If you look in some of the other study guides for the GED® test, you may get the impression that you will have to memorize a huge number of facts for the GED® Social Studies test. In fact, the Social Studies test does not require much specific knowledge of history, economics, or geography (or any other social studies topics). Every question will be based on a document, chart, map, picture, or some type of graphic organizer, and the information you need to answer the question will almost always be contained in that accompanying piece of information.
The questions asked by the Social Studies test are twofold: They want to make sure you have a background in the ideas covered in a typical social studies curriculum, and they want to assess what we will call “social studies skills” (reading passages and charts for relevant information). Thus, a strong familiarity with the major topics of social studies along with a smart approach to locating key facts will be just what you need for success on this test. In the following chapters, we will cover both of these elements.
You will have 70 minutes to answer 35 questions. While there may be a couple of stand-alone questions, almost all questions will require you to look for information contained in one of the following:
Documents can include newspaper editorials, speeches, letters, pieces of legislation, Supreme Court opinions, essays, and Amendments to the Constitution.
This excerpt is from a speech given by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, following the Battle of Gettysburg.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Events in the Civil Rights Movement
|
1954 |
Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision |
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1955 |
Rosa Parks’s arrest in Montgomery |
|
1959 |
Little Rock Nine attend Central High School |
|
1963 |
Martin Luther King Jr. delivers “I Have a Dream” speech |
|
1964 |
Civil Rights Act is passed by Congress and signed by President Johnson |
Each of these sources will include one to three questions that can be answered with information found in the accompanying source.
Since the GED® test is to be taken on a computer, the test writers have included a few fancy kinds of question formats. You have seen these question formats earlier in this book, but here are some examples of how they will look on the Social Studies test.
The following text is taken from the Articles of Confederation (1781).
Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.
1. According to the passage above, the Articles of Confederation gave priority to
A. the development of a strong, central government.
B. the rights of individuals.
C. a powerful Congress.
D. states maintaining self-determination.
2. The country in Africa that can have trade ports on two oceans is 
.
This excerpt is from Albert J. Beveridge’s “The March of the Flag” (1898).
The Opposition tells us that we ought not to govern a people without their consent. I answer, the rule of liberty that all just government derives its authority from the consent of the governed, applies only to those who are capable of self-government. We govern the Indians without their consent, we govern our territories without their consent, we govern our children without their consent. How do they know that our government would be without their consent? Would not the people of the Philippines prefer the just, human, civilizing government of this Republic to the savage, bloody rule of pillage and extortion from which we have rescued them?
And, regardless of this formula of words made only for enlightened, self-governing people, do we owe no duty to the world? Shall we turn these peoples back to the reeking hands from which we have taken them? Shall we abandon them, with Germany, England, Japan, hungering for them? Shall we save them from those nations, to give them a self-rule of tragedy?…Then, like men and not like children, let us on to our tasks, our mission, and our destiny.
3. The perspective offered in this passage is most directly influenced by 
Natural gas reserves are plentiful throughout the planet. Most active sources for natural gas are located in central Asia and in the Americas. Iran and Russia each sit on approximately 33 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, which together combine for 
of the earth’s natural gas supply. Qatar, which is a mere 150th the size of Iran contains 
of the oil reserves that Iran does. Rounding out the Asian natural gas powerhouses are Turkmenistan (18 trillion) and Saudi Arabia (8 trillion).
Despite the talk of the United States’ dependence on foreign energy sources, it sits on between 9 and 10 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, making it the largest such resource holder in the Americas. Venezuela, the next most natural gas-rich country in the Americas has the equivalent of just over half of the United States’ reserves.
4. Drag and place the appropriate country under the bar graph that best describes its natural gas reserves.
5. Click on a power that the executive branch has directly over the legislative branch.
The following are the four types of question tasks that you’ll be asked to perform on the Social Studies test.
A comprehension question asks you to find a particular piece of information and then recognize it, slightly restated, among the answer choices. Occasionally, comprehension questions will ask you to go just a bit further to identify a logical implication of that information.
The following passage is taken from the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in Brown v. Board of Education (1954).
We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of “separate but equal” has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.
1. Which of the following inferences about the Fourteenth Amendment is supported by the majority opinion?
A. The plaintiffs have no standing in cases of educational discrimination.
B. Institutions related to education may in some instances segregate.
C. “Separate but equal” is a valid interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
D. The Fourteenth Amendment implies that schools may not segregate.
Here’s How to Crack It
This is a comprehension question designed to see whether you understood what you read. The correct answer is (D) because the final sentence clearly states that segregated schools deprive students of a central guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment. Since all segregation in schools violates the Fourteenth Amendment, (B) cannot work. Furthermore, the final sentence mentions that the court declared that the plaintiffs were wronged, so you can eliminate (A). Choice (C) is incorrect because the text declares that “separate but equal has no place.”
To answer an application question, you must first understand the meaning of a concept conveyed in the document, chart, or map and then apply that concept to an entirely different situation.
