GED Social Studies Practice Test: Geography and the World
- Geography and the World
- 10 questions
- 15 minutes
These questions cover map skills and the links between people and places. Many answers depend on cause and effect, so ask why a place looks or works the way it does.
Tap an option to mark your answer. You can change your mind, or tap the same option again to leave the question blank. The correct answers and explanations appear when you finish the test.Tap an option to answer; tap it again to leave the question blank.
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Question 1
A city is located at 30° S, 60° W. In which two hemispheres is the city?
Correct answer: C
"S" means south of the Equator and "W" means west of the Prime Meridian. Mixing up the letters gives the wrong pair.
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Question 2
On a road map, 1 inch represents 50 miles. Two towns are 3.5 inches apart on the map. About how far apart are the towns?
Correct answer: A
Multiply the map distance by the scale: 3.5 × 50 = 175 miles. The answer 53.5 adds the numbers instead of multiplying.
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Question 3
A county has 180,000 people and an area of 2,400 square miles. What is its population density?
Correct answer: D
Population density is people divided by area: 180,000 ÷ 2,400 = 75. The other choices come from misplacing the decimal point in the division.
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Question 4
Which of these is a pull factor that draws migrants to a new city?
Correct answer: B
Pull factors attract people to a destination, such as jobs. Drought, war and a lack of schools are push factors that drive people away from where they live.
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Question 5
Farmers in a mountain region cut wide, flat steps into steep hillsides so they can grow rice. Which statement best describes this practice?
Correct answer: C
Building terraces is a clear case of people modifying the environment so that steep land can be farmed. The steps are built by people, not formed by erosion.
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Question 6
It is 12:00 noon in New York City (Eastern Time). What time is it in Los Angeles (Pacific Time) on the same day?
Correct answer: A
Pacific Time is three hours behind Eastern Time, so noon in New York is 9:00 a.m. in Los Angeles. The answer 3:00 p.m. moves the clock in the wrong direction.
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Question 7
Two cities are at the same latitude. One is on the ocean coast and the other is far inland. Why does the coastal city usually have milder winters?
Correct answer: D
The ocean stores summer heat and releases it slowly, which keeps nearby winters milder. The cities are at the same latitude, so neither is closer to the Equator.
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Question 8
Moist winds blow from the ocean toward a high mountain range. Which side of the range is most likely to be dry?
Correct answer: B
Air rises on the ocean side, cools and drops its rain there, so the far side lies in a dry "rain shadow." That is why the ocean-facing slopes are the wet ones.
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Question 9
In the 1930s, huge dust storms swept across the Great Plains during the "Dust Bowl." Which combination of causes best explains these storms?
Correct answer: C
Years of drought dried out land that had been plowed up, and without deep-rooted grasses the wind carried the soil away. Floods and heavy rain are the opposite of the conditions at the time.
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Question 10
The Panama Canal opened in 1914. What was its main effect on world shipping?
Correct answer: D
The canal cuts across the narrow land of Panama and links the two oceans, saving thousands of miles. It has nothing to do with the Great Lakes, which are reached through other waterways.
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