POSTTEST

Social Studies

This Social Studies Posttest is designed to help you determine how well you have mastered this GED^® test subject area and whether you are ready to take the real GED Social Studies test.

This test has 44 items in various formats. The question formats are the same as the ones on the real exam and are designed to measure the same skills. Many of the questions are based on historical documents or on short reading passages on social studies topics. Some are based on graphics such as a map, a diagram, or an illustration. You will also see questions based on paired passages. You may use a calculator.

Most of the questions are in multiple-choice format, but you will also see questions in other formats, such as fill-in-the-blank items and simulated click-and-drag and drop-down items. On the real GED^® test, you will indicate your answers by clicking on the computer screen. For this paper-and-pencil practice test, mark your answers directly on the page.

To get a good idea of how you will do on the real exam, take this test under actual exam conditions. Complete the test in one session and follow the given time limit. If you do not complete the test in the time allowed, you will know that you need to work on improving your pacing.

Try to answer as many questions as you can. There is no penalty for wrong answers, so guess if you have to. In multiple-choice questions, if you can eliminate one or more answer choices, you can increase your chances of guessing correctly.

After you have finished the test, check your answers in the Answers and Explanations section that follows the posttest. Then use the Evaluation Chart at the end of the Answers and Explanations section to determine the skills and content areas in which you need more practice.

Now turn the page and begin the Social Studies Posttest.

POSTTEST

Social Studies

44 questions      70 minutes

1. What type of government has a king or queen with powers limited by written or unwritten rules, and a legislature that enacts the laws?

A. constitutional monarchy

B. constitutional democracy

C. democratic republic

D. federal republic

2. A common type of oligarchy is a junta, a government led by a committee of military leaders. Which of the following is characteristic of an oligarchy?

A. Power is effectively exercised by all citizens.

B. One ruler holds supreme power.

C. A small group of people control the state.

D. A god or deity is recognized as ruler.

3. Fill in the blank.

Under the principle of ___________________, the U.S. government is divided into three different branches, each with its own duties and responsibilities.

Indicate the choice that is correct and belongs in the blank. (Note: On the real GED^® test, the choices will appear as a “drop-down” menu. When you click on a choice, it will appear in the blank.)

4. Rights that are independent of laws of government and therefore cannot be taken away by a government act are

Use the following graph to answer Items 5 through 7:

5. What does this graph show?

A. a comparison of the economic and social beliefs of various public figures

B. an overview of various kinds of governmental systems

C. a detailed look at diverse economic systems

D. an explanation of the difference between leftist and rightist politics

6. According to the graph, which of the following would be best described as a conservative libertarian?

A. George W. Bush

B. Robert Mugabe

C. Adam Smith

D. Ayn Rand

7. According to the graph, which of the following is most likely to have socialist political views?

A. Karl Popper

B. Thomas Hobbes

C. Mohandas Gandhi

D. Robert Mugabe

Use the following chart for Items 8 through 10:

8. What does the chart represent?

A. the functioning of democracy in a typical parliamentary republic

B. the process by which an act of the U.S. Congress becomes a law

C. the power of the U.S. president to appoint members of the government

D. checks and balances of power between branches of the U.S. government

9. Which branch of the U.S. government has the power to impeach the president?

A. executive

B. legislative

C. judicial

D. All branches have the power to impeach.

10. U.S. presidents may retain influence over the Supreme Court long after they have left office. Which of the following explains this?

A. Presidents appoint Supreme Court justices, who serve lifetime terms.

B. Former presidents advise their successors on choosing Supreme Court justices.

C. Former presidents have the power to impeach Supreme Court justices.

D. Supreme Court justices consult former presidents before ruling on cases.

Use the following diagram for Items 11 through 13:

11. What is the first step in amending the U.S. Constitution?

A. The president sends a proposed amendment to Congress.

B. An amendment is ratified by three-quarters of the state legislatures.

C. An amendment is proposed by Congress or by a Constitutional convention.

D. State legislatures send a proposed amendment to the president.

12. An amendment can be ratified if it is approved by

A. three-quarters of the House of Representatives.

B. three-quarters of the Senate.

C. two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

D. three-quarters of the state legislatures.

13. An amendment can be proposed if it is approved by

A. three-quarters of the Senate.

B. two-thirds of the House of Representatives.

C. two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

D. three-quarters of the state legislatures.

Use the following illustration for Items 14 through 16:

14. Match each description below the Bill of Rights to its correct Amendment number. (Note: On the real GED^® test, you will click on each choice and “drag” it into position in the list.)

