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Study Guide

Field 105: Social Studies (Elementary)
Sample Multiple-Choice Questions

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Subarea 1—WORLD HISTORY

Objective 001
Understand historical concepts, terms, sources, and perspectives.

1. A historian would most likely employ the term city-state in a study of the:

  1. relations among feudal barons in early medieval Europe.
  2. political organization of early Mesopotamian civilization.
  3. organization of conquered territories in the Roman Empire.
  4. development of government in Imperial China.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 002
Understand major events and developments in world history during Era 1, the beginnings of human society to 4000 BCE; Era 2, early civilizations and cultures and the emergence of pastoral peoples, 4000 to 1000 BCE; Era 3, classical traditions, world religions, and major empires, 1000 BCE to 300 CE; and Era 4, expanding and intensified hemispheric interactions, 300 to 1500 CE.

2. The first civilizations in Asia and Africa developed in areas where:

  1. forests provided adequate construction materials.
  2. rivers provided water for agriculture.
  3. mountainous terrain provided protection against invaders.
  4. mineral deposits provided energy resources.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 003
Understand major events and developments in world history during Era 4, expanded and intensified hemispheric interactions, 300 to 1500 CE; Era 5, the emergence of the first global age, fifteenth to eighteenth centuries CE; Era 6, an age of global revolutions, eighteenth century to 1914 CE; Era 7, global crisis and achievement, 1900 to 1945 CE; Era 8, the Cold War and its aftermath, twentieth century since 1945 CE; and Era 9, America in a new global age, 1980 CE to the present.

3. Which of the following responses best describes a major similarity between the American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789?

  1. Popular demands for individual rights were a major factor in both revolutions.
  2. Both revolutions resulted in radical changes in the social structure of each country.
  3. Religious orthodoxy was challenged by both revolutions.
  4. Both revolutions caused radical changes in the international balance of power.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.

Subarea 2—U.S. AND MICHIGAN HISTORY

Objective 004
Understand major events and developments in U.S. history during Era 1, beginnings to 1620 CE; Era 2, colonization and settlement, 1585 to 1763 CE; and Era 3, revolution and the new nation, 1754 to 1800 CE.

4. Large numbers of African Americans were transported to Great Britain's North American colonies only after:

  1. planters in the South began growing large quantities of indigo.
  2. France's defeat in the Seven Years' War permitted expansion across the Appalachian Mountains.
  3. indentured servants became less profitable for southern planters.
  4. the removal of American Indians to lands west of the Mississippi made more agricultural land available.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 005
Understand major events and developments in U.S. history during Era 4, expansion and reform, 1792 to 1861 CE; and Era 5, the Civil War and Reconstruction, 1850 to 1877 CE.

5. Which of the following responses best describes the result of U.S. government policy toward American Indians during the first half of the nineteenth century?

  1. the resettlement of American Indians west of the Mississippi River
  2. the legal designation of American Indian tribes as sovereign nations
  3. the elimination of American Indian reservations throughout the United States
  4. the military conquest of most American Indian peoples
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
Objective 006
Understand major events and developments in U.S. history during Era 6, the development of an industrial, urban, and global United States, 1870 to 1930 CE; Era 7, the Great Depression and World War II, 1920 to 1945 CE; Era 8, the post–World War II United States, 1945 to 1970 CE; and Era 9, America in a new global age, 1980 CE to the present.

6. Which of the following activities for a lesson on the origins of World Wars I and II would best promote the development of students' analytical skills?

  1. Have students create separate timelines of the events leading up to World War I and World War II.
  2. Have students write an essay comparing the events preceding World War I with developments leading up to the outbreak of World War II.
  3. Have students identify on a map where major events leading up to World War I and World War II took place.
  4. Have students give oral reports on a major political or military figure in the period leading up to the outbreaks of World War I or World War II.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.

Subarea 3—GEOGRAPHY

Objective 008
Understand geographic terms, concepts, and resources.

7. An elementary social studies teacher could best promote young students' understanding of the concept of relative location by having the class discuss which of the following questions?

  1. In what city or town was each student born?
  2. Why does each student have a different home address?
  3. Why do some students have longer bus rides or walks to school than other students?
  4. How far do the parents/guardians of students travel to get to work each day?
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 009
Understand physical systems.

8. Monsoon weather systems are most prevalent in which of the following global regions?

  1. Central America and the Caribbean
  2. southern and eastern Asia
  3. northeastern South America and West Africa
  4. southern and eastern Africa
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 010
Understand human-environment interactions.

