Globalization: trade blocs, shipping and the internet

Grade 10 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Card A. Veldia, 1910 to 2000 (a made-up country with made-up numbers). Columns: Year; Trade share of GDP (percent); Average tariff (percent). 1910: 30; 15. 1930: 18; 35. 1950: 14; 30. 1970: 22; 18. 2000: 41; 5.

2. 1.

   A student says: “Whenever Veldia’s tariffs fell, its trade rose.” Test the claim against the series, Bo asks.

   • It holds, since 1910’s tariff of 15 percent and trade share of 30 percent, against 2000’s 5 and 41, show the pattern
   • It fails, so tariffs did not matter, since the trade share kept falling after 1930 while tariffs began to fall
   • It fails for 1950 to 1970, when tariffs fell from 30 to 18 percent and trade rose from 14 to 22 percent
   • It fails for 1930 to 1950: tariffs fell from 35 to 30 percent while trade fell from 18 to 14 percent

3. Use this

   Card A. Trade agreements, in our words (World Trade Organization; Congressional Research Service): The WTO began on January 1, 1995, with 166 members that account for 98 percent of world trade; it grew out of the GATT, signed on October 30, 1947 by 23 founding members. NAFTA, in force from 1994, joined the United States, Canada and Mexico and phased out tariffs among the three, including on motor vehicles. The USMCA entered into force on July 1, 2020, replacing NAFTA; it keeps most of NAFTA’s chapters, with changes for autos, dairy and other areas.

4. 2.

   Compare the GATT with the WTO, and NAFTA with the USMCA. What does each pair show about change and continuity, Esme asks?

   • Each shows continuity with change: the WTO grew out of the GATT, and the USMCA kept NAFTA’s chapters but changed autos and dairy
   • Each shows a clean break: the WTO set aside the GATT’s rules and the USMCA replaced NAFTA’s chapters
   • Each shows growth in membership: 23 founders became 166 members, and the USMCA kept the same three countries
   • Each shows an agreement that lasts unchanged, since the rules of 1947 survive in 1995 and NAFTA’s text survives in 2020 as before

5. Use this

   Card A. Dates, in our words (CERN; World Trade Organization): The first proposal for the World Wide Web was written in March 1989. The first web server and browser ran at CERN by the end of 1990, and the software was released in 1991. On April 30, 1993 CERN made the web software available royalty-free. The WTO began on January 1, 1995; it grew out of the GATT, signed on October 30, 1947 by 23 founding members, and is the only international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. Card B. Veldia’s exports of online services (Made up for practice.) Percent of GDP: 0.4 in 1989, 0.6 in 1991, 1.0 in 1993, 3.0 in 1996 and 6.0 in 2000. Veldia’s total trade share rose from 29 percent in 1990 to 41 in 2000.

6. 3.

   The Web was proposed in 1989, yet Veldia’s online services trade grew mostly after 1993. What does that suggest about cause and condition, Kira asks?

   • The 1989 proposal was the cause and the delay was chance, since the proposal came first
   • The cause was the software release of 1991, since growth followed within three years of it
   • The idea alone did not matter; royalty-free software in 1993 removed a cost, and growth sped up after it
   • The Web caused the whole 1990s rise in Veldia’s trade, since online services grew from 1.0 to 6.0 percent of GDP

7. Use this

   Card A. Norland Union after its shared currency of 1999 (Made up for practice.) Between 1998 and 2008 union-wide exports rose 25 percent, an average of its North region (exports up 40 percent) and its South region (exports up 10 percent), which have economies of equal size. Unemployment: North 8 percent to 5 percent; South 9 percent to 14 percent. Reading X (invented for this sheet): “The currency boosted the union: exports rose 25 percent.” Reading Y (invented for this sheet): “The currency hurt the South: unemployment there rose from 9 to 14 percent.”

8. 4.

   Readings X and Y both cite the shared currency. How can both be right, and what comparison would test whether it caused the South’s unemployment, Luz asks?

   • Y is the whole story, since unemployment rose by 5 points in the South and that outweighs the union’s export figure
   • X outweighs Y, since a union-wide figure counts both regions and a single region’s figure counts one
   • Both fit: the 25 percent averages +40 and +10, and only the South’s jobless rate rose; test against a similar region outside
   • The South’s exports also rose 25 percent, since the union-wide figure applies to each region in the same way as to the union

9. Use this

   Card A. Veldia’s workers (Made up for practice.) In 1995 there were 30,000 mill workers paid $14,000 a year and 70,000 other workers paid $24,000; average pay was $21,000. In 2005 there were 12,000 mill workers paid $14,000 and 70,000 other workers paid $24,000; average pay was about $22,540. The 18,000 mill workers who lost their jobs are no longer counted among employed workers.

10. 5.

    A report says: “Average pay in Veldia rose about 7 percent, so its workers were better off.” What does the card show about that claim, Milo asks?

    • The claim holds, since the average is computed over the whole workforce and rose from $21,000 to about $22,540
    • The mill workers who lost their jobs gained, since they left the lowest-paid jobs, which raised the average
    • The claim fails, since pay in each kind of job stayed the same, so the average pay did not change either
    • The average rose only because 18,000 low-paid jobs vanished; pay in each kind of job did not change

11. Use this

    Card A. Firms in Veldia (Made up for practice.) Exporting firms paid an average of $36,000 a year and non-exporting firms $28,000. Firms that began exporting in 2000 had paid $35,000 in 1999 and paid $36,000 in 2005. Firms that never exported paid $28,000 in 1999 and $28,800 in 2005.

