GED Social Studies Practice Test: Civics, History, Economics and Geography
- Civics, U.S. History, Economics, Geography
- 12 questions
- 15 minutes
Civics and government get the most attention in this test, followed by U.S. history, economics and geography. When a question quotes a document or shows a table, the answer usually comes straight from its wording or numbers.
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
The President vetoes a bill passed by Congress. Congress then overrides the veto with a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate. Which constitutional principle does this example best illustrate?
Correct answer: A
The veto lets the President check Congress, and the override lets Congress check the President, so each branch limits the other. Federalism is about dividing power between the national and state governments, not between branches.
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Question 2
Under the U.S. Constitution, which power belongs to the federal government and not to the states?
Correct answer: C
The Constitution gives Congress the power to coin money and forbids the states from doing so. Driver's licenses, school districts and county governments are handled by the states.
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Question 3
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
A federal agency orders a newspaper to stop printing articles that criticize the agency. Which right in the excerpt is most directly involved?
Correct answer: B
Ordering a newspaper not to publish is government control of what the press prints, which the First Amendment forbids. The right to petition is about people bringing complaints to the government, not about publishing news.
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Question 4
The power of federal courts to declare a law unconstitutional is called judicial review. Which Supreme Court case established this power in 1803?
Correct answer: D
In Marbury v. Madison (1803), Chief Justice John Marshall's opinion established that courts can strike down laws that conflict with the Constitution. The other cases came much later and dealt with segregation and the rights of suspects.
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Question 5
Congress proposes an amendment to the Constitution by a two-thirds vote in each chamber. What must happen next for the amendment to become part of the Constitution?
Correct answer: B
Article V requires ratification by three-fourths of the states, either by their legislatures or by state conventions. The President has no formal role in the amendment process, so a signature is not needed.
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Question 6
"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."
Declaration of Independence, 1776
According to the excerpt, where do governments get their just powers?
Correct answer: A
The excerpt says governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed," the idea of popular sovereignty. The Declaration was written to reject a king's claim to rule without that consent, so option B is the opposite of its message.
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Question 7
The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920, was a major victory for which reform movement?
Correct answer: D
The Nineteenth Amendment prohibits denying the right to vote on account of sex, which was the central goal of the women's suffrage movement. The temperance movement's success was the Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition).
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Question 8
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs of the 1930s were mainly a response to which event?
Correct answer: C
The New Deal created jobs programs, banking reforms and Social Security to fight the mass unemployment and economic collapse of the Great Depression. World War II ended in 1945 and the Cold War followed, both after the New Deal began.
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Question 9
A late frost destroys a large part of the orange crop. If consumer demand for oranges stays the same, what will most likely happen?
Correct answer: B
The frost reduces supply, and when supply falls while demand stays the same, buyers compete for fewer oranges and the price goes up. A price drop would follow an increase in supply, not a decrease.
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Question 10
A company sold the same backpack at a different price in each of four months.
Price Backpacks sold $30 500 $35 420 $40 350 $45 260 Which statement is supported by the table?
Correct answer: D
Sales fell from 500 to 260 as the price rose from $30 to $45, which matches the law of demand. Option A is wrong because $45 brought the fewest sales, not the most.
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Question 11
On maps and globes, lines of latitude are used to measure distance in which direction?
Correct answer: C
Latitude lines run east-west around the globe and measure how far a place is north or south of the Equator, from 0° to 90°. Distance east or west of the Prime Meridian is measured by longitude.
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Question 12
Why were many early American cities, such as Pittsburgh and St. Louis, founded along major rivers?
Correct answer: A
Before railroads and highways, rivers were the cheapest way to move people and goods, so towns at good river locations grew into trading centers. River valleys also tend to have fertile farmland, which makes option D the opposite of the truth.
Questions you leave blank are not counted as wrong.
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