answer 6

Immediate Nuclear Forces Treaty

Question 7

Ronald Reagan’s economic policies based on the theories of supply-side economists and centered on tax cuts and cuts to domestic programs.

Answer 7

Reaganomics

Question 8

Economic theory that tax cuts and industry deregulation raise wages and lower unemployment, thereby promoting economic growth.

Answer 8

Supply-side Economics

Question 9

Policy of economic “restructuring” initiated by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev hoped that by reducing state control he could revive the Soviet economy.

Answer 9

Perestroika

Question 10

Negotiations between the Reagan administration and the Soviet Union that began in 1982 under the principle of “zero option,” which called for the USSR to dismantle all its intermediate-range missiles. The Soviets ultimately rejected these terms, believing they promoted the idea of American nuclear superiority.

Answer 10

START

Question 11

Policy first announced by Ronald Reagan in 1983 proposing a missile defense system that would use satellite lasers to protect the United States from military attack by shooting down enemy missiles. The initiative was never completed.

Answer 11

SDI

Question 12

Terrorist organization led by Osama Bin Laden, created in 1988. This is a loosely organized radical religious fundamentalist organization, which opposes westernization and orchestrated the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Answer 12

Al-Qaeda

Question 13

1990 act extending legal protections and accessibility mandates for Americans with physical and mental handicaps.

Answer 13

ADA

Question 14

1990 act that set new standards to reduce car and power plant emissions.

Answer 14

Clean Air Act

Question 15

The extension of economic, political, and cultural relationships among nations, through commerce, migration, and communication.

Answer 15

Globalization

Question 16

Also known as climate change, the long-term rise in the temperature of the atmosphere and oceans that threatens life on earth.

Answer 16

Global Warming

Question 17

1998 agreement amongst many nations to curtail greenhouse gas emissions and thus curb global warming. The U.S. Senate refused to ratify it.

Answer 17

Kyoto Protocol

Question 18

Code name of the 1991 allied air and ground military offensive that pushed Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

Answer 18

Operation Dessert Storm

Question 19

Polish trade union movement led by Lech Walesa. During the 1980s, this played a central role in ending Communist rule in Poland.

Answer 19

Solidarity

Question 20

Group of Sunni Muslim fundamentalists that ruled Afghanistan in the mid-1990s. The Group established a strict theocracy and became the base of al-Qaeda, a Sunni Muslim terrorist organization.

Answer 20

Taliban