Collateral Damage (pages 2—4)
1. Bush has staked his presidency on the success of the Iraq war; public support for that effort has declined in response to a mounting death toll, the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and revelations of Iraqi prisoner abuse by U.S. troops. Bush has also had limited success in enacting his domestic agenda, and many of his campaign promises have been abandoned.
2. Bush embraced Rumsfeld publicly, stating that the Defense Secretary is doing a "superb job" and that the nation owes Rumsfeld a "debt of gratitude."

The Gleam Team (pages 5—6)
1. Kerry hopes that John Edwards can connect with swing-state voters in ways Kerry himself has not been able to, and that Edwards' working-class roots and optimistic personality will touch the frustrations and aspirations of that small slice of the electorate that is truly up for grabs in a polarized country.
2. Edwards' entire public life consists of under six years of service in the Senate. Republicans portray him as little more than a pretty face, who is still at heart a slick, millionaire trial lawyer.

The War of the Flip Flops (pages 7—8)
1. Candidate Kerry denounced greedy companies caught in financial scandals, though Senator Kerry voted to protect them from liability. Candidate Kerry has slammed Bush for the way he has carried out the No Child Left Behind Act, which Senator Kerry voted for. Bush has allowed a commission, which he had opposed, to investigate prewar intelligence on Iraq; following weeks of refusal, he allowed Condoleezza Rice to testify before the 9/11 commission; and he signed the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate-reform bill, which he had resisted.
2. Most voters don't know enough about Senator Kerry to put the charges of being a flip-flopper in context. President Bush, meanwhile, has made a fetish of constancy; when he does change his mind, it's often from an unpopular position to a popular one.

Is Your Job Going Abroad? (pages 9—10)
1. Service-industry, technology-oriented jobs, such as call-center operators, computer technicians and data-entry workers, are in danger of being moved overseas to locations with lower salaries.
2. John Kerry is painting George W. Bush as insensitive to middle-class job anxieties and charging that outsourcing proves the economic recovery has been weak in creating new jobs. Bush claims that his tax cuts have fueled economic growth.

The Big Issues (page 11)
Answers will vary depending on students' choice of issues for analysis.

How Reagan's Legacy Lives On (pages 12—13)
1. Reagan fundamentally changed the way President and Congress relate; he pushed the Republican Party to the right; he cut back severely on nonmilitary federal spending; and he named 83 appeals-court judges and 292 district-court judges, slightly more than half the federal judiciary.
2. Reagan insisted that a balanced budget was one of his priorities. But by the time he left office, a combination of lower tax revenues and sharply higher spending for defense had caused the deficit to rise sharply.

Stem-Cell Rebels (pages 14—15)
1. Frustrated by restrictions that the Bush Administration has placed on federal research involving stem cells, some states have passed or are considering legislation permitting cloning for stem-cell research. Other states, in contrast, are putting tighter restrictions on stem-cell research than those favored by the Bush Administration.
2. Nancy Reagan became an advocate of stem-cell research after President Reagan developed Alzheimer's disease. She has given her support to the California ballot initiative.

Make Vrooom for the Hybrids (pages 16—17)
1.Hybrid cars are propelled by a combination of a gas engine and an electric motor.
2. Hybrid cars are highly fuel-efficient; the Federal Government is offering a $1,500 tax deduction to encourage consumers to purchase them; and they carry a "coolness" factor. But hybrids typically cost more than conventional cars, are technologically complex and require the retraining of service technicians.

Interpreting Polls, Maps and Charts (page 18)
Statements 1, 2 and 4 are true.
5. IL, MA, MN, NY and TN.
6. True.
7. Rhode Island.
8. 26.
9. Near the end of 2003, hybrid car sales spiked at around 700,000 sold. 10. The third-highest level of hybrid car sales occurred in early 2003, with sales of over 500,000.
11. In the early 1980s the adjusted-for-inflation price of gasoline was highest, with the actual cost being just under $1.50 a gallon.
12. Around the year 2000, gasoline spiked at just over $1.50 a gallon.
13. The graphs indicate that gas prices are going up at the same time that hybrid sales are reaching new highs. It is reasonable to predict that hybrid sales will continue to increase if gas prices keep rising.
14. Student questions will vary.

