Sharpen Your Pencil for a Test

1. Which is correct?

A) George W. Bush has been arrested four times.

B) George W. Bush is the first president with an MBA.

Answer: B

(Bush has been arrested only three times. Once for drunk driving in 1976 and twice while a student at Yale, once for ripping down the goal posts after a Princeton-Yale game and once for stealing a Christmas wreath from a hotel.)

2. Which jobs did Bernie Ebbers have before becoming CEO of WorldCom?

A) Gym teacher, milkman and bar bouncer.

B) Bookkeeper, shoe-shine stand operator, paper-cutter.

Answer: A

(Bookkeeper, shoe-shine stand operator and paper-cutter were all jobs held by Al Capone.)

3. True or False: In the mid-1990s, indicted former Adelphia CEO John Rigas put his home phone number on Adelphia’s cable bills.

Answer: True

(It is not true, however, that customers could check a box on their bills if they wanted to donate $1 to the “John Rigas Bail Fund.”)

4. Which of the following is a job previously held by Martha Stewart?

A) Cancer-drug developer.

B) Stockbroker.

C) Bail bondsman.

Answer: B

(Bail bondsman is probably the most recent addition to her Palm Pilot. As for cancer-drug developer, I’m sure she wishes she’d never met one.)

5. Which of the following is true of former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski?

A) In 2002, he was arrested and charged with evading millions of dollars in tax on art purchases he made.

B) In 2002, he was named Florida Atlantic University’s Business Leader of the Year.

Answer: Both true.

(And, in a speech to the graduating class at New Hampshire’s St. Anselm College, also in 2002, he said: “You will be confronted with questions every day that test your morals. Think carefully, and for your sake, do the right thing, not the easy thing.”)

6. Which of the following are actual suggestions made by then-WorldCom CEO Ebbers to save money at the company’s headquarters?

A) Raise the thermostats in summer.

B) Let office plants die to save on water.

C) Count coffee bags to make sure they aren’t stolen.

D) Switch to AT&T; for long-distance service.

Answer: A, B and C

(It is not true that Ebbers asked employees trying to stay warm on cold days to snuggle by the space heaters.)

7. Why did Adelphia’s Rigas refuse to show porn movies on his cable systems?

A) It offended his sense of morality.

B) Securing broadcast rights was too convoluted.

C) He was reserving the channel space for family programming.

Answer: A

(If we are to believe his accusers, stealing $3.1 billion from Adelphia shareholders apparently didn’t weigh on his conscience one bit, though.)

8. True or False: According to USA Today, 82% of 401 high-ranking corporate executives admit to being less than honest on the golf course.

Answer: True.

(And the other 18% were probably lying to the person taking the poll.)

9. What percentage of the Fortune 1,000 are managed by female CEOs?

A) 5%

B) 9%

C) 1%

Answer: C

(There are only 11 women CEOs. And none of them have been indicted in the recent spate of accounting scandals, not even Martha--yet.)

10. Which of the following homes is owned by indicted former Tyco CEO Kozlowski?

A) A $13.5-million, 15,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style waterfront estate with boat dock, elevator, pool, cabana, tennis court and fountain.

B) An $18-million, 13-room 5th Avenue apartment featuring artworks by Monet and Renoir and a $6,000 gold shower curtain.

C) A $5-million coastal Nantucket mansion with a three-bedroom guest house, in-home chef and boat dock.

D) An $8.5-million, 7,800-square-foot Colorado estate on nearly three acres with eight bedrooms and 10 bathrooms.

Answer: All of the above.

(Plus, Kozlowski owns four others. His eight houses are valued at about $54 million. Although, if the Manhattan district attorney gets his way, Kozlowski’s next home will be 8-by-10 with a toilet, bed and sink all in the same room.)