Study Guide

Field 315: Social Science: History 
Sample Multiple-Choice Questions

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Each multiple-choice question has four answer choices. Read each question and its answer choices carefully and choose the ONE best answer.

During the test you should try to answer all questions. Even if you are unsure of an answer, it is better to guess than not to answer a question at all. You will NOT be penalized for choosing an incorrect response.

Objective 0001 
Understand basic sources, tools, and methods of social science inquiry and interdisciplinary connections among the social sciences.

1. A social science researcher would be most likely to use sampling techniques in conducting which of the following research projects?

  1. a study of demographic changes on one city block over time
  2. an exploration of untreated depression in people statewide
  3. a report on ritual mask use in modern and ancient Maori culture
  4. a comparison of campaign finance laws in five contiguous states
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Sampling is the process of selecting a small number of representative units from a population of interest, so that results based on studying the sample can be generalized to the population from which they were chosen. Sampling is most appropriate when the population exists in the present and is too large to allow for a full census.

Objective 0002 
Understand the use of analysis, interpretation, and evaluation in social science inquiry and basic historical concepts.

2. A high school social science teacher has assigned students a semester-long research project. One instructional goal for the research project is for students to demonstrate their ability to evaluate sources throughout the inquiry process. The teacher could best accomplish this goal by:

  1. requiring students to utilize primary sources.
  2. steering students toward an academic database to conduct their research.
  3. having students submit an annotated bibliography.
  4. including a "source analysis" component on the grading rubric for the project.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
An annotated bibliography is a list of sources on one topic that includes a brief note or annotation for each source, describing its content, relevance, and credibility. By having students submit annotated bibliographies, the teacher requires students to evaluate their sources and gains an opportunity to assess their progress toward this instructional goal.

Objective 0002 
Understand the use of analysis, interpretation, and evaluation in social science inquiry and basic historical concepts.

3. For which of the following tasks would historians rely most on chronological thinking?

  1. identifying central questions in narratives
  2. explaining historical causality
  3. proposing alternative choices for addressing a historical problem
  4. considering multiple perspectives
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Much of the work of historians involves the ambiguities of cause and effect. Because causes precede effects, sometimes by extended periods, historians can begin to consider questions of historical causality by tracing events chronologically.

Objective 0003 
Understand the process of reading, and apply knowledge of strategies for promoting students' reading development in the social science classroom.

4. Use the sentence below to answer the question that follows.

By developing new products and/or starting new businesses and being willing to take on the associated risks of such endeavors,  start underline entrepreneurs end underline  play a key role in helping an economy grow.

A teacher could best promote students' understanding of the underlined vocabulary word in the sentence by providing explicit instruction in which of the following types of context clues?

  1. contrast
  2. explanation
  3. inference
  4. restatement
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Many educational texts are carefully written to include information that can serve as context clues to support students' reading comprehension. Generally, however, students need to be taught how to recognize and access the several types of context clues. In this text, the term entrepreneur is introduced with the help of an explanation clue, in which the new vocabulary word is explained within the same sentence. Explanation clues can also appear in the sentence immediately preceding or following the sentence containing the target word.

Objective 0003 
Understand the process of reading, and apply knowledge of strategies for promoting students' reading development in the social science classroom.

5. A high school social science class includes some English language learners and struggling readers who lack the basic reading skills necessary to comprehend complex informational texts. Which of the following strategies for differentiating reading assignments for these students would be most appropriate for a content-area teacher to use to address the students' reading comprehension needs?

  1. teaching the students the basic reading skills that they lack and then reviewing key skills before assigning a new text for independent reading
  2. using a variety of techniques to promote the students' development of oral reading fluency with respect to an assigned text, such as phrase-cued reading, choral reading, and echo reading
  3. introducing key vocabulary to the students prior to assigning a new text and having them read aloud, discuss, and annotate the text with a partner
  4. allowing the students to search for an alternative text online that addresses the same topic as an assigned text but is written for a grade level that is better aligned with their own reading level
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Lack of academic language knowledge is a common contributing factor to comprehension difficulties for students who are English language learners and/or struggling readers. Providing English language learners and struggling readers with explicit instruction in a text's key academic vocabulary, coupled with repeated meaningful exposure to and practice using the new vocabulary (e.g., by having them read aloud and discuss the text with a partner) is an effective approach for enhancing the students' comprehension of new academic language in a complex informational text. Finally, annotating the text with a partner requires the students to use various means (e.g., sticky notes, highlighting, notes in the text's margins) during reading to identify the text's key ideas and details, including the author's argument, claims, and evidence. Text annotation reinforces students' reading comprehension as well as their retention of essential text content.

