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Study Guide

Field 115: Social Studies

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Sample Selected-Response Questions

Competency 0001 
United States History

1. Read the passage below from a letter by James Madison (1787); then answer the question that follows.

In general I find men of reflection much less sanguine as to a new than despondent as to the present System. Indeed the present System neither has nor deserves advocates; and if some very strong props are not applied will quickly tumble to the ground. No money is paid into the public Treasury; no respect is paid to the federal authority. Not a single State complies with the requisitions, several pass them over in silence, and some positively reject them. The payments ever since the peace have been decreasing, and of late fall short even of the pittance necessary for the Civil list of the Confederacy. It is not possible that a Government can last long under these circumstances. If the approaching Convention should not agree on some remedy, I am persuaded that some very different arrangement will ensue.

The problem described by Madison in the letter above is most directly addressed by which congressional power listed in Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution?

  1. to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States
  2. to borrow Money on the credit of the United States
  3. to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes
  4. to coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures
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Correct Response: A. This item requires the candidate to use analytical and evaluative skills to demonstrate understanding of major political developments in United States history during the establishment of the new nation. Under the Articles of Confederation, the United States Congress had no power to tax individuals directly and had to ask the states for funds. In this and in other national-level issues, the states were not always sympathetic to the needs of the distant central government. The ability to set and collect taxes to fund the activities of the national government was established in Article 1 of the Constitution, in the congressional power to "lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises."

Competency 0001 
United States History

2. A social studies teacher could most effectively encourage students to recognize continuity and change in a comparison of the Progressive Era, the New Deal, and the Great Society by pointing them to debates during each era over the:

  1. appropriate role of government in the economy and society.
  2. effect of war on domestic programs and agendas.
  3. relationship between individual rights and democratic values.
  4. role of the United States Constitution in shaping national priorities.
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Correct Response: A. This item requires examinees to use analytical and evaluative skills to demonstrate understanding of patterns of continuity and change and how they relate to larger historical processes and themes. National governments had very limited responsibilities and budgets until the Industrial Age. The United States, in particular, had a tradition of limited government and low taxes. By the early twentieth century, the rise of large business enterprises led the government to create a Federal Reserve System and permanent regulatory agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission during the Progressive Era. The extraordinary challenges posed by the Great Depression in the 1930s brought forth the further reforms, agencies, and interventions of the New Deal. Again, with the Great Society programs of the 1960s, the government expanded by establishing Medicare, the programs of the War on Poverty, and many other initiatives. These three rounds of reforms can be seen as phases within a continual expansion of government in the twentieth century.

Competency 0002 
Global History

3. A historian studying the global financial crisis of  2007 to 2008  could best begin to analyze the relative impacts of the crisis on the economies of Africa and of Western Europe by comparing:

  1. distribution of wealth in countries of the two regions.
  2. the relative importance of the construction sector in the economies of the two regions.
  3. measures of corruption in countries of the two regions.
  4. the extent to which the economies of the two regions are integrated into international markets.
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Correct Response: D. This item requires candidates to demonstrate understanding of major economic developments and turning points in global history during an era of conflict and globalization, as well as patterns of continuity and change and how they relate to larger historical processes. Greater integration into global markets puts nations at greater risk of losses when other nations or regions experience a financial crisis. During the financial crisis of  2007 to 2008,  nations and regions that were integrated into international markets were generally more highly affected by the crisis than were nations and regions that were less interdependent. African economies were not unaffected by the crisis, but because they had fewer ties to global markets for trade and investments than European economies, they experienced less direct impact than European economies did.