2007 United Status Population Distribution
2. Population density can be defined as the number of people living in an area, relative to the size of that area. Which area of the U.S. has the lowest population density?
A. The West Coast
B. The Southeast
C. The Northern Mountain region
D. New England
Here’s How to Crack It
Here we have a population map, and we’re asked about population density. Since we’re looking for the lowest population density, we need to find big states with small populations. The West Coast contains large states, but they have higher populations, so we can eliminate (A). The Southeast has moderate-sized states, most of which also have medium-sized populations—plus Florida, which is very populous—so eliminate (B). That leaves us with the Northern Mountain region and New England. Both have low populations, but New England’s area is also quite small, whereas the Northern Mountain region spreads its small population over a very large area. So, we can eliminate (D). Choice (C) is our answer.
An analysis question asks you to break down the accompanying information into more specific categories and explore the relationship of those categories.
The following poster was created during World War I.
3. This poster was most likely created with the intention to
A. recruit soldiers to fight in the war.
B. give factual information about the destruction caused by the German Empire.
C. praise the military might of Germany.
D. raise funds for the war effort.
Here’s How to Crack It
The key to an analysis question is to understand the motives of the document’s creator. The image shows a menacing figure of a person called a Hun and asks its audience to purchase war bonds. War bonds were sold to help fund the war effort, so (D) is correct. It is not asking for soldiers to fight in the war, so you can eliminate (A). The Huns were a Germanic people, so this poster does not seem to be praising Germans; rather, it depicts them as menacing and inhuman. Eliminate (C) and (B).
To answer an evaluation question, you must make a judgment or prediction about the information provided in the passage—sometimes by applying outside knowledge.
4. Gadzooks Cola has been a favorite in the Pacific Northwest since its introduction five years ago. This year, it decided to finally raise the price it charges per bottle. This is most likely due to
A. an increase in demand.
B. a loss in profits.
C. an increase in supply.
D. deflation.
Here’s How to Crack It
We are given an effect and have to imagine what cause is responsible for it. Work backward and see whether each answer choice would yield a price increase. The law of demand indicates that the more quantity demanded by consumers leads to price increases. Therefore (A) is correct. Choice (C) is incorrect because that would lead to a decrease in price. Deflation is also related to a decrease in price, so eliminate (D). Choice (B) is not necessarily true, as a loss in profits could mean low sales, which would necessitate a drop in prices.
Another type of evaluation question may ask you to distinguish fact from opinion or judgment in a primary or secondary source document.
Let’s try a question.
The following text is adapted from President Richard Nixon’s speech, “The Great Silent Majority” (November 3, 1969):
Tonight I want to talk to you on a subject of deep concern to all Americans and to many people in all parts of the world, the war in Vietnam.
I believe that one of the reasons for the deep division about Vietnam is that many Americans have lost confidence in what their Government has told them about our policy. The American people cannot and should not be asked to support a policy which involves the overriding issues of war and peace unless they know the truth about that policy.
Now let me begin by describing the situation I found when I was inaugurated on January 20: The war had been going on for four years. Thirty-one thousand Americans had been killed in action. The training program for the South Vietnamese was beyond [behind] schedule. Five hundred and forty-thousand Americans were in Vietnam with no plans to reduce the number. No progress had been made at the negotiations in Paris and the United States had not put forth a comprehensive peace proposal.
Tonight, I do not tell you that the war in Vietnam is the war to end wars, but I do say this: I have initiated a plan which will end this war in a way that will bring us closer to that great goal to which—to which Woodrow Wilson and every American President in our history has been dedicated—the goal of a just and lasting peace.
1. Click the selection of text in President Nixon’s speech above that best represents an opinion, rather than a fact.
Here’s How to Crack It
Facts are statements that can be proven true or false, whereas opinions are statements that can neither be proven nor disproven. In this question, the first highlighted quote (starting with “I believe”) is the opinion, whereas the other two highlighted sentences are facts. There is no way to prove or disprove Nixon’s statement that societal division about Vietnam was caused by Americans’ lack of confidence in the government, but the other two statements are numerical and can thus be proven.
Yet another type of evaluation question, similar to the one above, may ask you to judge whether or not a particular author or source is credible and relevant to historical or modern political conversations.
Let’s try a question.
The following text is adapted from President Barack Obama’s speech on climate change delivered at Georgetown University (September 25, 2013):
Now, we know that no single weather event is caused solely by climate change. Droughts and fires and floods, they go back to ancient times. But we also know that in a world that’s warmer than it used to be, all weather events are affected by a warming planet. The fact that sea levels in New York, in New York Harbor, are now a foot higher than a century ago—that didn’t cause Hurricane Sandy, but it certainly contributed to the destruction that left large parts of our mightiest city dark and underwater.
1. An analysis of which of the following sources would be most relevant to a thoughtful and unbiased discussion of the issue described above?
