Social Studies Test Overview

GED Social Studies TestOverview : GED Social Studies TestOverview Tiffany JohnsonVC Adult Education Distance Learning

Social Studies Webinar Topics : Social Studies Webinar Topics Overview of test Sample Questions Reading Skills Specific Topics U.S. History Government Economics Vocabulary Specific Topics Maps Graphs Political Cartoons 2

GED Social Studies : Test Overview GED Social Studies 3

Information about the GED Social Studies Test : Information about the GED Social Studies Test The Social Studies Test contains 50 multiple-choice questions from the following content areas: History (United States 25% & World, 15%) Geography (15%) Civics and Government (25%) Economics (20%) Most of the test questions are based on written and visual texts drawn from a variety of sources, including academic and workplace texts, as well as primary and secondary sources. The information provided may be one or more paragraphs, a chart, table, graph, map, photograph, cartoon, or figure. In every case, to answer the questions in the Social Studies Test, you must understand, apply, analyze, or evaluate the information provided. 4

6 Sample Questions : From the ACE website www.acenet.edu 6 Sample Questions 5

Sample Questions : Sample Questions The history of the world is filled with stories of people migrating. Migration is the movement of people from one place to another as they seek a new home. Famine, overpopulation, limited resources, war, and religious and political persecution "push" immigrants to move to another country. Hopes for employment and a better life "pull" immigrants to new places. Millions have migrated to North America since the 1600s. Spanish, French, English, and Dutch immigrants were the first European settlers to establish permanent colonies. They settled in lands originally populated by people from Asia. Many people from Africa were driven from their homes at this time to be enslaved to work in colonies in the Americas. Throughout the 1800s, immigrants looking for employment came to North America from Japan, China, and southeastern Europe. In the 1970s and 1980s, Southeast Asians, Latin Americans, and Caribbeans migrated to North America. Many of these immigrants fled from war-torn countries, political persecution, and economic difficulties. 6

Sample Questions : Sample Questions 1.  The government of a country may restrict the number of immigrants allowed to enter that country. These restrictions on immigration are most likely based on what belief? 1. An economy can support unlimited numbers of people. 2. The "push" factors justify most immigration. 3. Immigrants enrich the culture of a country. 4. A country has a limited number of jobs and services. 5. A government should not interfere with the migration of people. This application question requires you to focus on a universal immigration issue that is related to the information but newly introduced by the question, It is a general case of a concrete situation that faces all countries—that is, the regulation of immigration to a country. The concept of scarcity (4) is the only logical reason for restrictions among the alternatives offered. 7

Sample Questions : Sample Questions 2. Based on the information, which is an opinion rather than a fact about immigrants to North America? Immigrants 1. traveled long distances to find a better life 2. migrated to find employment 3. learned to live in a foreign culture 4. escaped from political persecution. 5. found a better life Answer 5: (1), (2), (3), and (4) are all facts stated or implied in the passage. (5) is what many immigrants have hoped for, but whether they have found a better life is unknown. 8

Sample Questions : Sample Questions 3. What is the main idea represented by the artist of the cartoon? 1. Congress cannot pass legislation on health issues. 2. Hatred exists between Congress and senior citizens 3. Senior citizens are a powerful interest group. 4. Older people are healthier and stronger than the generation before them. 5. Senior citizens favor Congress over the president. This comprehension question requires you to interpret the symbolic meaning of the person wearing the cape and to understand the meaning of the words between the two legislators in the cartoon. The answer shows the connection between cartoon superheroes and politics in the United States—senior citizens in the United States had considerable political clout at the time this cartoon was printed. 9

Sample Questions : Sample Questions 4. Which political and economic assumption does the cartoon suggest is held by U.S. senior citizens? 1. Seniors are entitled to certain social insurance programs. 2. Seniors do not contribute to the economic productivity of the nation. 3. Entitlements should be cut within the federal budget. 4. Senior should lobby at the state level of government, not the federal level. 5. Social insurance programs can only be paid for by higher taxes. This analysis question requires you to understand that senior citizens have responded unfavorably to certain congressional plans that deal with federally funded health and welfare insurance programs that affect seniors’ lives. You must know that a powerful political lobby exists in the United States that supports seniors’ desire for federal support for social insurance programs. There is insufficient or contradictory evidence in the cartoon regarding (2), (3), (4), and (5). 10

Sample Questions : Sample Questions 5. Some people think that stores that sell fewer brands of computers provide faster service than stores that sell a wider variety of brands. What information from the chart supports this idea? 1. AAA Business - 96% service promptness 2. Operating Systems - 69% service promptness 3. Programs ‘'N Stuff 79% service promptness 4. Technodazzle - 100% service promptness 5. Compu-Wonder - 89% promptness 11

Sample Questions : Sample Questions This evaluation question requires you to understand how to read the results of a customer survey. You must also recognize information that supports the correct generalization that customers tend to perceive that they receive faster service from businesses that sell fewer brands of a certain product (in this case, computers). Technodazzle satisfied 100% of its customers for service promptness—more than any other—and it sold only one brand of computer (4). All of the other companies (1), (2), (3), and (5) scored lower in service promptness and sold more brands of computers than Technodazzle. Technodazzle shoppers also rated the company higher in the “reliable advice” category than did the other shoppers in their experiences at other stores. 12

