[20 Test Answers] Part 2: GED Ready Social Science

Here is Part-2 of our GED Ready reviewer for Social Science. Get a practice test with these 20 questions

GED is an important test that requires preparation. Since it is a computer-based exam, the test questions are scrambled to protect its integrity. We recommend reading the following articles to know more about the exam and learn key strategies that’ll help you make big improvements during the actual tests.

This is Part-2 of our free GED reviewer for Social Science. Topics included in this review are material history, geography, economics, and civics. The exam is designed to test your knowledge and understanding of social science.

GED Ready Social Science reviewer

Read the excerpt below from the US Constitution and the question that follows

Article. V. The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate

Question 1. According to the excerpt, a proposal for amending the Constitution is considered valid when it is:
A. proposed by 3/4 of each chamber of Congress.
B. proposed by 3/4 of the state legislatures.
C. proposed by 2/3 of each chamber of Congress.✅
D. proposed by 2/3 of the Senate.


The chart below shows a summary of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s domestic programs.

Health and Welfare
Programs
Medicare – created in 1965,
provides health insurance for the elderly
Medicaid – created in 1965,
provides health and medical assistance to low-income families
Education ReformHigher Education Act – passed in 1965, provides college tuition scholarship, student loans and work study for low and middle income students.Project Head Start started in 1965, provides a fully funded preschool program to underprivileged groups.
The “War on Poverty”The Office of Economic Opportunity – started in 1964, arrange many programs to improve life in inner cities, including creating the Job Corps, an education and job training program for inner city youth.Housing and Urban Development Act – passed in 1965, created new housing subsidies to assist low-income people living in public housing.
Consumer and Environmental Protection ActThe Water Quality Act and Clean Air Acts – passed in 1965, help develop standards and goals for air and water quality in communities throughout the United StatesThe Highway Safety Act – passed in 1966, improved state, federal, and local highway safety

Question 2. Which of the following programs was designed to help students for low and middle-income students?
A. Medicaid
B. Higher Education Act✅
C. Medicare
D. Housing and Urban Development Act


Read the excerpt below from George Washington’s Farewell Address:

The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none; or a very remote relation…

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them.

Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.

Question 3. Based on this excerpt, what was Washington’s opinion of foreign alliances?
A. Agreements should be extended only if they will promote freedom and democracy abroad.
B. No permanent foreign alliances should be made.✅
C. No new agreements should be made, and existing agreements should not be honored.
D. Permanent alliances are appropriate for emergency situations.


Read the statement below and answer the question that follows.

“On the Day, June 6, 1944, Allied forces sustained more than 10,000 casualties.”

Question 4. This statement is best classified as:
A. An inference
B. An opinion
C. A scientific conclusion
D. A fact✅


Question 5. Which branch of the federal government can veto legislation?
A. The President✅
B. The US Senate
C. The US Supreme Court
D. The US House of Representatives


Read the excerpt below from a speech given by Susan B. Anthony in 1873 and answer the following question.

Friends and fellow citizens: I stand before you tonight under indictment for the alleged crime of having voted at the last presidential election, without having a lawful right to vote. It shall be my work this evening to prove to you that in this voting, I not only committed no crime but, instead, simply exercised my citizen’s rights, guaranteed to me and all United States citizens by the National Constitution, beyond the power of any state to deny.

The preamble of the Federal Constitution says:

“We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union. And we formed it, not to give the blessings of liberty, but to secure them; not to the half of ourselves and the half of our posterity, but to the whole people—women as well as men. And it is a downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the use of the only means of securing them provided by this democratic-republican government—the ballot.

Question 6. Based from the excerpt, what you can you infer about Susan B. Anthony?
A. She was not found guilty of any crime.
B. She was a Constitutional lawyer.
C. She was arrested for voting because of her gender.✅
D. She worked closely with Elizabeth Cady Stanton.


Read the excerpt from the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and answer the following question.

Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect on children of color. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the Negro group. A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to [retard] the educational and mental development of Negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racially integrated school system… We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of “separate but equal” has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.

Question 7. Based from the excerpt, the Supreme Court found all of the following faults with segregation in schools EXCEPT:
A. Provides fewer resources to minority schools.✅
B. Denotes inferiority.
C. Reduces motivation to learn.
D. Slows mental development.


Examine the graph shown below and answer the question that follows.

Question 8. Which of these conclusions is supported by this graph?
A. Current levels of debt are not sustainable.
B. Total debt has increased during the terms of the last 5 presidents.✅
C. The statutory debt limit helps reduce debt.
D. Total debt will exceed $18 Trillion in a few years


Question 9. Which of the following best describes the philosophy of the Libertarian political party?
A. Economic liberalism, fiscal conservatism, and social conservatism.
B. Principles found in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and social policies taken from the Bible.
C. Ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy, and peace.
D. Fiscal conservatism and social liberalism.✅


Examine the graph as shown below and answer the following question.

Question 10. Which of the following statements is NOT true about this graph?
A. The quantity supplied will increase with lower prices.✅
B. A surplus will occur if 20 units are supplied at a price of 4.50.
C. The quantity demanded will increase with lower prices.
D. The equilibrium price is less than 3.


Read the excerpt from a document entitled “National Security Strategy of the United States”, published on January 17, 2002.

The security environment confronting the United States today is radically different from what we have faced before. Yet the first duty of the United States Government remains what it always has been: to protect the American people and American interests. It is an enduring American principle that this duty obligates the government to anticipate and counter threats, using all elements of national power, before the threats can do grave damage. The greater the threat, the greater is the risk of inaction—and the more compelling the case for taking anticipatory action to defend ourselves, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy’s attack. There are few greater threats than a terrorist attack with WMD.

