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Questions You May Have - Language Arts, Writing - Social Studies - Science
Lanuage Arts, Reading - Mathematics - Sample Score Report - General Hints

The Social Studies Test contains 50 multiple-choice questions from the following content areas:

• History (United States or Canada, 25%; World, 15%)
• Geography (15%)
• Civics and Government (25%)
• Economics (20%)

(Note: There are different U.S. and Canadian versions of the Social Studies Test.)

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.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Directions: Choose the one best answer to each question.

Questions 1 and 2 are based on the following information.

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.

Answer: 4

This application question requires you to focus on a universaly 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.

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 actually found a better life is unknown.

Questions 3 and 4 refer to the following cartoon:

3. What is the main idea represented by the artist of this 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.

Answer: 3

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.

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) Seniors should lobby at the state level of government, not the federal level.
(5) Social insurance programs can only be paid for by higher taxes.

Answer: 1

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 insuance 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).

Question 5 refers to the following chart

 Source: Adapted from Washington Consumers' Checkbook, 1990.

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% service promptness

Answer: 4

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.

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.

Answer: 1

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 uphold 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.

Hints for Social Studies

As you read the written selections, always ask yourself what the main idea of the text is. Often the main idea is stated or implied in the first or last sentence. If you can't find it there, pay careful attention to the details or examples in the selection to get an idea of what main point they support.

When reading a graph, table, cartoon, map, photograph, or other visual representation, make sure to read all titles, legends, labels, captions, and data. They
often provide important information about the main idea.

Look for trends, themes, and groupings in text excerpts, time lines, charts, and graphs.

Sometimes the questions will ask you to consider a cause-and-effect relationship. Keep in mind that a cause can have more than one effect and that, sometimes,
multiple causes can result in the same effect.

Some questions will require you identify implications or assumptions in the material provided. This means that you will have to read between the lines of what is
actually written or presented. Often, what is suggested is as important as what is directly stated.

Pay close attention to what the question is asking you to identify. For example, one type of question asks you to differentiate between facts stated and opinions that can be drawn frin the information provided. Make sure you understand the difference: facts can be proven true, and opinions are judgements that may or may not be true.

Some questions ask you to draw only from the information that is provided in the question in selecting the best answer. Do not use prior or additional knowledge to answer such questions.

Some questions will ask you to apply an idea or concept from material detailed on the test to a different situation. The most important steps in successfully answering this type of question are to and understand the main idea of the original material and then think of ways that this idea can be used to interpret the new situation.