GED — All Questions

Which document begins with the words 'We the People' and establishes the framework of the U.S. government?

• a.The U.S. Constitution✓
• b.The Bill of Rights
• c.The Emancipation Proclamation
• d.The Declaration of Independence

The U.S. Constitution opens with 'We the People' and sets up the structure of the federal government. The Declaration of Independence announced separation from Britain. The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the Constitution.

The U.S. government is divided into three branches. Which branch makes the laws?

• a.Legislative✓
• b.Executive
• c.Judicial
• d.Military

The legislative branch, Congress, makes the laws. The executive branch enforces them and the judicial branch interprets them. This separation of powers prevents any one branch from becoming too strong.

What is the main purpose of the Bill of Rights?

• a.To list the duties of the president
• b.To declare war on Britain
• c.To protect individual freedoms✓
• d.To set tax rates

The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments, protects individual liberties such as free speech and religion. It limits the power of the federal government over citizens. These protections were added to gain support for ratifying the Constitution.

In an economy, what does the term 'supply' refer to?

• a.The tax on a product
• b.The total money in a bank
• c.The desire of consumers to buy a good
• d.The quantity producers offer for sale✓

Supply is the quantity of a good producers are willing to offer at a given price. The desire of consumers to buy is demand, the other half of the pair, and confusing the two reverses every prediction you would make about price. The total money in a bank is a measure of deposits and has nothing to do with the market for a particular good. And a tax on a product shifts supply but is not itself supply.

Which right is protected by the First Amendment?

• a.The right to a speedy trial
• b.Protection from unreasonable searches
• c.Freedom of speech✓
• d.The right to bear arms

The First Amendment protects freedoms of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition. The right to bear arms is in the Second Amendment. Knowing which amendment covers which right is a core civics concept.

The American Civil War (1861-1865) was fought largely over which issue?

• a.Trade with China
• b.Women's right to vote
• c.Independence from Britain
• d.Slavery and its expansion✓

The war followed decades of conflict over slavery and, above all, over whether it would spread into the western territories; the seceding states said so in their own declarations of causes. Independence from Britain was the Revolutionary War, roughly eighty years earlier. Women's suffrage was a separate nineteenth- and twentieth-century movement that culminated in 1920. And trade with China had no bearing on secession.

What is inflation?

• a.A drop in the population
• b.A type of government tax
• c.An increase in exports only
• d.A general rise in prices✓

Inflation is a sustained rise in the overall price level, which means each dollar buys less than it did. The word 'general' is doing the work: one product getting dearer is not inflation. A tax is a government charge, not a movement in prices, though taxes can feed into them. A drop in population is a demographic change with no direct definition in terms of prices. And a rise in exports alone describes trade, not the price level.

Which body of water borders the United States on the west coast?

• a.The Indian Ocean
• b.The Atlantic Ocean
• c.The Pacific Ocean✓
• d.The Gulf of Mexico

The Pacific Ocean lies along the western coast of the United States, bordering states like California and Oregon. The Atlantic Ocean is on the east coast. Basic map knowledge helps interpret geography questions.

In the United States, how often are presidential elections held?

• a.Every four years✓
• b.Every six years
• c.Every year
• d.Every two years

Presidential elections occur every four years, as set by the Constitution. Members of the House serve two-year terms and senators serve six-year terms. Regular elections are a key feature of representative democracy.

What was the main goal of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s?

• a.To end legal racial segregation✓
• b.To lower federal taxes
• c.To end U.S. involvement in wars
• d.To expand the railroad system

The movement of the 1950s and 1960s set out to dismantle legally enforced racial segregation and the disfranchisement that went with it, producing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Lowering federal taxes belongs to a different political tradition altogether. Ending U.S. involvement in wars describes the antiwar movement, which overlapped in time but not in aim. And expanding the railroad system was a nineteenth-century project, roughly a century early.

A map's scale is used to—

• a.label the capital cities
• b.show real distances✓
• c.show the direction of north
• d.indicate elevation with color

A scale tells you what a distance on the page is worth on the ground, which is what lets you turn two inches of map into miles. Direction is the compass rose's job, not the scale's. Capital cities are marked by symbols in the legend. And elevation shown through color is a feature of a relief or topographic map, again read from the legend rather than the scale.

Which economic system is based on private ownership and market competition?

