Study Guide

Middle School Education: Social Science
Sample Questions

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Competency 0001
Understand major developments in world history from the beginnings of human society to 1350 CE.

1. Which of the following geographic factors had the greatest influence on economic life in ancient Egyptian culture?

  1. the aquatic resources of the Mediterranean Sea
  2. the annual flooding of the Nile River
  3. the mineral resources of the Eastern Desert and the Sinai Peninsula
  4. the natural harbors along the Red Sea
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Correct Response: B. The crops grown in areas adjacent to the Nile following the annual flooding of the river provided most of the food consumed in ancient Egypt.

Competency 0002
Understand major developments in world history from 1350 to 1850.

2. Which of the following accurately lists four major historical events between 1600 and 1825 in the order in which they occurred?

  1. 1. the emergence of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan
    2. Peter the Great's reign as tsar of Russia
    3. England's defeat of France in the Seven Years' War
    4. the liberation of Mexico from Spanish rule

  2. 1. England's defeat of France in the Seven Years' War
    2. the emergence of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan
    3. the liberation of Mexico from Spanish rule
    4. Peter the Great's reign as tsar of Russia

  3. 1. Peter the Great's reign as tsar of Russia
    2. the liberation of Mexico from Spanish rule
    3. England's defeat of France in the Seven Years' War
    4. the emergence of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan

  4. 1. the liberation of Mexico from Spanish rule
    2. Peter the Great's reign as tsar of Russia
    3. the emergence of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan
    4. England's defeat of France in the Seven Years' War
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Correct Response: A. The Tokugawa shogunate was established in 1600, Peter the Great ruled Russia from 1682 to 1725, the Seven Years' War ended in 1763, and Mexico secured its independence from Spanish rule in 1821.

Competency 0003
Understand major developments in world history from 1850 to the present.

3. World War II most influenced the movement for African independence by:

  1. creating severe economic hardship for European colonies in Africa.
  2. provoking demands for an Africa-wide confederation of colonial states.
  3. weakening European nations with colonial holdings in Africa.
  4. providing African nationalists with access to modern military weapons and tactics.
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Correct Response: C. World War II had a severe effect on the economies of Great Britain, France, Italy, and other nations with colonial holdings in Africa, both in terms of the enormous sums required to fight the war and the physical devastation that the conflict left in its wake. What resources remained were devoted mainly to domestic reconstruction, leaving little for European governments to spend to reassert their authority over colonial possessions in Africa.

Competency 0004
Understand major developments in Missouri and U.S. history from the precontact period to 1789.

4. Which of the following best describes a major effect of the American Revolution on U.S. society?

  1. The revolution removed most barriers to White male participation in the political process.
  2. The revolution advanced efforts to abolish slavery in the northern states.
  3. The revolution enabled White women to secure the same legal rights as White men.
  4. The revoluation reinforced the South's commitment to plantation agriculture.
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Correct Response: B. By focusing attention on the contradiction of human bondage in a nation committed to individual freedom, the American Revolution ended the climate of opinion that had allowed slavery to exist unchallenged and contributed to the abolition of slavery in the North during the period following the achievement of independence.

Competency 0005
Understand major developments in Missouri and U.S. history from 1789 to 1918.

5. During the first half of the nineteenth century, reformers such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton most often based their demands for women's rights on the:

  1. political ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
  2. constitutional principles stated in the Federalist Papers.
  3. guarantee of republican government affirmed in the U.S. Constitution.
  4. legal protections contained in the Bill of Rights.
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Correct Response: A. The influence of the political ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence on antebellum women's rights activists can best be seen in the Seneca Falls Declaration of Rights. This key document, composed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1848, affirmed "that all men and women are created equal," and went on to detail the oppressions men had imposed upon women, much as the original Declaration had listed the colonists' grievances against King George of England.

Competency 0006
Understand major developments in Missouri and U.S. history from 1918 to the present.

6. Which of the following best describes a major reason for the unprecedented economic affluence of U.S. society in the two decades after World War II?

  1. the absence of major competitors in global markets
  2. the removal of wartime price and wage controls
  3. the federal government's commitment to balancing the budget
  4. the shift in population from the Northeast to the Southwest
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Correct Response: A. Of the principal combatants in World War II, the United States was the only country to come out of the conflict with its economy intact and its industrial base undamaged. As a result, U.S. producers faced little competition from foreign manufacturers in domestic or world markets for some years after the war.

Competency 0007
Understand basic geographic concepts and physical systems.

7. Which of the following statements best illustrates the geographic theme of movement?

  1. Mexico City lies in a basin, surrounded by mountains, at an altitude of over 7,000 feet.
  2. New York City is the financial center of the United States; Tokyo is the financial center of Japan.
  3. Turkey is an important source of labor for business and industry in Germany.
  4. Christianity is the dominant religion practiced in both Venezuela and the Republic of Ireland.
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Correct Response: C. The migration of Turkish workers to Germany is an illustration of the geographic theme of movement.