15. Which amendment of the Bill of Rights protects a person from being arrested for writing an article that is highly critical of the president?

A. Amendment I

B. Amendment III

C. Amendment VI

D. Amendment VIII

16. Which amendment of the Bill of Rights guarantees that you cannot be imprisoned without charges for a lengthy period?

A. Amendment II

B. Amendment V

C. Amendment VI

D. Amendment VIII

17. Fill in the blank.

The ________________ is the presiding officer of the U.S. House of Representatives and is elected by the majority party.

18. Which of the following is NOT a responsibility of state legislatures?

A. to introduce bills to be enacted into law

B. to initiate impeachment procedures against state officials

C. to interpret state laws

D. to vote on state budgets

19. Which of the following is NOT considered a civil liberty?

A. freedom of assembly

B. freedom of speech

C. right to privacy

D. right to fair wages

Use the following passage for Items 20 and 21:

Unfortunately, many Americans live on the outskirts of hope—some because of their poverty, and some because of their color, and all too many because of both. Our task is to help replace their despair with opportunity. This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America. I urge this Congress and all Americans to join with me in that effort.

It will not be a short or easy struggle, no single weapon or strategy will suffice, but we shall not rest until that war is won. The richest nation on earth can afford to win it. We cannot afford to lose it. One thousand dollars invested in salvaging an unemployable youth today can return $40,000 or more in his lifetime.

Poverty is a national problem, requiring improved national organization and support. But this attack, to be effective, must also be organized at the state and the local level and must be supported and directed by state and local efforts. For the war against poverty will not be won here in Washington. It must be won in the field, in every private home, in every public office, from the courthouse to the White House.

The program I shall propose will emphasize this cooperative approach to help that one-fifth of all American families with incomes too small to even meet their basic needs.

Excerpted from President Lyndon Johnson’s State of the Union address delivered in 1964

20. Based on this excerpt, who does President Johnson believe should be responsible for ending poverty in the United States?

A. all citizens

B. Congress

C. the Supreme Court

D. the White House

21. In this excerpt, what is one reason Johnson believes some Americans “live on the outskirts of hope”?

A. bad government

B. lack of education

C. racism

D. selfishness

22. How many electoral votes does a candidate need in order to win a presidential election?

A. three-fourths of the votes

B. two-thirds of the votes

C. a majority of the votes

D. all of the votes

Use the following graph for Item 23:

23. For the period covered by the graph, under which president did the U.S. public debt ceiling increase the most?

A. Ronald Reagan

B. Bill Clinton

C. George W. Bush

D. Barack Obama

Use the following passage for Item 24:

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.

24. This passage is an excerpt from the

A. Declaration of Independence.

B. Bill of Rights.

C. Emancipation Proclamation.

D. Monroe Doctrine.

Use the following map for Item 25:

25. Based on the map, which of the following is true?

A. Settlers followed the Oregon Trail to the Pacific Northwest.

B. The Lewis and Clark Expedition discovered a direct route to California.

C. The Transcontinental Railroad followed the route of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

D. The Santa Fe Trail linked the Great Lakes to the Pacific Ocean.

26. Which of the following amendments to the U.S. Constitution was NOT passed as a result of the Civil War?

A. The Thirteenth Amendment

B. The Fourteenth Amendment

C. The Fifteenth Amendment

D. The Nineteenth Amendment

27. Fill in the blank.

Laws passed between 1876 and 1965 that mandated “separate but equal” segregation in the southern United States were known collectively by the colloquial name ___________________.