• a.Communism
• b.Feudalism
• c.Monarchy
• d.Capitalism✓

Capitalism is an economic system in which individuals and businesses privately own property and compete in markets. Prices are largely set by supply and demand. This contrasts with communism, where the state controls production.

The Declaration of Independence (1776) was written primarily to—

• a.establish the three branches of government
• b.justify separation from Britain✓
• c.abolish slavery
• d.create the Supreme Court

The Declaration set out the colonies' reasons for breaking with British rule, resting them on natural rights and government by consent. It established no institutions: the three branches were created by the Constitution eleven years later, and the Supreme Court with them. And it did not abolish slavery — that came with the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, nearly ninety years afterward.

What is the role of the U.S. Supreme Court?

• a.To command the armed forces
• b.To collect federal taxes
• c.To interpret the Constitution✓
• d.To write new laws

The Court interprets the Constitution and decides whether laws square with it, the power known as judicial review. Writing new laws is Congress's job, and a court that wrote them would collapse the separation of powers the Constitution sets up. Commanding the armed forces belongs to the President as commander in chief. And collecting federal taxes is an executive function carried out by the Treasury.

Which term describes goods a country sells to other countries?

• a.Exports✓
• b.Subsidies
• c.Imports
• d.Tariffs

Exports are goods and services a country sells to other nations. Imports are what a country buys from abroad. The balance between exports and imports affects a nation's trade relationships.

The idea that government power comes from the consent of the people is called—

• a.isolationism
• b.nationalism
• c.popular sovereignty✓
• d.federal supremacy

Popular sovereignty is the principle that a government's authority comes from the people it governs, which is why the Constitution opens 'We the People.' Federal supremacy is about which level of government prevails in a conflict, not about where authority originates. Nationalism concerns loyalty to a nation, which says nothing about who authorizes the government. And isolationism is a foreign-policy stance about staying out of other nations' affairs.

Which invention of the Industrial Revolution most changed how goods were manufactured?

• a.The steam engine✓
• b.The compass
• c.The printing press
• d.The telescope

The steam engine powered factories and machines, greatly increasing production during the Industrial Revolution. It also transformed transportation through trains and steamships. This shift moved economies from handmade goods to mass production.

A tax placed on imported goods is called a—

• a.dividend
• b.surplus
• c.subsidy
• d.tariff✓

A tariff is a tax on imported goods, often used to protect domestic industries or raise revenue. Tariffs raise the price of foreign products. A subsidy, by contrast, is government support given to producers.

Which of these is a responsibility of U.S. citizens?

• a.Joining a political party
• b.Owning a business
• c.Traveling abroad
• d.Serving on a jury✓

Jury service is a duty: when you are summoned you must appear, and that obligation is what makes it a responsibility rather than a choice. Joining a political party, traveling abroad and owning a business are all things a citizen may do and none that a citizen must do. The test is whether the law can require it of you.

The Great Depression of the 1930s was mainly a period of—

• a.westward pioneer settlement
• b.mass unemployment and poverty✓
• c.military expansion abroad
• d.rapid economic growth

The 1930s brought bank failures, collapsing output and unemployment that reached roughly a quarter of the workforce at its worst, which is what the New Deal programs were built to answer. Rapid economic growth is the exact opposite and describes the 1920s that preceded it. Westward pioneer settlement had largely ended decades earlier. And large-scale military expansion abroad came afterward, with the Second World War.

On a political map, boundary lines usually show—

• a.population density
• b.political borders✓
• c.ocean currents
• d.mountain ranges

A political map's job is to show how territory is divided among governments, so its lines mark the borders of countries, states and provinces. Mountain ranges and other natural features belong to a physical map, which is the contrast worth holding onto. Population density is shown by a thematic map, usually through shading. And ocean currents appear on specialized maps with arrows, not as boundary lines.

Which document divides government power between the national and state governments, a system called federalism?

• a.The Monroe Doctrine
• b.The Gettysburg Address
• c.The U.S. Constitution✓
• d.The Mayflower Compact

The U.S. Constitution establishes federalism by dividing powers between the national and state governments. Some powers are shared, while others belong to one level. This balance prevents overly concentrated authority.

What generally happens to the price of a good when demand rises but supply stays the same?

• a.The price stays exactly the same
• b.The price tends to fall
• c.The price tends to rise✓
• d.The good becomes free

When demand increases while supply is unchanged, competition among buyers usually pushes the price up. This reflects the basic law of supply and demand. Higher demand with limited supply raises prices.

