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GED Social Studies Practice Test

57 total questions (5 free)

Question 1 of 5

Extract:

This table contains data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

What was the mean population across the British American colonies in 1700?

Question Image

Correct Answer: D

Correct Answer: D

Rationale: The mean population is 16,000 based on historical census data

Question 2 of 5

Extract:

This excerpt is from a 1987 speech by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
"I do not believe that the meaning of the Constitution was forever "fixed" at the Philadelphia Convention. Nor do I find the wisdom, foresight, and sense of justice exhibited by the Framers particularly profound. To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start, requiring several amendments, a civil war, and momentous social transformation to attain the system of constitutional government, and its respect for the individual freedoms and human rights, we hold as fundamental today. When contemporary Americans cite "The Constitution," they invoke concept that is vastly different from what the Framers barely began to construct two centurie ago... When the Founding Fathers used this phrase [We, the People) in 1787, they did not have in mind the majority of America's citizens. "We the People" included, in the words of the Framers, "the whole Number of free Persons."
This excerpt is from a 1987 speech by President Ronald Reagan.
“In a very real sense, it was then, in 1787, that the Revolution truly began. For it was with the writing of our Constitution, setting down the architecture of democratic government, that the noble sentiments and brave rhetoric of 1776 took on substance....
All men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights-until that moment some might have said that was just a high-blown sentiment, the dreams of a few philosophers and their hot-headed followers. But could one really construct a government, run a country, with such idealistic notions? But once those ideals took root in living, functioning institutions, once those notions became a nation-well, then, as I said, the revolution could really begin, not just in America but around the world, a revolution to free man from tyranny of every sort and secure his freedom the only way possible in this world, through the checks and balances and institutions of limited, democratic government.”

Which statement from the excerpts provides evidence for the Inference that minority rights were not protected by the U.S. government as originally founded?

Correct Answer: A

Rationale: Marshall explicitly states the original government was defective and required amendments/war to protect rights minorities lacked initially

Question 3 of 5

Extract:

This excerpt is from a 1987 speech by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
"I do not believe that the meaning of the Constitution was forever "fixed" at the Philadelphia Convention. Nor do I find the wisdom, foresight, and sense of justice exhibited by the Framers particularly profound. To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start, requiring several amendments, a civil war, and momentous social transformation to attain the system of constitutional government, and its respect for the individual freedoms and human rights, we hold as fundamental today. When contemporary Americans cite "The Constitution," they invoke concept that is vastly different from what the Framers barely began to construct two centurie ago... When the Founding Fathers used this phrase [We, the People) in 1787, they did not have in mind the majority of America's citizens. "We the People" included, in the words of the Framers, "the whole Number of free Persons."
This excerpt is from a 1987 speech by President Ronald Reagan.
“In a very real sense, it was then, in 1787, that the Revolution truly began. For it was with the writing of our Constitution, setting down the architecture of democratic government, that the noble sentiments and brave rhetoric of 1776 took on substance....
All men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights-until that moment some might have said that was just a high-blown sentiment, the dreams of a few philosophers and their hot-headed followers. But could one really construct a government, run a country, with such idealistic notions? But once those ideals took root in living, functioning institutions, once those notions became a nation-well, then, as I said, the revolution could really begin, not just in America but around the world, a revolution to free man from tyranny of every sort and secure his freedom the only way possible in this world, through the checks and balances and institutions of limited, democratic government.”

According to Justice Marshall, what historical factor has contradicted the ideas expressed in the U.S. Constitution?

Correct Answer: A

Rationale: Marshall references how "We the People" initially excluded non-free persons, directly contradicting equality principles through slavery

Question 4 of 5

Extract:

This excerpt is from a 1987 speech by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
"I do not believe that the meaning of the Constitution was forever "fixed" at the Philadelphia Convention. Nor do I find the wisdom, foresight, and sense of justice exhibited by the Framers particularly profound. To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start, requiring several amendments, a civil war, and momentous social transformation to attain the system of constitutional government, and its respect for the individual freedoms and human rights, we hold as fundamental today. When contemporary Americans cite "The Constitution," they invoke concept that is vastly different from what the Framers barely began to construct two centurie ago... When the Founding Fathers used this phrase [We, the People) in 1787, they did not have in mind the majority of America's citizens. "We the People" included, in the words of the Framers, "the whole Number of free Persons."
This excerpt is from a 1987 speech by President Ronald Reagan.
“In a very real sense, it was then, in 1787, that the Revolution truly began. For it was with the writing of our Constitution, setting down the architecture of democratic government, that the noble sentiments and brave rhetoric of 1776 took on substance....
All men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights-until that moment some might have said that was just a high-blown sentiment, the dreams of a few philosophers and their hot-headed followers. But could one really construct a government, run a country, with such idealistic notions? But once those ideals took root in living, functioning institutions, once those notions became a nation-well, then, as I said, the revolution could really begin, not just in America but around the world, a revolution to free man from tyranny of every sort and secure his freedom the only way possible in this world, through the checks and balances and institutions of limited, democratic government.”

What basic assumption behind Marshall's remarks is not behind Reagan's remarks?

Correct Answer: A

Rationale: Marshall critiques framers' limitations while Reagan praises their foundational achievements

Question 5 of 5

Extract:

This excerpt is from a 2002 document published by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The realigning President proposes to create a new Department of Homeland Security... by largely transforming and Is to protect the current confusing patchwork of government activities into a single department whose primary mission our homeland....
History... teaches us that new challenges require new organizational structures.
For example, prior to 1945, America's armed forces were inefficiently structured with separate War and Navy Departments and disconnected intelligence units. There were no formal mechanisms for.cooperation..
In December 1945, only months after America's decisive victory in World War II,... President Truman declared, "It Is now time... to provide for the future the soundest, most effective and most economical kind of structure for our armed forces...."
President Truman's goals were achieved with the National Security Act of 1947 and subsequent amendments... The legislation consolidated the separate military Departments Into the Department of Defense..., established a Central Intelligence Agency to coordinate all foreign intelligence collection and analysis, and created the National Security Council in the White House to coordinate all foreign and defense policy efforts.

Based on the excerpt, which change was a result of the National Security Act of 1947?

Correct Answer: D

Rationale: The Act consolidated military departments into DoD, making Navy a component

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