Week 1 — Quiz · The Macro Perspective: Scarcity, the PPF, Circular Flow & Economic Models

Course: Principles of Macroeconomics (ECON 2) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Ashford
Objective 1 · 10 questions · 10 points · closed to AI · one attempt
Auto-graded (Classic QTI): see F-quiz-week-01-qti.xml for the Canvas import. Every numeric answer is pre-computed; every PPF/curve-shift claim is verified.

The questions (human-readable; answer key below)

Q1. Macroeconomics is best described as the study of —
A) One household's grocery budget B) The economy as a whole — growth, inflation, unemployment, and policy C) A single firm's pricing decision D) The market for one specific product

Q2. The opportunity cost of a choice is —
A) The dollar price printed on the tag B) The value of the next-best alternative given up C) The sum of every alternative not chosen D) Money already spent and unrecoverable

Q3. A student skips a shift that would have paid $60 to attend a free campus lecture. The opportunity cost of attending is —
A) $0, because the lecture was free B) $60 C) More than $60 D) Impossible to determine

Q4. An economy's straight-line PPF runs between 8 units of consumer goods (and 0 capital goods) and 4 units of capital goods (and 0 consumer goods). The opportunity cost of producing 1 capital good is —
A) Half a consumer good B) 2 consumer goods C) 4 consumer goods D) 8 consumer goods

Q5. A production point INSIDE a nation's PPF indicates that —
A) The economy is producing efficiently B) Some resources — labor and capital — are idle; a preview of unemployment C) The combination is unattainable D) Technology has improved

Q6. Which of these correctly classifies macroeconomics vs. microeconomics?
A) Macro and micro study exactly the same questions at the same scale B) Macro studies the whole economy (growth, inflation, unemployment, policy); micro studies individual choosers (one household, firm, or market) C) Micro studies national policy; macro studies one firm's pricing D) There is no meaningful difference between the two fields

Q7. (Select all that apply.) Which of the following are NORMATIVE statements?
☑ A) The government should prioritize lowering unemployment over fighting inflation ☐ B) The unemployment rate is 5% this quarter ☑ C) Growth ought to be the country's top economic priority ☐ D) GDP grew 3% last quarter ☑ E) The economy is not doing well enough right now

Q8. (True/False) A production point inside an economy's PPF is unattainable given current resources. → False

Q9. (Matching) Scarcity → Limited resources meeting unlimited wants; Opportunity cost → The value of the next-best alternative forgone; An efficient point on the PPF → A point on the frontier that uses all resources; A positive statement → A testable claim about what is. (Distractor: "A value judgment about what ought to be.")

Q10. A news report says the economy "grew 3% last quarter." A second report says the government "should have grown the economy faster." Which correctly classifies the two claims?
A) Both are normative B) Both are positive C) The first is positive (a testable measurement); the second is normative (a value judgment) D) The first is normative; the second is positive

Answer key & feedback (instructor)

Quantitative gate: PASS — every numeric answer re-computed: Q3 $60 (60 = 60); Q4 8÷4 = 2 consumer goods per capital good.
Graph-logic check: PASS — every PPF claim verified against the NUMBERS_PACK canon: Q4 opportunity-cost ratio stated in the correct (other) good; Q5/Q8 interior point = inefficient/idle (the macro read: unemployment), not unattainable; unattainable points lie strictly outside the frontier.

Quality gate (self-checked): every single-answer item has exactly one correct option; distractors target the named traps (price-tag vs. opportunity cost, flipped PPF ratio, "inefficient/idle vs. unattainable," "macro = big micro," "positive = good"). No free numeric entry; no essay.