The right of citizens to vote is known as—

• a.suffrage✓
• b.taxation
• c.federalism
• d.immigration

Suffrage is the right to vote in elections. Over U.S. history, suffrage expanded to include women in 1920 and was strengthened for racial minorities in the 1960s. Voting is a fundamental way citizens influence government.

Which level of government is primarily responsible for public schools and local police?

• a.State and local✓
• b.Federal government
• c.Foreign governments
• d.The Supreme Court

Schools and municipal police are funded and run at the state and local level, which is why school policy and policing differ so sharply from one town to the next. The federal government takes the matters that have to be uniform across the country, such as defense and foreign policy. The Supreme Court decides cases and administers no public service at all. And foreign governments have no role in either.

A primary source in the study of history is best described as—

• a.a textbook written today about the past
• b.an encyclopedia summary
• c.a firsthand record from the time studied✓
• d.a modern documentary film

A primary source was created during the period under study by someone who was there — a letter, a diary, a photograph, a law as enacted. A textbook written today, an encyclopedia entry and a modern documentary are all secondary: they interpret the period afterward, using primary sources as their raw material. The question is always when the source was made and by whom, not how reliable it is.

The system in which citizens elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf is called—

• a.an absolute monarchy
• b.a representative democracy✓
• c.a military dictatorship
• d.a direct democracy

In a representative democracy the people choose officials who then make decisions for them, which is how the U.S. Congress and state legislatures work. A direct democracy is the close comparison and the one to keep separate: there the citizens vote on the measures themselves rather than electing anyone to do it. An absolute monarchy vests power in a hereditary ruler, and a military dictatorship in the armed forces — in neither case does an election decide who governs.

Which principle allows a federal court to refuse to enforce a law it finds contrary to the Constitution?

• a.Executive privilege
• b.Judicial review✓
• c.Eminent domain
• d.Popular sovereignty

Judicial review is the power of the courts to measure a statute against the Constitution and decline to apply it if the two conflict; the Supreme Court claimed the power for itself in Marbury v. Madison in 1803. Executive privilege is a President's claim to withhold certain communications, which is about secrecy rather than constitutionality. Eminent domain is the government's power to take private property for public use with compensation. Popular sovereignty is the idea that authority comes from the people, a source of legitimacy rather than a judicial power.

An amendment to the U.S. Constitution takes effect only after it is ratified by—

• a.the President and the Senate
• b.three-fourths of the states✓
• c.a simple majority in Congress
• d.a national vote of the people

Article V sends a proposed amendment to the states, and it becomes part of the Constitution only when three-fourths of them ratify it, whether through their legislatures or through conventions. Congress proposes by two-thirds of both houses, so a simple majority there is not even enough to start the process. There is no national referendum on amendments anywhere in the Constitution. And the President has no role at all: an amendment is not a bill and is never presented for signature.

Congress can pass a bill over the President's veto with a vote of—

• a.three-fourths of each house
• b.a majority of each house
• c.two-thirds of each house✓
• d.two-thirds of the Senate only

Article I, Section 7 requires two-thirds of each chamber to override a veto, which is why a President with a third of either house behind him is hard to defeat. A simple majority is what passed the bill in the first place and was plainly not enough. Three-fourths is the bar for ratifying an amendment, a different and higher threshold. And the House cannot be skipped: both chambers must reach two-thirds.

Which power does the Constitution give to Congress rather than to the President?

• a.Negotiating a treaty
• b.Nominating a federal judge
• c.Pardoning a federal offense
• d.Declaring war on another nation✓

Article I lists the power to declare war among Congress's powers, and it has never belonged to the President, who commands the forces once they are committed. The pardon power for federal offenses is the President's alone under Article II. Treaties are negotiated by the President, with the Senate then giving or withholding consent. And judicial nominations are made by the President, again with the Senate confirming.

Which chamber of Congress votes on whether to confirm the President's nominees to the federal courts?

• a.The House of Representatives
• b.The Electoral College
• c.The Supreme Court
• d.The Senate✓

The Senate holds the advice-and-consent power, so a judicial nominee reaches the bench only after a Senate vote. The House has no part in confirmations; its distinctive powers are originating revenue bills and voting articles of impeachment. The Supreme Court does not choose its own members. And the Electoral College exists only to elect the President and Vice President, then dissolves.