To forestall or prevent such hostile acts by our adversaries, the United States will, if necessary, act preemptively in exercising our inherent right of self-defense. The United States will not resort to force in all cases to preempt emerging threats. Our preference is that nonmilitary actions succeed. And no country should ever use preemption as a pretext for aggression.

Question 11. What is the main idea presented in the excerpt?
A. Once the U.S. Government has identified details and timing of a planned attack, it will attempt to strike first.
B. The U.S. will declare war on any nation that has weapons of mass destruction.
C. When faced with serious security threats the U.S. may decide to take preemptive military action.✅
D. The United States will act preemptively with force against all emerging threats.


Observe the map as shown below and answer the question that follows.

Question 12. According to this map, the majority of Australia exhibits what climate type?
A. desert and temperate
B. grassland and desert✅
C. tropical and grassland
D. equatorial and temperate


For question 13 and 14. Refer to this excerpt from a speech given by Ronald Reagan: below and answer the following question.

From time to time, we have been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, and that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. But if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price.

We hear much of special interest groups. Our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected. It knows no sectional boundaries or ethnic and racial divisions, and it crosses political party lines. It is made up of men and women who raise our food, patrol our streets, man our mines and our factories, teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us when we are sick—professionals, industrialists, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truckdrivers. They are, in short, “We the people,” this breed called Americans.

Question 13. Who is Reagan referring to when he mentions a “special interest group that has been too long neglected.”?
A. The American people✅
B. Lobbyists
C. Political parties
D. Truck drivers

Question 14. Based on this primary source excerpt, what can we conclude about Reagan’s views on self-rule?
A. Most people are not capable of governing themselves, so there’s no way they could help govern a country.
B. Society is too complex to be managed by self-rule.
C. Government by an elite group is superior to self-rule.
D. Self-rule can be challenging, but it is the best type of government.✅


Question 15. The monetary value of all the finished goods and services that are produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period is the:
A. Aggregate Demand
B. Gross Domestic Product✅
C. Balance of Trade
D. Money Supply


Read the excerpt from an Op-Ed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Jacob J. Lew and answer the question that follows.

Early in his administration, the president took steps to ease restrictions on Cuban-American visits and remittances that opened new pathways for family reunification—and later expanded this to include religious, academic, and cultural exchanges for all Americans. Last week’s decision builds boldly on those initial measures and will increase communications, commerce, and travel between our two countries. The State Department will lead discussions to restore regular diplomatic relations with Cuba for the first time since 1961 and re-establish an embassy in Havana. In our bilateral discussions, the United States will seek to advance cooperation on issues of mutual interest, including counter-narcotics, migration, combating trafficking-in-persons, the Ebola crisis, and shared environmental challenges.

Question 16. Which one of the following statements from the excerpt expresses a bias on the part of the authors?
A. “In our bilateral discussions, the United States will seek to advance cooperation on issues of mutual interest, including counter-narcotics, migration, combating trafficking-in-persons, the Ebola crisis, and shared environmental challenges.”
B. “Early in his administration, the president took steps to ease restrictions on Cuban-American visits and remittances that opened new pathways for family reunification—and later expanded this to include religious, academic and cultural exchanges for all Americans.”
C. “Last week’s decision builds boldly on those initial measures and will increase communications, commerce and travel between our two countries.✅
D. “The State Department will lead discussions to restore regular diplomatic relations with Cuba for the first time since 1961 and re-establish an embassy in Havana.”


Question 17. State governments have the power to perform which of the following?
A. Conduct elections.✅
B. Make treaties.
C. Regulate trade between states.
D. Establish post offices.


Read this excerpt from a 2015 editorial in the Los Angeles Times:

Super PACs, made possible by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, are supposed to be independent political action committees, not extensions of candidates’ official campaigns. Yet the Federal Election Commission has been timid—and politically stymied—in defining what constitutes forbidden coordination between candidates and independent groups.

The result is a situation in which, as one legal expert puts it, super PACs function as “alter egos” for official campaign committees without being subject to the same contribution limits and other restrictions. That undermines the argument enunciated by the Court that independent political expenditures create less of a potential for corruption than direct contributions to a candidate’s campaign.

Read this excerpt from a 2016 article by David Bossie and answer the question that follows.

Simply put, since the Citizens United decision there is more free speech in America—and, importantly, no evidence that corporations have been able to buy an election. In fact, the candidates with the biggest super-PAC war chests have often lost. Jeb Bush, who spent more than $100 million before dropping out of the Republican primary on Feb. 20, is just the most recent example.

Question 18. What assumption behind the David Bossie excerpt is NOT an assumption behind the Los Angeles Times excerpt?
A. The Supreme Court’s Citizen’s United ruling has had no impact on American elections.
B. There is a need for changing the rules regarding money in American political campaigns.
C. Spending money to influence an election is a form of free speech.✅
D. Money is a corrupting force in American politics.


Read the following statement is from George Mason, a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787 and answer the following question.

Whatever power may be necessary for the National Government a certain portion must necessarily be left in the States? It is impossible for one power to pervade the extreme parts of the U.S. so as to carry equal justice to them.

Question 19. Based upon his statement, George Mason’s political views would best be described as:
A. Loyalist
B. Federalist
C. Socialist
D. Anti-Federalist✅


Read this excerpt from the 5th Amendment from the Bill of Rights and answer the following question.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Question 20. This Amendment provides all of these rights EXCEPT:
A. The right to be tried only once.
B. The right against unreasonable search and seizure.✅
C. The right of due process.
D. The right against self-incrimination.

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