Competency 0002 
Global History

4. An important difference between the Han Empire of China and the Roman Empire was that the:

  1. Han economy was based primarily on forced labor, while the Roman economy relied on a free peasantry.
  2. Han imperial bureaucracy was more centralized, while the imperial administration of Rome distributed authority to local officials.
  3. Han pursued expansionist policies to secure control of long-distance trade routes, while Rome was primarily concerned with territorial expansion.
  4. Han reinforced imperial power by persecuting religious minorities, while the Roman Empire promoted religious tolerance.
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Correct Response: B. This item requires examinees to use analytical and evaluative skills to demonstrate understanding of major political, social, economic, cultural, and scientific developments and turning points in global history from the beginnings of human society through the development of classical civilizations (to 500 C. E. ). The biggest difference between the administration of the Han and Roman Empires was that the Han had developed an elaborate bureaucracy to efficiently manage their extensive realms. Agricultural productivity at that time was much greater in China than in the Mediterranean basin; consequently, the Chinese Empire had access to much more revenue to maintain a bureaucracy. The Roman Empire, whose major areas of agricultural production were in Egypt and North Africa, relied much more heavily on the cooperation of local officials in the various provinces for local administration.

Competency 0003 
Geography

5. A high school social studies teacher is planning a lesson on contemporary population distribution trends for an advanced geography class. The teacher could best use the demographic transition model to guide students in examining:

  1. the causes of population declines in some developed countries.
  2. the obstacles that restrict economic productivity in some developing countries.
  3. the environmental impact of increasing consumption in developed countries.
  4. the likely effect of industrial growth on birth and death rates in developing countries.
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Correct Response: D. This item requires candidates to use analytical and evaluative skills to demonstrate understanding of how to use geographic tools to examine questions concerning spatial patterns of cultural characteristics, as well as to demonstrate understanding of the distribution and characteristics of human populations. The demographic transition model describes stages of population growth related to changes in a country's birth and death rates as social and economic factors affect the birth and death rates. Historically, death rates have dropped in response to the modernization of medical practice, described as the second stage in the model. The third stage occurs when societies develop an industrial economic base and their birth rates tend to slow. As an interpretation of these shifts in the growth and composition of a society's population, the demographic transition model can be used to analyze trends in population distribution.

Competency 0003 
Geography

6. Use the map below of New York State to answer the question that follows.

elevation map of New York State

A map uses shading to indicate different elevations in New York State. The lowest elevations are found in Long Island; along the Hudson, Mohawk, and St. Lawrence River valleys; and along Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The highest elevations are in the north center of the state and near the southern border.

The spatial distribution of low-elevation terrain shown in the map contributed most to which development in the history of New York State?

  1. the economic expansion of the state through the construction of transportation systems
  2. the concentration of population primarily in the southeastern region of the state
  3. the growth of a dairy industry that provides almost half the value of state agricultural production
  4. the establishment of the country's largest protected land area in the Adirondacks
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Correct Response: A. This item requires examinees to use analytical and evaluative skills to demonstrate understanding of the physical and human characteristics of places; the spatial organization of people, places, and environments; and the relationships and interactions within and between human and physical systems. Bodies of water provide important systems of transportation. The connected corridors of low elevation across central New York State and along the eastern edge of the state contain a series of rivers that functioned as transportation and trade routes for the state's inhabitants before European settlement. Early European trade with Native Americans followed the Hudson River to access inland markets. In the nineteenth century, the construction of canals connected the river systems across the state, creating a system for transporting goods between the port of New York City and the Midwest that contributed to the city's role as the business capital of the nation. Railroads and, eventually, interstate highways followed the same low-elevation course, contributing enormously to the economic development of the region and New York State.

Competency 0004 
Economics

7. Use the graph below to answer the question that follows.

Graph of aggregate demand curve. A D one depicts a negative correlation between price level and real national output. A D two also depicts this, but the line is further to the right, indicating greater values.

In this graph, the shift from the first aggregate demand curve ( A D sub 1 ) to the second aggregate demand curve ( A D sub 2 ) best illustrates the likely effect of which development?

  1. Major benchmark interest rates are increased.
  2. Limits on government purchases reduce deficit spending.
  3. Expectations of future incomes improve in a majority of households.
  4. The value of the national currency increases relative to foreign currencies.
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Correct Response: C. This item requires candidates to use analytical and evaluative skills to demonstrate understanding of how markets, prices, competition, and supply and demand help determine the production and allocation of goods and services. The aggregate demand curve represents the total quantity of all goods and services demanded by an economy at different price levels. The upward shift in the curve shown in the graph indicates that at the same price levels, the quantity demanded has increased. An expectation of higher household incomes would contribute to that rise in demand.