Objective 0004 
Understand political concepts, systems, features, and processes in the United States and other world areas.

6. The U.S. Congress is best able to influence foreign policy by exercising its constitutional power to:

  1. regulate international commerce.
  2. establish independent regulatory commissions.
  3. appropriate federal funds.
  4. approve or reject presidential appointments.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
The power to tax and spend is the first of the enumerated powers given to Congress in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. One illustrative example of Congress influencing foreign policy through the "power of the purse" is the Boland Amendments to the Defense Appropriations Act during the 1980s. This series of amendments banned U.S. assistance to the Nicaraguan Contra rebels.

Objective 0005 
Understand economic concepts and systems, the operation of the U.S. and world economies, and personal finance.

7. A consumer who is choosing between a credit card with a high interest rate and no annual fee and one with a low interest rate and a substantial annual fee should consider spending habits primarily for which of the following reasons?

  1. If the consumer's large purchases are seasonal, an annual fee may seem burdensome.
  2. If the consumer's purchases are mostly made with cash, a high interest rate is more affordable.
  3. If the consumer spends the same amount each month, a high annual fee may be critical.
  4. If the consumer limits purchases and pays the bill in full each month, the interest rate is irrelevant.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
The scenario illustrates the common economic phenomenon of a trade-off where an advantage comes with the opportunity cost of an offsetting disadvantage. The disadvantage of the first credit card, a high interest rate on balances carried forward, can be avoided if the consumer does not carry a balance and instead pays the credit card bill in full each month.

Objective 0006 
Understand major developments and patterns of continuity and change in world history.

8. Which of the following developments reflects an important consequence of the Neolithic agricultural revolution?

  1. the emergence of pietistic religions
  2. a more equitable distribution of wealth
  3. a decrease in average family size
  4. the creation of permanent settlements
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
In the Paleolithic Era, early humans lived in small groups sustained by hunting and gathering. As they gained knowledge of the migration habits of the animals they hunted and the growth patterns of the wild grains they gathered, humans began domesticating animals and cultivating crops to feed gradually rising populations. As early as 10,000 B C E, these new ways of acquiring food led humans to establish permanent agricultural villages.

Objective 0007 
Understand major developments and patterns of continuity and change in U.S. history.

9. The increased use of steam power by U.S. manufacturers during the first half of the nineteenth century most directly influenced the:

  1. location and productivity of factories.
  2. division of labor in factories.
  3. variety of goods produced in factories.
  4. quality of goods produced in factories.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
The development of steam power marked a signal advance in the ability to do work, which had previously been limited to the muscle power of humans and draft animals supplemented by energy generated by wind and running water. Steam requires the burning of wood or, more commonly, coal to boil water, so the factories that used steam power tended to be located near sources of those raw materials. Furthermore, steam-powered factories required substantial human labor and produced large amounts of consumer goods, encouraging a concentration of population into fast-growing urban centers.

Objective 0007 
Understand major developments and patterns of continuity and change in U.S. history.

10. Which of the following provisions of the U.S. Constitution most clearly reflects the framers' goal of creating a strong national government after the failure of the Articles of Confederation?

  1. "The Congress shall have power to... make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States."
  2. "[The president] shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for."
  3. "The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed."
  4. "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of Government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence."
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
The Constitution enumerates seventeen specific delegated powers to Congress, several of which are substantially more expansive than the powers of its predecessor under the Articles of Confederation. In addition, the Constitution gives Congress "implied powers" to legislate on other matters that "shall be necessary and proper." This clause gives Congress and the national government generally much more power than the central government that had been established by the Articles of Confederation.

Objective 0008 
Understand tools, concepts, and processes of human and physical geography.

