GED Social Studies Practice Test
Civics and government, US history, economics, and geography, from excerpts, charts and maps. Here are 10 GED social studies questions, each with the answer and the reason.
Updated by the Tigertest team. Based on the assessment targets in the GED Testing Service Assessment Guide for Educators (October 2020 edition). Original questions; not affiliated with GED Testing Service.
- 1.
Which of the following is a check that the judicial branch has on the legislative branch?
- A.
Vetoing a bill passed by Congress
- B.
Impeaching a member of Congress
- C.
Refusing to fund a program
- D.
Declaring a law unconstitutional
Answer: D.Courts can strike down a law that conflicts with the Constitution. Vetoes belong to the President, impeachment and funding decisions belong to Congress itself.
- A.
- 2.
Under the Tenth Amendment, powers that the Constitution does not give to the federal government are reserved to:
- A.
the states or the people
- B.
the President and the cabinet
- C.
the Supreme Court
- D.
federal agencies
Answer: A.The Tenth Amendment says powers not delegated to the United States, nor prohibited to the states, are reserved to the states or to the people. This is the basis of federalism.
- A.
From the Gettysburg Address (1863)
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. [...] It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us [...] 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.
3.Lincoln spoke in 1863. 'Four score and seven years ago' points to 1776 and to which event?
- A.
The ratification of the Constitution
- B.
The end of the Revolutionary War
- C.
The Declaration of Independence
- D.
The Louisiana Purchase
Answer: C.A score is 20 years, so four score and seven is 87 years; 1863 minus 87 is 1776, the year of the Declaration. Lincoln echoes its line that 'all men are created equal.' The Constitution was ratified in 1788 and the Louisiana Purchase was in 1803.
- A.
- 4.
A factory decides to build more bicycles when the price of bicycles rises. This decision illustrates the:
- A.
law of demand
- B.
law of supply
- C.
law of diminishing returns
- D.
principle of scarcity
Answer: B.The law of supply says producers offer more of a good as its price rises. The law of demand describes buyers, who want less as the price rises.
- A.
- 5.
Under the U.S. Constitution, which body has the power to declare war?
- A.
Congress
- B.
The President
- C.
The Supreme Court
- D.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff
Answer: A.Article I, Section 8 gives Congress the power to declare war. The President is commander in chief of the armed forces but cannot declare war alone.
- A.
From the Declaration of Independence (1776)
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 are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
6.According to the excerpt, where does a government get its just powers?
- A.
From the consent of the governed
- B.
From the authority of a hereditary monarch
- C.
From the rulings of its judges
- D.
From the strength of its army
Answer: A.The Declaration says governments derive 'their just powers from the consent of the governed,' meaning the people are the source of government authority. Kings, judges and armies are not named as the source.
- A.
- 7.
There are 538 electoral votes. How many must a candidate win to be elected President?
- A.
269
- B.
270
- C.
300
- D.
435
Answer: B.A candidate needs a majority of the 538 electoral votes, which is 270. If no candidate reaches 270, the House of Representatives chooses the President. 435 is the number of House seats, not an electoral threshold.
- A.
- 8.
What did the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 do?
- A.
Declared enslaved people in Confederate-held areas free
- B.
Ended slavery in every state and territory of the United States
- C.
Gave formerly enslaved men the right to vote
- D.
Admitted new free states to the Union
Answer: A.Lincoln's proclamation freed enslaved people in areas still in rebellion against the Union. Slavery was abolished everywhere by the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, and voting rights came with the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870.
- A.
- 9.
The Marshall Plan (1948) sent billions of dollars in U.S. aid to rebuild Western Europe after World War II. A major goal of the plan was to:
- A.
punish Germany for starting the war
- B.
replace the armies of Western Europe with permanent U.S. troops
- C.
create a single currency for all of Europe
- D.
prevent the spread of communism by restoring European economies
Answer: D.The United States believed that poverty and ruined economies made communism more appealing, so rebuilding Western Europe was meant to keep it stable and allied with the West during the early Cold War.
- A.
- 10.
A map of the United States uses dark shading for areas with more than 1,000 people per square mile. The darkest band runs from Boston through New York City to Washington, D.C., with other dark patches around Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles. What does this map show?
- A.
Annual rainfall
- B.
Elevation above sea level
- C.
Population density
- D.
Acres of farmland
Answer: C.People per square mile is the definition of population density. The dark patches are the country's largest metropolitan areas, which is what a population density map highlights.
- A.
Drill every social studies question in the GED Social Studies drill: questions you miss come back until you have mastered them. Then take a timed practice test with the Social Studies section in it.
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