Competency 0004 
Economics

8. Read the excerpt below from Principles of Economics, a textbook by N. Gregory Mankiw (2008) Acknowledgments 1 ; then answer the question that follows.

[G]overnments can sometimes improve market outcomes. Indeed, policymakers are led to control prices because they view the market's outcome as unfair. Price controls are often aimed at helping the poor. For instance, rent-control laws try to make housing affordable for everyone, and minimum-wage laws try to help people escape poverty.

Yet price controls often hurt those they are trying to help. Rent control may keep rents low, but it also discourages landlords from maintaining their buildings and makes housing hard to find. Minimum-wage laws may raise the incomes of some workers, but they also cause other workers to be unemployed.

An economics teacher could best use this text to explore which economic concept?

  1. the way that economists distinguish the long run from the short run
  2. the competing priorities of economic efficiency and economic equity
  3. the overlapping areas of interest of microeconomists and macroeconomists
  4. the way that the economy balances the conflicting interests of consumers and producers
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Correct Response: B. This item requires examinees to use analytical and evaluative skills to demonstrate understanding of how markets, prices, competition, and supply and demand help determine personal income and the production and allocation of goods and services. Economic systems seek to advance various priorities, often expressed as the goals of growth, freedom, efficiency, equity, and stability or security. Quite often, the promotion of one goal involves a tradeoff with one or more of the other goals. The examples cited in the excerpt illustrate some of the tensions that policymakers must consider when balancing the efficiencies that often flow from market-based approaches with the desire for equitable outcomes, particularly those that are beneficial to people living in poverty.

Competency 0005 
Civics, Citizenship, and Government

9. Read the excerpt below from United States Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy's dissenting opinion in Korematsu v. United States (1944); then answer the question that follows.

No one denies, of course, that there were some disloyal persons of Japanese descent on the Pacific Coast who did all in their power to aid their ancestral land. Similar disloyal activities have been engaged in by many persons of German, Italian and even more pioneer stock in our country. But to infer that examples of individual disloyalty prove group disloyalty and justify discriminatory action against the entire group is to deny that under our system of law individual guilt is the sole basis for deprivation of rights.

A high school social studies teacher is preparing an instructional unit on civil rights and civil liberties for a Participation in Government and Civics class. The teacher can best use this excerpt to develop student understanding of which constitutional principle?

  1. the rule of law
  2. right to petition
  3. due process of law
  4. freedom of association
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Correct Response: C. This item requires the candidate to use analytical skills to demonstrate understanding of the role of the judiciary as reflected in landmark decisions of the United States Supreme Court. In Korematsu v. United States, the Court upheld Executive Order 9066, which excluded Japanese Americans from the West Coast during World War II and ordered them into internment camps, arguing that the hardships it imposed on those affected were outweighed by the need to protect the United States. In his dissent, Justice Murphy argued that although some individuals of Japanese descent may have been disloyal, such individual cases cannot justify actions against the entire group. In the United States legal system, only proof of "individual guilt" can be used to deprive people of their rights. This argument echoes the constitutional principle of due process of law, including the guarantee that individuals will have an opportunity to be heard in a fair legal proceeding before the government can act to take away their life, liberty, or property.

Competency 0005 
Civics, Citizenship, and Government

10. Laws requiring public disclosure of lobbying activities and funding are primarily intended to:

  1. document the efforts of interest groups to influence public policy making.
  2. monitor the access of interest groups to government information.
  3. alert lobbyists to the activities of competing organizations and interests.
  4. insulate lobbyists from misleading or inaccurate accounts of their activities.
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Correct Response: A. This item requires examinees to use analytical and evaluative skills to demonstrate understanding of the United States election process and the roles of political parties, pressure groups, and special interests in the United States political system. The influence of pressure groups on public policy has received an increasing amount of attention as the scope of the government's powers has increased over time. Laws passed by the United States Congress in 1946, 1995, and 2007 have generally taken the form of disclosure requirements such as requiring that lobbyists register, report their clients, and provide estimates of the amount of their compensation. These requirements are designed to make it easier for watchdog groups or the media to monitor lobbying activities.