11. Which of the following examples best illustrates how experience and culture influence human perceptions of regions?

  1. A person from Canada is more likely than a person from Guatemala to view Latin America as a culture region.
  2. A person from Italy is more likely than a person from Spain to view Western Europe as a culture region.
  3. A person from South Africa is more likely than a person from Egypt to view sub-Saharan Africa as a culture region.
  4. A person from Malaysia is more likely than a person from Thailand to view Southeast Asia as a culture region.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
In geography, a region is an area of land that shares one or more characteristic features. Because many regions are defined by their human features, such as the predominant languages, ethnicities, and economic activities across an area, cultural background and personal experiences can influence how people perceive regions. For example, an individual living in Guatemala may be attuned to cultural differences across Central and South America, while an individual living in Canada may be more likely to perceive Latin America as a cohesive region.

Objective 0009 
Understand concepts, terms, and theories related to human behavior and development, the study of cultures, the structure and organization of human societies, and the processes of social interaction.

12. A major sociological difference between preindustrial and postindustrial societies is that in a preindustrial society:

  1. gender roles are likely to be less rigidly defined.
  2. social status is more likely to be determined by nonmonetary standards.
  3. people are less likely to integrate religious and secular concerns.
  4. an individual's sense of self is more likely to be shaped by occupational role.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Because preindustrial societies operate close to subsistence level, mass participation in producing food is required. In many such societies, the most monetized classes—such as people engaged in mercantile trade—have lower social status than warriors, priests, and landowners. In industrial and postindustrial societies, social classes become even more stratified, with monetary accumulation typically measuring social status.

Objective 0010 
Understand historical concepts, perspectives, and interpretations.

13. The teacher of an honors U.S. history course at the high school level is planning a student research project on the immigrant experience during the mid-1800s. The teacher's intention is for students to attempt to produce original research. Which of the following online resources should the teacher suggest students consult?

  1. reference works that include extensive reading lists related to different aspects of the immigrant experience during the mid-1800s
  2. newspaper editorials from the mid-1800s supporting and opposing the immigration policies of the American "Know-Nothing" Party
  3. historical video documentaries that include images and reenacted interviews related to the experiences of immigrants during the mid-1800s
  4. document sets from the Library of Congress of the mid-1800s that include journal entries by immigrants and census demographic data
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
Document sets from the Library of Congress would be a highly effective resource for a project in which students are expected to produce original research on the immigrant experience. Students could relate information gleaned from immigrants' journal entries and other primary sources to the census data, in order to contextualize the aspects of the immigrant experience students have chosen to study.

Objective 0011 
Understand the prehistory of human civilization and the development of world civilizations from 1000 B C E to 1500 C E, including patterns of continuity and change.

14. A major similarity between ancient Aztec and Inca civilizations was that both had:

  1. a value system that promoted competitive individualism.
  2. a class system in which people moved up and down the social scale on the basis of personal attributes.
  3. an economic system based mainly on hunting and craft production.
  4. a political system in which rulers functioned as religious leaders as well as heads of state.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
Religious and political power were essentially fused in both the Aztec and Inca civilizations, with leaders presiding at religious ceremonies in the large temples that dominated Aztec and Inca urban centers. Among the Aztec, the connection between war and the acquisition of captives for human sacrifice further enhanced the relationship between religious activity and the power of the state. The Inca considered their ruler to be a god descended from the sun, and deceased kings were believed to be intermediaries with the chief Inca deities.

Objective 0012 
Understand major social, intellectual, economic, and geopolitical developments and patterns of continuity and change in world history from 1450 to 1850, including the First Global Age, the Age of Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution.

15. Read the excerpt below from "Institutes of the Christian Religion" by John Calvin (1560 C E); then answer the question that follows.

Although it is now sufficiently plain that God by his secret counsel chooses whom he will while he rejects others, his gratuitous election has only been partially explained until we come to the case of single individuals, to whom God not only offers salvation, but so assigns it, that the certainty of the result remains not dubious or suspended.

The excerpt most clearly expresses which of the following doctrines associated with the Protestant Reformation?

  1. baptism with the Holy Spirit
  2. predestination
  3. justification by faith alone
  4. consubstantiation
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
In his theological work, John Calvin extended the Protestant rejection of human agency in salvation to its ultimate end in his doctrine of predestination. The power of God, Calvin believed, is so far beyond the ability of human beings to influence it that God "assigns" salvation to individuals even before they are born, regardless of their deeds on earth.

Objective 0013 
Understand major political, geopolitical, social, cultural, and economic developments and patterns of continuity and change in world history since 1850.