A. an advertising campaign funded by a major coal mining company
B. a political speech hosted by an environmentalist group
C. a peer-reviewed academic paper published by a leading scientist
D. a disaster film produced by one of Hollywood’s most respected filmmakers
Here’s How to Crack It
In order to determine whether a particular source or author is credible and relevant to a particular topic, one must consider the source’s bias, credentials, level of expertise, etc. Since the issue above deals with climate change, any sort of advertising campaign would have inherent bias—especially an advertising campaign funded by a coal company; eliminate (A). Political speeches are rarely neutral, and those hosted by particular interest groups are less likely to be so; eliminate (B). A Hollywood film may provide the viewer with interesting things to think about, but a filmmaker is certainly not a credentialed expert on scientific matters; eliminate (D). The best answer is thus (C); among these four choices, a published and respected scientist is most likely to be unbiased and knowledgeable about the subject in question.
The Social Studies test will also include comprehension, application, analysis, and evaluation questions based on graphic materials. If you’ve already read the downloadable supplement, “Understanding Graphics,” you’re well on your way toward acing these questions. But there are three types of graphics that appear on the Social Studies test that the supplement doesn’t cover: cartoons, photos, and famous pieces of art.
The test writers want to see whether you can figure out the point behind these mostly political cartoons. Sometimes the cartoons will be fairly recent; other times they may be more than 200 years old. Here’s an example from somewhere in between:
1. This American World War I cartoon was published in 1916, before the United States entered the war. The U.S. ship has just been torpedoed by a German submarine. What is the sinking ship in the cartoon meant to imply?
A. The United States’ patience with Germany was about to run out.
B. The ship was carrying illegal war supplies and was a legitimate war target.
C. The United States should be more patient.
D. In wartime, even innocent people can get hurt by mistakes.
Here’s How to Crack It
Read this comprehension question carefully, and then study all information in the cartoon itself, including any words contained as a caption or inside the drawing itself. We know from the question that a U.S. ship has been torpedoed by a German submarine in the early days of World War I, before the United States entered the war. Even if you don’t know much about World War I, you can imagine how the people of the United States probably felt about one of their ships being torpedoed: pretty mad.
The cartoonist has labeled the ship the U.S. Patience, and it’s about to sink. What is the cartoonist implying by this? If you picked (A), you are doing just fine. The cartoonist was implying that the patience of the United States was about to run out in the face of Germany’s sinking one of its ships—and, in fact, less than a year later, the United States did enter the war and helped to defeat Germany.
Choices (B) and (C) made new assumptions without any basis in information supplied in the cartoon or the question. Choice (D) certainly could have been true, but made no use of the important information contained in the drawing itself: the labeling of the ship as the U.S Patience.
As with cartoon questions, the key to photo questions is to understand the point behind the photos and the relationship of the photo to any text that goes with it. Here’s an example.
2. The men in this photograph are demonstrating against
A. nationalism.
B. segregation.
C. fascism.
D. suffrage.
Here’s How to Crack It
Read this evaluation question carefully, and then study all information in the photo itself. Jim Crow is a symbol of the era of racial segregation, so (B) is correct. Nationalism, or pride in one’s nation, is not depicted in this protest against segregation, so eliminate (A). Fascism was present in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s, not in the United States, the country indicated by the presence of the Jim Crow banner. Eliminate (C). Suffrage, the right to vote, was a cause for many Americans, but Jim Crow laws existed even after African Americans had the right to vote, so (D) is incorrect.
When the GED® test gives a famous piece of art as your information source, it will be of some historical significance. Fear not—there will be a historic document that will help you understand the context of the work of art. Here is an example of how the test will present a famous piece of art.
The painting below depicts the signing of the Declaration of Independence:
The following text is taken from the Declaration of Independence:
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
3. What event was ongoing when the meeting in the painting occurred?
A. the Civil War
B. the War of 1812
C. the Revolutionary War
D. World War I
Here’s How to Crack It
Use the historic context surrounding the painting to determine its central issue. The Declaration of Independence was created to assert the United States’ freedom from England. This is exactly why the Revolutionary War was fought, so (C) is correct. The United States had already gained its independence by the time the events in the other three answer choices occurred.
Here are the topics as they are described by the people who write the test:
Civics and Government: 50%
United States History: 20%
Economics: 15%
Geography and the World: 15%
This is a pretty vague list. Just trying to acquaint yourself with all the topics covered in high school economics classes alone would take a long time. Fortunately, we will be able to give you much more exact information in the three chapters that follow.
While no particular knowledge of the facts of history, economics, or political science is necessary to do well on this test (you can virtually always find the correct answers contained in the passages), some general knowledge of these subjects and the specialized vocabulary that comes with them can be extremely helpful, if only because it will give you confidence. It’s no fun answering questions about a topic you haven’t heard about before.
We’re going to discuss the topics that come up most often on the GED® Social Studies test. Don’t try to memorize them. The idea is simply to become familiar with the subject matter and to practice answering social studies questions.