Competency 0006 
Social Studies Literacy

11. A social science researcher is beginning a study of Pacific Rim economies during the twenty-first century. A major focus will be the impact of China's economic growth on other Pacific Rim nations, particularly in Asia. The best initial step for the researcher would be to:

  1. consult business periodicals and Web sites for perspectives on economic activity in Pacific Rim nations.
  2. review recent publications of the National Council for the Social Studies for information on economic growth in China.
  3. search for articles on trade in eastern Asia using research databases in economics and other social sciences.
  4. find economic indicators for Pacific Rim nations on the Web sites of the World Bank and other international organizations.
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Correct Response: C. This item requires candidates to evaluate the appropriateness of various resources and research methodologies for meeting specific information needs. An effective first step in exploring the impact of China's economic growth on the region would be to obtain background information on economic relationships among nations in the region and trade with nations in other regions. Discipline-specific databases provide access to academic articles on topics such as trade in eastern Asia. Consulting research databases in economics and other social sciences will enable the researcher to gather information and analyses of the roles of Asian nations in regional and global trade, the importance of those trade relations to national economies and growth, and the effect of economic activity in China on other countries in the region.

Multiple-Competency Passage

Read the excerpt below from Family Instructions for the Miu Lineage, Acknowledgments 2 composed in China during the late sixteenth century; then answer the two questions that follow.

Sacrifices at the graves should be made on Tomb Sweeping Day and at the Autumn Festival. Because the distances to different mountains vary, it is difficult to reach every grave on those days. Therefore, all branch families should be notified in advance of the order of priority; first, the founding father of our lineage; then ancestors earlier than great-great grandfather; next, ancestors down to each person's grandfather. Established customs should be followed in deciding how much wine and meat should be used, how many different kinds of sacrificial offerings should be presented, and how much of the yearly budget should be spent on the sacrifices. All of these should be recorded in a special "sacrifice book" in order to set standards.

Competency 0002 
Global History

12. A historian studying developments in China during the period 1450 to 1770 could best use the excerpt as evidence for the:

  1. influence of polytheistic religious traditions as a legacy of the Mongol conquest.
  2. persistence of Confucian values despite substantial social and economic changes.
  3. inability of the Ming state bureaucracy to prevent the performance of sacrificial rituals.
  4. anxiety of Chinese elites over the attempts by European missionaries to spread Christianity.
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Correct Response: B. This item requires examinees to use analytical and evaluative skills to demonstrate understanding of major political, social, economic, cultural, and scientific developments and turning points in global history during the emergence of the first global age (1450 to 1770). The rituals to be performed at the tombs of the ancestors reflect the values of Confucianism that had endured for many centuries prior to the time of this document. The author's concern with the amount of meat and wine, the variety of offerings, and the amount of money spent for the benefit of ancestors seems to indicate a willingness on the part of some families to spend lavishly and with an eye toward competition with other families in a time of economic change.

Competency 0006 
Social Studies Literacy

13. A historian seeking to connect the excerpt to the effect of economic developments in China during the period 1450 to 1770 would most likely cite which line of text?

  1. "Because the distances to different mountains vary, it is difficult to reach every grave. ..."
  2. "Therefore, all branch families should be notified in advance of the order of priority. ..."
  3. "Established customs should be followed in deciding how much wine and meat should be used. ..."
  4. "All of these should be recorded in a special 'sacrifice book' in order to set standards."
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Correct Response: C. This item requires examinees to evaluate various explanations for actions or events, determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence and contextual understanding, or recognize where there is insufficient information to draw supportable conclusions. Reading the text closely, a historian should discern that the author's admonition to follow "established customs" implies that there are those who are not doing so. The document should essentially be read as a normative or "prescriptive" source, rather than "descriptive" and, as such, should be used to analyze ideals and expectations that may be at odds with realities in a time of economic changes.

Acknowledgments

1From Principles of Economics, Fifth Edition copyright 2009, 2007 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning. Reproduced by permission. www.cengage.com/permissions

2From CHINESE CIVILIZATION: A Sourcebook, 2nd Edition by Patricia Buckley Ebrey. Copyright 1981 by The Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Copyright 1993 by Patricia Buckley Ebrey. Reprinted with the permission of The Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.