9. In grassland regions, overgrazing is the most common cause of which of the following environmental problems?

  1. increased risk of flooding
  2. vulnerability to wildfire
  3. accelerated succession of plant species
  4. erosion and desertification
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
Objective 011
Understand human systems.

10. Which of the following developments most influenced the emergence of early urban centers?

  1. the discovery of ways to produce metals from raw materials
  2. the establishment of trading networks
  3. the domestication of plants and animals for food production
  4. the organization of formal systems of religious worship
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 012
Understand characteristics, processes, and issues of major regions of the Eastern Hemisphere.

11. Which of the following responses best describes a major trade relationship in the Eastern Hemisphere?

  1. India obtains software from Italy in exchange for wheat and rice.
  2. Japan obtains petroleum from Saudi Arabia in exchange for electronic technology.
  3. China obtains textile goods from France in exchange for steel.
  4. Russia obtains coal and iron ore from Germany in exchange for machine tools.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 013
Understand characteristics, processes, and issues of major regions of the Western Hemisphere.

12. Which of the following countries of the Western Hemisphere have significant grassland biomes?

  1. Colombia and Brazil
  2. Argentina and Canada
  3. Panama and Peru
  4. Chile and Guatemala
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.

Subarea 4—POLITICAL SCIENCE

Objective 014
Understand political science concepts, terms, and perspectives.

13. Magna Carta (1215) most influenced the development of government in the English-speaking world by:

  1. helping establish the principle that the powers of rulers are limited.
  2. creating a government of three separate branches.
  3. establishing a strict separation of church and state.
  4. enabling the people to elect individuals to represent their interests.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
Objective 015
Understand the foundations of U.S. government, the U.S. political process, and the rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship.

14. Which of the following is the best example of the operation of the system of checks and balances in U.S. government?

  1. The president dismisses a cabinet member over a policy disagreement.
  2. The Senate censures a member for misconduct.
  3. The Supreme Court rules on a case involving a dispute between two states.
  4. The House of Representatives votes to impeach a federal judge.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
Objective 016
Understand the structure, organization, and operation of local, state, and federal government in the United States and the role of the United States in the international community.

15. Use the information below to answer the question that follows.

• establishing local governments

• ratifying amendments to the U.S. Constitution

• conducting elections

In the U.S. system of government, the three powers listed can best be described as:

  1. concurrent powers shared by state governments and the federal government.
  2. delegated powers stated in the U.S. Constitution and exercised only by the federal government.
  3. reserved powers that can be exercised only by state governments.
  4. inherent powers not stated in the U.S. Constitution but belonging to the federal government.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.

Subarea 5—ECONOMICS

Objective 017
Understand economic concepts and the market economy.

16. Which of the following situations best illustrates the concept of opportunity cost?

  1. A government launches a jobs program to reduce unemployment.
  2. A firm invests in new equipment to improve plant safety.
  3. A consumer reduces leisure spending to save money for a new car.
  4. A store lowers the prices of major items to attract customers.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 019
Understand macroeconomics and international economics.

17. The enforcement of antitrust laws by the Federal Trade Commission best illustrates which of the following economic functions of government?

  1. promoting competition
  2. redistributing income
  3. stimulating economic growth
  4. protecting consumers
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.

Subarea 6—INQUIRY, INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES, AND PUBLIC DISCOURSE

Objective 020
Understand social studies research methods and the analysis and interpretation of social studies information.

18. A geographer is conducting a comparative analysis that involves collecting the following information on eight countries: population density, natural resources, land use, age structure, population growth rate, literacy rate, occupational structure, and economic growth rate. Which of the following types of software would best enable the geographer to organize and assess this information?

  1. word-processing software
  2. database software
  3. presentation software
  4. simulation software
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 021
Understand interdisciplinary perspectives among the social sciences.

19. Shared religious beliefs provide the best basis for cultural interrelatedness between which of the following two countries?

  1. Egypt and South Africa
  2. Saudi Arabia and Indonesia
  3. China and Afghanistan
  4. Japan and India
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 022
Understand core democratic values, recognize the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in a democratic society, and apply methods for analyzing public policy questions.

20. Congressional legislation prohibiting discriminatory employment practices can best be understood as an expression of which of the following core democratic values?

  1. popular sovereignty
  2. equality of opportunity
  3. personal freedom
  4. respect for diversity
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.