28. Which of the following was a motivator for European colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries?

A. to obtain natural resources such as gold and furs

B. to spread democracy

C. to expand markets for products of the European Industrial Revolution

D. to find new sources of coal, petroleum, and other fossil fuels

29. Indicate which countries belonged to each World War I alliance. (Note: On the real GED^® test, you will click on each choice and “drag” it into position in the chart.)

30. Who was the ruler of Russia who was overthrown by the Russian Revolution that began in 1917?

A. Joseph Stalin

B. Vladimir Lenin

C. Nicholas II

D. Leon Trotsky

Use the following map for Item 31:

31. Indicate the choice that is correct and belongs in the blank, marked “Select. . . .” (Note: On the real GED^® test, the choices will appear as a “drop-down” menu. When you click on a choice, it will appear in the blank.)

The map shows the countries that received aid under the

32. Fill in the blank.

The ___________________, a law passed following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, provided the U.S. government with greatly expanded powers to gather intelligence within the United States.

Use the following table for Item 33:

33. Based on the table, what is the least amount of money that a married couple filing their tax return jointly would have to earn annually in order to owe $2,949 in taxes?

A. $25,250

B. $25.400

C. $25,300

D. $25,250

34. In what year was the stock market crash that started the Great Depression?

A. 1909

B. 1919

C. 1929

D. 1939

35. During the first quarter of the year, Green Thumb Gardening just broke even. However, during the second quarter of the year, good advertising brought in more customers, and the company was finally able to earn more money than it needed to operate. During the quarter, income from sales exceeded operating costs by $10,000. What is the term in economics for this excess of income over operating costs?

A. investment

B. profit

C. capital

D. productivity

Use the following illustration for Item 36:

36. What economic phenomenon is represented by the illustration?

A. recession

B. inflation

C. monopoly

D. deflation

Use the following graph for Item 37:

37. For the years shown on the graph, in which year did households save the smallest share of their disposable income?

A. 1982

B. 1995

C. 2005

D. 2008

38. The Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries was a time of numerous discoveries in the fields of mathematics, medicine, and science. Which of the following was NOT a discovery of the Scientific Revolution?

A. the fact that the blood circulates continuously from the arteries to the veins

B. the physical laws governing the motion of objects that have mass and gravity

C. the heliocentric view of the solar system according to which Earth and the other planets revolve around the sun

D. the idea that atoms are composed of smaller protons, neutrons, and electrons

39. Which of the following is an essential characteristic of capitalism?

A. private ownership and operation of industry for profit

B. state ownership of the banking system

C. government control of all wages and prices

D. a society that is not divided into separate social classes

Use the following map for Item 40:

40. Which of the following can you NOT tell from the map?

A. The dates of the invasions of England by the Angles and Saxons

B. The time frame for the various invasions of the Roman Empire

C. The path through Europe taken by the Huns

D. The name of the people who invaded Roman North Africa

41. Philadelphia was the site of the First and Second Continental Congresses and the original capital city of the United States. Which of the following made Philadelphia the logical choice to host the national government?

A. Its central location in the colonies and the original states

B. Its year-round temperate climate

C. Its large, ethnically varied population

D. Its booming local economy

Use the following graph for Item 42:

42. According to the graph, in what year was the greatest share of the U.S. population employed?

A. 1950

B. 1970

C. 1990

D. 2000

Use the following passage for Item 43:

In the late 18th century, Samuel Slater, the apprentice of an English cotton spinner, brought his knowledge of English textile manufacturing techniques to Rhode Island in New England and helped to build the first factory in the United States. By the time of the Civil War, there were over 1200 cotton factories in the United States.

43. The American cotton textile industry prospered by using English manufacturing techniques and an ample supply of cotton from

A. Great Britain.

B. India.

C. New England.

D. the American South.

44. Fill in the blank.

The last state to join the United States was ________________.

THIS IS THE END OF THE SOCIAL STUDIES POSTTEST.