A candidate wins the presidency by receiving—

• a.two-thirds of the electoral votes
• b.the largest share of the popular vote
• c.a majority of the state legislatures
• d.a majority of the electoral votes✓

The Constitution decides the presidency in the Electoral College, and a candidate needs more than half of the electors, not merely more than any rival. Leading the national popular vote is not the legal test, which is why a candidate can win the country and lose the office. Two-thirds is the threshold for a veto override or for proposing an amendment, not for election. And state legislatures appoint electors but cast no vote for President themselves.

The Tenth Amendment provides that powers not given to the federal government are—

• a.surrendered by every level of government
• b.reserved to the states and the people✓
• c.granted to the President in emergencies
• d.held jointly by Congress and the courts

The Tenth Amendment is the textual home of federalism: what the Constitution does not delegate to the United States, and does not forbid to the states, stays with the states or with the people. It does not hand leftover power to Congress and the courts, which are two of the federal bodies the amendment is limiting. It creates no emergency reservoir for the President. And it does not extinguish the powers; it locates them.

If the President neither signs nor vetoes a bill within ten days while Congress is in session, the bill—

• a.becomes law without a signature✓
• b.is treated as though it had been vetoed
• c.returns to the committee that wrote it
• d.must be voted on again

Article I, Section 7 says that a bill not returned within ten days, Sundays excepted, becomes law as if it had been signed, provided Congress is still sitting. Silence counts as a veto only when Congress has adjourned in the meantime, which is the pocket veto and the opposite case. Nothing sends the bill back to committee; it has already passed both chambers. And no second vote is required, because no veto message ever arrived.

Which protection is written into both the Fifth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment?

• a.The right to bear arms
• b.Due process of law✓
• c.Protection against unreasonable searches
• d.Freedom of the press

Both amendments forbid depriving a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law: the Fifth binds the federal government and the Fourteenth binds the states. Freedom of the press appears only in the First Amendment. The right to bear arms appears only in the Second. And protection against unreasonable searches and seizures is the Fourth Amendment's alone, though the Court has since applied it to the states through the Fourteenth.

Under the Fourth Amendment, police generally need a warrant supported by probable cause in order to—

• a.question a willing witness
• b.search a private home✓
• c.arrest someone for a public crime
• d.write a traffic citation

The home sits at the center of the Fourth Amendment, and entering one to search it normally requires a warrant issued on probable cause. Talking to a witness who agrees to talk involves no search or seizure at all. An arrest for an offense an officer sees in public may be made without a warrant. And a citation for a traffic violation the officer observed is likewise no search of anything.

Which of these is a check that the other branches hold over the federal judiciary?

• a.Judges are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate✓
• b.The President may veto a bill that both houses of Congress passed
• c.Congress may impeach and remove the President
• d.The Court may decide that a statute Congress passed is unconstitutional

Federal judges do not choose themselves: the President nominates and the Senate confirms, which is how the elected branches shape the courts. The veto is the President's check on Congress, running in a different direction entirely. Impeachment of the President is Congress checking the executive. And striking down a statute is the judiciary checking the other two, which is the reverse of what the question asks.

The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920—

• a.lowered the voting age to eighteen
• b.guaranteed equal protection of the laws
• c.abolished slavery in the United States
• d.barred denying the vote on account of sex✓

The Nineteenth Amendment forbids the United States or any state from denying or abridging the right to vote on account of sex, which is how women secured the ballot nationally. Slavery was abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. The voting age was lowered to eighteen by the Twenty-Sixth Amendment in 1971. And equal protection of the laws comes from the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868.

The main purpose of a party's primary election is to—

• a.choose the officials who run the party organization nationally
• b.choose that party's nominee for the general election✓
• c.settle what the party's platform will say for four years
• d.count each state's electoral votes

A primary is an intra-party contest whose whole function is to decide which candidate carries the party's label into the general election. Electoral votes are counted by Congress long after the general election and have nothing to do with a primary. A party picks the officials who run its national organization through its own committees rather than at the ballot box. And the platform is written at the national convention rather than voted on by primary voters.

Which official heads the executive branch of a city government?

• a.A state legislator
• b.The governor
• c.The county sheriff
• d.The mayor✓

A mayor is the chief executive of a municipality, the local counterpart of a governor or a President. A governor heads a state, a level above the city. A sheriff is a law enforcement officer, usually elected county-wide, and runs one department rather than the city. And a state legislator makes state law and holds no executive office at all.