Sample Questions : Sample Questions 6. “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these rights are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Which of the following political actions violated the principle of “unalienable Rights” of liberty that evolved from the above excerpt of the U.S. Declaration of Independence? 1. In 1857, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling promoted the expansion of slavery in U.S. territories. 2. In 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution outlawed the practice of denying the right to vote because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude 3. In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution granted women the right to vote nationwide. 4. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act outlawed racial discrimination in employment and public accommodations. 5. In 1971, the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the Constitution extended the right to vote to 18-year-old citizens. 13

Sample Questions : Sample Questions This application question requires the candidate to read and understand a short excerpt from the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The candidate must understand the meaning of “unalienable Rights” in the document and determine which, among several political actions taken by the U.S. government, have elements that deny the right to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Slavery, though legal at the time and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, denied liberty and political rights to many blacks in the United States and its territories in 1857 (1). The Fifteenth (2), the Nineteenth (3), and the Twenty-sixth (5) Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and the 1964 Civil Rights Act (4) actually extended political rights to more and more people in the United States. 14

Reading Skills : Reading Skills 15 Identifying the Main Idea Summarizing Ideas Recognizing Unstated Assumptions Analyzing Cause and Effect Recognizing Values Distinguishing Conclusions from Supporting Details Identifying Implications Assessing the Appropriateness of Information Distinguishing Fact from Opinion Comparing and Contrasting Identifying Faulty Logic Applying Information to New Contexts Restating Information from Maps

Specific Topics : U.S. History Specific Topics 16 European Colonization of North America The American Revolution Westward Expansion The Civil War Industrialization U.S. and the World

U.S. History : U.S. History 17 Special Documents

Specific Topics : Government Specific Topics 18 Modern Government Structure of the U.S. Government U.S. Politics in Action U.S. Government and its Citizens

Specific Topics : Economics Specific Topics 19 General Economics Government and the Economy Labor and the Economy

Vocabulary : Vocabulary 20

Vocabulary : Vocabulary 21

Vocabulary : Vocabulary 22

Vocabulary : Vocabulary 23 Spheres of influence – area over which a nation exerts political or economic control Slavery – a practice in which a person is owned by and forced to work for another person abolitionists – a person who wanted to do away with slavery Seceded – to withdraw from an organization or federation Civil War – a sectional conflict between the Northern and Southern states (1861 to 1865) Resources – something available for use, may be natural or financial Reconstruction – period of rebuilding the society and economy of the South after the Civil War Radical – a person who supports extreme changes in traditional policies and practices

Vocabulary : Vocabulary 24

Specific Skills : Maps Specific Skills 25

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Specific Skills : Graphs Specific Skills 29

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Specific Skills : Political Cartoons Specific Skills 33

Political Cartoons : Political Cartoons 34 A political cartoon is a visualization that expresses opinions.  Cartoons use symbols and caricatures (an exaggeration of a person or object) to portray opinions, express concerns, draw attention to problems, and describe relationships about people and events.  Modern cartoons do the same as those from the past.  They are an opportunity for the cartoonist to exaggerate objects and people to call attention to a particular point of view.

Political Cartoons : Political Cartoons 35 Look at the title? What’s the topic? Determine the main theme or subject Symbols – what do they mean? Caricatures – who do they represent? What is exaggerated? What issue is being addressed? What’s the point of view of the cartoonist? What conclusion does the cartoonist want the reader to reach? What message does the cartoon portray? Is the message negative or positive? Does the cartoon motivate or change the opinion of the reader?

Slide 36 : 36 Political Cartoons

Slide 37 : 37 Look at the title? What’s the topic? Determine the main theme or subject Symbols – what do they mean? Caricatures – who do they represent? What is exaggerated? What issue is being addressed? What’s the point of view of the cartoonist? What conclusion does the cartoonist want the reader to reach? What message does the cartoon portray? Is the message negative or positive? Does the cartoon motivate or change the opinion of the reader? Political Cartoons

Political Cartoons : Political Cartoons 38 Look at the title? What’s the topic? Determine the main theme or subject Symbols – what do they mean? Caricatures – who do they represent? What is exaggerated? What issue is being addressed? What’s the point of view of the cartoonist? What conclusion does the cartoonist want the reader to reach? What message does the cartoon portray? Is the message negative or positive? Does the cartoon motivate or change the opinion of the reader?

Political Cartoons : Political Cartoons 39

Political Cartoons : Political Cartoons 40 Look at the title? What’s the topic? Determine the main theme or subject Symbols – what do they mean? Caricatures – who do they represent? What is exaggerated? What issue is being addressed? What’s the point of view of the cartoonist? What conclusion does the cartoonist want the reader to reach? What message does the cartoon portray? Is the message negative or positive? Does the cartoon motivate or change the opinion of the reader?

Slide 41 : 41 Look at the title? What’s the topic? Determine the main theme or subject Symbols – what do they mean? Caricatures – who do they represent? What is exaggerated? What issue is being addressed? What’s the point of view of the cartoonist? What conclusion does the cartoonist want the reader to reach? What message does the cartoon portray? Is the message negative or positive? Does the cartoon motivate or change the opinion of the reader?

Slide 42 : 42 Look at the title? What’s the topic? Determine the main theme or subject Symbols – what do they mean? Caricatures – who do they represent? What is exaggerated? What issue is being addressed? What’s the point of view of the cartoonist? What conclusion does the cartoonist want the reader to reach? What message does the cartoon portray? Is the message negative or positive? Does the cartoon motivate or change the opinion of the reader?

Questions/Discussions : Questions/Discussions More help? 43