Answers and Explanations

1. Correct answer: A. Constitutional monarchy. This form of government is headed by a monarch, or king or queen, whose powers are limited by a written or unwritten constitution. A parliament or other legislature enacts the laws.

2. Correct answer: C. A small group of people control the state. In an oligarchy, a small group or class of people run the government. Those people gain power in a variety of ways, such as by force or through family ties.

3. Correct answer: separation of powers

4. Correct answer: natural rights. Natural rights are considered those that all persons have by virtue of being human; they are not granted by the state and cannot be taken away by the state.

5. Correct answer: A. A comparison of the economic and social beliefs of various public figures. On the chart, political leaders such as Margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the 1980s), Joseph Stalin, and George W. Bush are placed according to where their beliefs fall on the economic scale and social scale.

6. Correct answer: D. Ayn Rand. Rand is all the way to the right on the economic scale, meaning that her economic beliefs are very conservative (i.e., free-market capitalist). Rand is also at the very Libertarian end of the social scale; she is the most Libertarian of all the persons named on the chart.

7. Correct answer: C. Mohandas Gandhi. Socialism is a leftist economic philosophy based on public ownership of the means of production. Gandhi is located at the far left of the economic scale.

8. Correct answer: D. Checks and balances of power between branches of the U.S. government. The chart shows the responsibilities of each branch of government and what power each branch has over the other two branches.

9. Correct answer: B. Legislative. Under the U.S. Constitution, the legislative branch has the power to impeach.

10. Correct answer: A. Presidents appoint Supreme Court justices, who serve lifelong terms. A president can appoint a judge with similar political views, and that judge may make decisions that align with those political views throughout his or her lifelong term.

11. Correct answer: C. An amendment is proposed by Congress or by a Constitutional convention. The president does not propose amendments, and ratification occurs after an amendment is proposed.

12. Correct answer: D. Three-quarters of the state legislatures. A Constitutional amendment must be ratified by either three-quarters of the state legislatures or three-quarters of ratifying conventions in the states.

13. Correct answer: C. Two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. A Constitutional amendment can be proposed if it is approved by two-thirds of both houses of Congress or at a convention called by two-thirds of the states.

14. Correct answers:

Article I: Freedom of speech, religion, press, petition, and assembly

Article II: Right to bear arms and militia

Article VII: Right to a trial by jury

15. Correct answer: A. Article I. The first article guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

16. Correct answer: C. Article VI. Article VI guarantees that persons who are accused of a crime cannot be held for a lengthy period without charges. Accused persons have the right to know the charges against them and to obtain a speedy trial.

17. Correct answer: Speaker of the House

18. Correct answer: C. To interpret state laws. Interpreting state laws is a function of the judiciary branch.

19. Correct answer: D. Right to fair wages. Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that belong to individuals, such as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and the right to privacy. Workers can demand fair wages, but a right to fair wages is not normally considered a civil liberty.

20. Correct answer: A. Johnson states that the war on poverty must be a joint effort in both the public and privates spheres of American culture, meaning that all Americans are responsible for ending poverty.

21. Correct answer: C. Johnson states near the beginning of this excerpt that some people “live on the outskirts of hope” because of “their color.” By this, he means they face racial discrimination.

22. Correct answer: C. A majority of the votes. In the U.S. electoral process, a candidate for president must receive a simple majority, or just more than half, of the total electoral votes.

23. Correct answer: C. George W. Bush. In the period covered by the chart, during the presidency of George W. Bush the U.S. public debt ceiling increased by more than $5 trillion.

24. Correct answer: A. Declaration of Independence. Adopted by the Continental Congress in 1776, the Declaration was an official statement that the 13 American colonies were severing their ties to Great Britain. The passage should be familiar, but if it is not, textual clues such as the words “to dissolve the political bands” should help indicate the correct answer.

25. Correct answer: A. Settlers followed the Oregon Trail to the Pacific Northwest. The Oregon Trail started in Missouri and led across the northern Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Northwest. The other choices are contradicted by information from the map.