16. Leaders of the Chinese Revolution of 1949 departed most decisively from Chinese tradition in their:

  1. reliance on an authoritative body of doctrine.
  2. unwillingness to forge close ties with other nations.
  3. creation of a monolithic, centralized state.
  4. stress on science, materialism, and class conflict.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
The Chinese Revolution led to rule by the Communist Party, which systematically sought to turn China away from its traditional past. Chairman Mao Zedong adapted Marxist-Leninist thought, retaining the core idea of a materialistic explanation of human history based on class conflict. Mao's philosophical writings of the 1930s emphasize the need to substantiate the truth of logical knowledge by testing it against the changing circumstances of practical reality.

Objective 0014 
Understand the development of colonial settlements in North America, the Revolutionary War, and the creation of the U.S. government, including patterns of continuity and change.

17. Which of the following statements best describes the influence of the cotton gin on the development of slavery in the United States?

  1. The cotton gin made cotton a more profitable crop, which increased the demand for slave labor for cotton production.
  2. The cotton gin made cleaning cotton an easier task, which improved the working conditions for many slaves in the South.
  3. The cotton gin reduced the amount of labor needed to produce cotton, which reduced the need for slaves on cotton plantations.
  4. The cotton gin increased the productivity of lands under cotton cultivation, which slowed the geographic spread of slavery.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
The development of the cotton gin enabled much larger amounts of cotton to be processed much more efficiently, making cotton growing a profitable enterprise. With increased production, the price of cotton dropped dramatically, and there was a correspondingly dramatic increase in demand, particularly for the burgeoning mills of England. Not only did the demand for slave labor increase on existing plantations in Georgia and South Carolina, but the slave system expanded into the newer territories of Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas.

Objective 0015 
Understand major developments of the early national and Jacksonian periods, westward expansion, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, including patterns of continuity and change.

18. Rising intersectional tension within the United States during the 1850s most often centered on differing interpretations of which of the following constitutional provisions?

  1. "The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States."
  2. "No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of another."
  3. "The President shall be Commander in Chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States."
  4. "No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque or reprisal; coin money; [nor] emit bills of credit."
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
During the 1850s, intersectional strife was driven primarily by slavery, specifically the notion of slaves as property and the ability of Congress, through the exclusion of slavery from the territories, to interfere with an individual's right to property. One notable area of tension was the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which took the issue of slavery's expansion from the federal government and placed it in the hands of the territories' inhabitants. The act provoked violent conflict between pro- and anti-slavery settlers that came to be known as "Bleeding Kansas."

Objective 0016 
Understand major political, social, economic, diplomatic, and military developments and patterns of continuity and change in the United States from the end of Reconstruction until 1914.

19. Which of the following developments was most directly a result of the urbanization that occurred in the United States during late nineteenth century?

  1. spread of Victorian culture and values
  2. adoption of Jim Crow laws in the South
  3. development of powerful political machines
  4. increased support for the woman suffrage movement
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
As cities grew with the influx of immigrants during the nineteenth century, political machines—party organizations controlled by a small group or a single "boss"—emerged to provide essential services for their often overwhelmed and vulnerable constituents. In New York, Chicago, and other cities, these organizations provided services and patronage to lower-class voters as well as businessmen in exchange for votes. The Progressive Movement of the early twentieth century responded to the power and frequent corruption of political machines by attempting to expand the ability of municipal administrations to address the challenges of massive and rapid urbanization.

Objective 0017 
Understand political and diplomatic developments, economic trends, social movements, and patterns of continuity and change in the United States from World War I to the present.

20. Which of the following statements best describes the significance of the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 for the civil rights movement?

  1. The boycott demonstrated the effectiveness of direct, nonviolent resistance.
  2. The boycott prompted civil rights leaders to emphasize voter registration campaigns.
  3. The boycott enhanced the credibility of leaders of the black nationalist movement.
  4. The boycott made economic issues an integral part of the civil rights agenda.
Answer and Rationale. Enter to expand or collapse. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
The Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott deliberately employed the tactic of direct and nonviolent resistance. Under the guidance of Martin Luther King Jr., who utilized the doctrine of nonviolence as practiced by Mohandas Gandhi and his followers in their resistance to British colonial rule in India, the nonviolent boycott was intended to highlight the moral superiority of those engaged in resistance to the racist practices of Montgomery city officials.