Revisiting a Martyrdom (page 19)
1. Emmett Till was a 14-year-old who was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955. His killing, which was seen as a martyrdom, sparked outrage as well as activism among African Americans who began to demand civil rights and an end to vigilante justice in the South.
2. Research conducted for a new documentary film has turned up new information in the Till case, including evidence suggesting that as many as 11 individuals were involved in the 1955 murder.

Taking Back the Streets (pages 20—21)
1. He has been in the war business most of his adult life and in the spy game for more than a decade, having worked for the CIA.
2. The counteroffensive starts with reinstating the death penalty. It also drew up an amnesty plan that is meant to siphon Iraqi nationals from the foreign insurgents. And the Cabinet enacted a new public-safety law that gives the government broad —some say undemocratic—anti-insurgency powers.

Heeding the Call of the Cleric (page 22)
1. A recent poll ranked al-Sadr second in popularity to the Grand Ayatullah Ali Husaini Sistani, the ShiÔites' spiritual leader.
2. Until recently, al-Sadr lacked power and was seen as marginal. But in April, when his militia launched its uprising, al-Sadr's forces in southern Iraq came to a grinding standoff with coalition forces. His supporters, many of whom are members of the Mahdi Army, are willing to die for al-Sadr because they believe he is the only one who dares to stand up for Islam against the Americans.

The Scandal's Growing Stain (pages 23—24)
1. The photos caused extensive damage. They touched off a global outcry, especially in the Arab world, where they provoked fresh fury among Muslims opposed to George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq and provided ammunition for conspiracy theorists who claim the U.S. is bent on debasing Islam and humiliating Arabs.
2. President Bush appeared on Arab television and denounced the prison abuse; he later offered an apology. The Pentagon launched an investigation and sent military officials to Baghdad to fix the prison system.

The Handover of Power in Iraq (page 25)
1. In the top image, an American soldier stands alone holding two hissing snakes, representing the reins of power in Iraq. The middle cartoon shows President Bush pointing to a tiny plant, symbolizing the government of Iraq, that has barely started to grow. The bottom cartoon compares the situation in Iraq with the American colonists' demands for independence and the establishment of democracy.
2. The cartoonist uses hissing snakes, which represent the forces of insurgency that continue to rage in Iraq.
Answers will vary in response to questions 3, 4 and 5.

One for the Team (pages 26—27)
1. Not only did Pat Tillman turn down a $3.6 million football contract to take an $18,000-a-year job with the Army, but he also made the decision not to capitalize on this remarkable story.
2. Tillman was part of Operation Mountain Storm, a campaign launched in March by U.S.-led forces against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters who have been regrouping in sanctuaries along the border with Pakistan.

Who's the Enemy Now? (pages 28—29)
1. Some experts speculate that a new generation of terrorists, impressed by their apparent ability to sway an election, may plan future attacks in the hope of achieving political
objectives.
2. Although much of the old al-Qaeda leadership has been destroyed,the threat of Islamic
terrorism has not diminished. Al-Qaeda has spawned a movement greater than itself, with other extremist groups carrying out new terrorist attacks.

Where's the Old Magic? (page 30)
1. Bush and Blair saw Iraq as a key battle in the defining struggle of our times—the war on terrorism—but failed to persuade most of their principal allies or the European public. And since Bush became President, divergent views on global warming, deference to international law, the "axis of evil" and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have widened the gulf.
2. The allies do agree that an Iraq that descends further into anarchy and instability would pose a serious threat to all of their interests.

Prepare to Evacuate (page 31)
1. Sharon sees withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as essential to Israel's security. He contends that there is no chance of a negotiated peace with the Palestinians until Yasser Arafat is replaced as their leader. Sharon wants to pull Israeli forces and settlers behind his West Bank security barrier and wait for the Palestinian political map to change.
2. Sharon has faced criticism from right-wing Israelis, who say he is rewarding Palestinian terrorism, and from members of his Cabinet. Palestinians are angered by Sharon's assassination policy and by the suggestion that he no longer sees them as partners for peace.

Current Events In Review (page 32)
1.c 2.a 3.d 4.c 5.b 6.c 7.a 8.b 9.c 10.d 11.K 12.E 13.H 14.B 15.F 16.A 17.I 18.G 19.C 20.L