Competency 0008
Understand human systems.

8. In 1800, most of the world's population lived in rural areas. By 2000, the overwhelming majority of people in developed countries lived in towns and cities. The change was primarily a consequence of the:

  1. consolidation of nation-states.
  2. modernization of transportation networks.
  3. industrialization of national economies.
  4. globalization of trade.
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Correct Response: C. The vast majority of the people who moved from rural areas to urban centers during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries did so to take advantage of the employment and other economic opportunities created by industrialization.

Competency 0009
Understand the interaction between the environment and human societies.

9. Which of the following patterns of global resource distribution had the greatest influence on international relations during the twentieth century?

  1. the distribution of forest resources in Asia and Latin America
  2. the distribution of petroleum resources in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East
  3. the distribution of iron ore resources in North America and Central Europe
  4. the distribution of gold and diamond resources in Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America
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Correct Response: B. Establishing and maintaining access to vital resources has long been a major goal of many nations' foreign policy. During the twentieth century, widespread reliance on petroleum to meet energy needs made it more important than any other resource to the operation of the global economy and the stability of international relations.

Competency 0010
Understand basic political science concepts and the foundations of government.

10. In an argument defending the constitutionality of the First Bank of the United States, Alexander Hamilton contended that the necessary and proper clause of Article I of the Constitution permitted Congress to enact legislation on matters not specified in the Constitution whenever the passage of such laws represented a legitimate exercise of its express powers. Hamilton's argument can best be seen as a statement of Congress's:

  1. inherent powers.
  2. enumerated powers.
  3. implied powers.
  4. concurrent powers.
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Correct Response: C. Implied powers are those powers exercised by Congress that are not explicity stated in the Constitution. The main constitutional basis for these powers is the necessary and proper clause of Article I, which gives Congress the power "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution" its stated powers "and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, and in any department or officer thereof."

Competency 0011
Understand U.S. government, the political process, and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

11. The ten amendments contained in the Bill of Rights can best be used to illustrate the meaning of which of the following principles of the U.S. Constitution?

  1. checks and balances
  2. judicial review
  3. constitutional supremacy
  4. limited government
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Correct Response: D. The Bill of Rights, which was designed to protect U.S. citizens from the unwarranted exercise of government power, forbids the national government from passing laws restricting certain individual freedoms and reserves to the states and to the people all powers not expressly granted to the national government.

Competency 0012
Understand the functions, structure, and operation of government in the United States and Missouri.

12. Which of the following best illustrates how the principle of separation of powers operates in the U.S. system of government?

  1. The Senate proposes amendments to a bill that originated in the House of Representatives.
  2. The president dismisses a cabinet member.
  3. Members of the Senate conduct a filibuster to prevent the chamber from voting on a bill.
  4. The U.S. Supreme Court declares a law unconstitutional.
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Correct Response: D. Separation of powers is the principle that power should be divided among the three branches of government. A law passed by Congress cannot continue in effect if the Supreme Court—a separate branch of government—exercises its power of judicial review and declares the law unconstitutional.

Competency 0013
Understand basic economic concepts and microeconomics.

13. A young woman is trying to decide whether she should return to college full time and complete her bachelor's degree or accept an entry-level management position at a local company. Which of the following economic concepts applies most directly to the decision she is trying to make?

  1. opportunity cost
  2. scarcity
  3. economic incentives
  4. productivity
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Correct Response: A. Opportunity cost refers to the value lost by making one use of resources rather than another and involves the trade-offs required when choosing between two desirable but mutually exclusive options. In this case, the opportunity costs that the young woman has to consider are the cost of completing her education instead of taking a job, and the cost of taking a job instead of completing her education.

Competency 0014
Understand macroeconomics and international economics.

14. Which of the following best describes an important role of the Federal Reserve in the U.S. economy?

  1. ensuring the safety of checking and savings accounts in U.S. banks
  2. regulating the operation of U.S. security and commodity exchanges
  3. managing the nation's money supply
  4. maintaining consumer demand
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Correct Response: C. An important role of the Federal Reserve is to manage the nation's money supply through its regulation of the reserve requirements of banks, the purchase and sale of government securities, and alterations in the discount rate that it charges banks for loans.

Competency 0015
Understand consumer economics and personal finance.

15. Which of the following skills is most essential for the effective assessment of advertising appeals?

  1. interpreting word choice to determine an author's point of view
  2. comparing alternative visual formats
  3. analyzing relationships between similar ideas or ideas in opposition
  4. distinguishing between facts and assertions
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Correct Response: D. So long as one focuses on the facts presented in a given ad or commercial, advertising can be a useful source of information on new products, differences between advertised items and similar products, changing prices, and the like. Consumers must also be aware that the primary aim of advertisers is to sell goods, and they will do whatever they can to portray the product or service they are promoting in the best possible light.