Who has the power to veto a bill passed by a state legislature?

• a.The President of the United States
• b.The governor of that state✓
• c.The mayor of the largest city
• d.The state supreme court

State constitutions give the governor a veto over bills the legislature has passed, mirroring the President's role at the federal level. A mayor's authority stops at the city limits and never reaches a state bill. A state supreme court may later hold a law invalid, but that is judicial review after enactment, not a veto. And the President has no power over state legislation whatsoever.

To say that the U.S. Congress is bicameral means that—

• a.its members serve two-year terms
• b.it shares power with two other branches
• c.it meets in session twice a year
• d.it is made up of two separate chambers✓

Bicameral describes a legislature built out of two houses, here the House of Representatives and the Senate, each of which must pass a bill before it can become law. The two-year term belongs only to House members, and a term length is not what the word describes. The number of sessions in a year is a matter of the calendar, not of structure. And sharing power with two other branches is separation of powers, a different idea altogether.

The census taken every ten years is used to determine—

• a.which states may hold early primaries
• b.how long a representative's term runs
• c.how many House seats each state gets✓
• d.how many senators each state gets

Apportionment is the constitutional purpose of the census: the count decides how the fixed number of House seats is divided among the states, and states gain or lose representation accordingly. Senate membership is set at two per state by the Constitution and no count can change it. A representative's term is fixed at two years. And the primary calendar is arranged by the parties and the states, with no connection to the census.

The process by which a lawful permanent resident becomes a U.S. citizen is called—

• a.ratification
• b.apportionment
• c.appropriation
• d.naturalization✓

Naturalization is the legal process, set by federal statute, through which someone who was not a citizen at birth becomes one. Apportionment is the division of House seats among the states after a census. Ratification is formal approval of a treaty or a constitutional amendment. And appropriation is Congress setting aside money for a purpose.

The House of Representatives votes to impeach a federal officer. Where is the trial then held?

• a.In the Senate✓
• b.In the Electoral College
• c.In a federal district court
• d.In the Supreme Court

Impeachment and removal are split between the chambers: the House brings the charges and the Senate sits as the court that tries them, with conviction requiring two-thirds. The Supreme Court does not try impeachments, although the Chief Justice presides when the President is the officer charged. A district court hears ordinary federal cases, not impeachments. And the Electoral College has no judicial function of any kind.

The establishment clause of the First Amendment bars the government from—

• a.setting up an official religion✓
• b.requiring children to attend school
• c.allowing prayer in private homes
• d.granting licenses to broadcasters

The clause opens the First Amendment by forbidding any law respecting an establishment of religion, which at its core means the government may not install an official faith. Private worship is protected rather than restricted, so permitting it is not a problem the clause addresses. Broadcast licensing is a regulatory matter with no religious dimension. And compulsory school attendance is a state power that the establishment clause does not reach.

A writ of habeas corpus requires the government to—

• a.justify holding a person in custody✓
• b.pay a defendant's legal expenses
• c.bring a case to trial within a year
• d.reveal the identity of an informant

Habeas corpus is the ancient demand that a jailer produce the prisoner and show lawful cause for the detention, which is why it is called the great writ. Paying a defendant's costs is a separate question handled by other rules. Disclosing an informant may be ordered in the course of a criminal case but has nothing to do with the writ. And the pace of a prosecution is governed by speedy-trial rules, not by habeas corpus.

An interest group differs from a political party mainly because an interest group—

• a.seeks to influence policy without nominating candidates✓
• b.must register every one of its members with the government
• c.is forbidden by law from contacting lawmakers about policy
• d.may take positions on only one issue at a time

A party exists to win offices and therefore nominates candidates under its own label; an interest group pursues particular policies and works on whoever holds office. Contacting lawmakers is precisely what interest groups do, and petitioning the government is protected by the First Amendment. Membership rolls are not filed with the government, though lobbying activity itself is often reported. And nothing limits a group to one issue at a time.

Which of these is an example of local public policy?

• a.A federal court interprets a national statute
• b.A city council sets a limit on building heights✓
• c.A company raises the price of its product
• d.A family decides to move to another state

Public policy is a course of action adopted by a government for the community it governs, and a height limit voted by a city council is exactly that at the local level. A family's move is a private decision, however much local policy may have shaped it. A company's pricing is a business decision made in a market, not a governmental act. And a federal court reading a national statute is federal and judicial rather than local policymaking.