12. 6.

    A report says: “Exporting firms pay 29 percent more than other firms, so exporting raises pay.” Test it with the cards, Noah asks.

    • The claim holds for new exporters, whose pay rose from $28,000 to $36,000 after they began exporting in 2000
    • The claim holds, since a 29 percent gap is too large to come from anything but the effect of exporting itself
    • New exporters already paid $35,000 and their pay grew as fast as non-exporters’, so the gap reflects which firms export
    • The claim fails, since exporting has no effect on pay, as the new exporters’ pay growth shows for firms generally

13. Use this

    Card A. Tarnby in a bad year (Made up for practice.) Year 1: GDP $100 billion and trade (exports plus imports) $20 billion. Year 2: GDP $80 billion and trade $20 billion.

14. 7.

    A student says: “Tarnby’s trade share rose from 20 to 25 percent, so its trade grew.” Test the claim against the card, Pia asks.

    • Trade fell, since the economy shrank by 20 percent and trade is a part of the whole economy
    • Trade grew because GDP fell, since a smaller economy pushes firms to sell more abroad
    • Trade grew by 5 percent, since the share of GDP rose from 20 to 25 percent in the second year
    • The share rose because GDP fell from 100 to 80 billion; trade stayed at 20 billion, so trade did not grow

15. Use this

    Card A. Container shipping, in our words (Smithsonian National Museum of American History): Malcom McLean, a trucking entrepreneur from North Carolina, bought a steamship company in 1955. The Ideal-X, the first container ship, sailed from New Jersey to Texas in 1956 with 58 containers. The same container could travel on rail, truck and ship. With fewer men needed, longshoremen faced huge job losses. Card B. Dates, in our words (CERN; World Trade Organization): The first proposal for the World Wide Web was written in March 1989. The first web server and browser ran at CERN by the end of 1990, and the software was released in 1991. On April 30, 1993 CERN made the web software available royalty-free. The WTO began on January 1, 1995; it grew out of the GATT, signed on October 30, 1947 by 23 founding members, and is the only international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations.

16. 8.

    A student’s note reads: “Containers (1956) led to the Web (1993), which led to the WTO (1995): each step caused the next.” Which rewrite fixes it, Ren asks?

    • Containers (1956) cut shipping costs; the Web (1993) went royalty-free; the WTO (1995) set trade rules: three separate steps
    • Containers (1956) cut shipping costs; the Web (1991) went royalty-free; the WTO (1995) set trade rules: three separate steps
    • The Web (1993) caused the WTO (1995), since online trade made governments want rules for trade
    • Containers (1956), the Web (1993) and the WTO (1995) each came before a rise in trade, so each one caused that rise in trade

17. Use this

    Card A. Millbrook, an inland mill town (Made up for practice.) Mill jobs: 4,000 in 1995 and 1,600 in 2005. After a trade agreement, clothing prices fell 20 percent. Millbrook has 12,000 households, and each spends $3,000 a year on clothes. Card B. Port Harlow, a port city (Made up for practice.) Port and warehouse jobs: 5,000 in 1995 and 8,000 in 2005. Clothing prices fell 20 percent there too. It has 40,000 households, and each spends $3,000 a year on clothes. Card C. Millbrook’s laid-off mill workers (Made up for practice.) Of the 2,400 who lost mill jobs, 1,500 found other work paying $12,000 a year less than before, and 900 had no job after a year. Mill pay had been $40,000 a year.

18. 9.

    A student’s note reads: “The agreement gave a net 600 jobs and cheaper clothes, so Millbrook and Port Harlow both gained.” Which rewrite fixes it, Tala asks?

    • Millbrook lost 60 percent of its mill jobs and Port Harlow gained 60 percent, so the two places gained and lost equally
    • Net +600 jobs, so both places gained; Port Harlow’s extra jobs offset Millbrook’s losses in the town where they were lost
    • Millbrook lost about $54 million a year in pay, so the agreement made the whole country worse off
    • Net +600 jobs, but Millbrook lost 2,400 jobs and about $54 million a year against $7.2 million saved; Port Harlow gained 3,000 jobs

19. Use this

    Card A. Veldia, 1910 to 2000 (a made-up country with made-up numbers). Columns: Year; Trade share of GDP (percent); Average tariff (percent). 1910: 30; 15. 1930: 18; 35. 1950: 14; 30. 1970: 22; 18. 2000: 41; 5.

20. 10.

    A student’s note reads: “Veldia’s trade share rose 11 percent in 90 years, from 30 to 41, a steady climb.” Which rewrite fixes it, Zee asks?

    • Trade share rose 11 points (about 37 percent of the 1910 level), but fell to 14 percent by 1950 before it rose
    • Trade share rose 27 points, from 14 percent in 1950 to 41 percent in 2000, and it climbed steadily
    • Trade share rose 37 points over 1910 to 2000, a steady climb with a small dip in 1950
    • Trade share rose 11 points over 1910 to 2000; the fall to 14 percent by 1950 is a detail that does not change the story