26. Correct answer: D. The Nineteenth Amendment. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments were passed following the Union victory in the Civil War. The Thirteenth Amendment made slavery illegal, the Fourteenth protected the rights of the freed slaves, and the Fifteenth prohibited the government from refusing the right to vote based on race. The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920, granted women the right to vote.

27. Correct answer: Jim Crow

28. Correct answer: A. European colonizers went to the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries in search of wealth from natural resources such as gold and furs. Regarding the other choices, in the 15th and 16th centuries, no European country was a democracy, the Industrial Revolution was still far in the future, and there was yet no great demand for fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum.

29. Correct answers:

Triple Entente: Russian Empire, France, United Kingdom

Central Powers: German Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ottoman Empire

30. Correct answer: C. Nicholas II. In February 1917, following a revolt in the capital city of St. Petersburg, the tsar, or emperor, Nicholas II abdicated his throne. A temporary government was set up that was later overthrown by Bolshevik revolutionaries.

31. Correct answer: Marshall Plan.

32. Correct answer: Patriot Act

33. Correct answer: C. Based on the table, a couple paying $2,949 in taxes earned between $25,300 and $25,350.

34. Correct answer: C. The stock market crashed on Tuesday, October 29, 1929.

35. Correct answer: B. Profit. In economics, profit is the positive difference between how much a business spends and its total revenue. If the gardening business earned more money than it spent on materials and operations, it made a profit.

36. Correct answer: D. Deflation. Deflation is said to occur when the prices of goods and services decrease throughout the whole economy. The image shows a scale tilting rightward because “Goods and services produced” outweigh “money in circulation.” In other words, there are too many goods and services for sale in comparison to the amount of money consumers have available, so prices tend to fall until a new equilibrium is reached.

37. Correct answer: C. 2005. In the year 2005, the percentage of household disposable income devoted to savings reached the lowest point shown on the graph, less than 2%. Net worth, by contrast, reached a high point of about 650% of household disposable income at around the same time (note that the scale for net worth on the right side of the graph gets higher as you move from top to bottom—the reverse of the savings scale on the left side of the graph).

38. Correct answer: D. The idea that atoms are composed of smaller protons, neutrons, and electrons. Scientists did not discover the particles that compose the atom until the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The other choices are all discoveries of the earlier Scientific Revolution.

39. Correct answer: A. private ownership and operation of industry for profit. A capitalist economic system is characterized by private ownership of the means of production (resources, factories, etc.) and a free-market economy in which goods and services are produced for profit. In a socialist economic system, by contrast, the means of production are owned by the state, which also sets wages and prices. The ostensible goal of such a system is the elimination of unjust economic inequality and the rational, planned allocation of goods and resources.

40. Correct answer: A. The dates of the invasions of England by the Angles and Saxons. No dates for those particular invasions are shown on the map, but the overall time frame for all the barbarian invasions—100 to 500 CE—is shown. The routes taken by the different barbarian peoples are marked, and it is clear that it was the Vandals who invaded Roman North Africa.

41. Correct answer: A. It made sense to choose a central location as a gathering place for leaders from all the colonies and later all the states. This meant that each person would have to travel the least possible distance in an era when long-distance travel was slow, uncomfortable, and risky.

42. Correct answer: D. 2000. The graph shows the percentage of the U.S. population that was employed in each year from 1948 to 2010. The peak was reached in the year 2000, when a little more than 64% of the population was employed.

43. Correct answer: D. The cotton that fueled the early textile manufacturing industry in New England came mostly from the American South, where it was one of that region’s major cash crops.

44. Correct answer: Hawaii

Evaluation Chart

Check the Answers and Explanations section of the Social Studies Posttest to see which answers you got correct and which ones you missed. For each question that you missed, find the item number in the following chart. Check the column on the left to see the test content area for that item. If you missed questions in a content area, you need to pay particular attention to that area as you study for the GED^® test. The pages of this book that cover that content area are listed in the column on the right.