GED Social Studies Test #7 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The primary cause of the Great Depression (1929) was:
- A combination of stock market crash, bank failures, and reduced consumer spending (Correct answer)
- A drought that destroyed American agricultural production
- Government overspending and high national debt
- A foreign invasion disrupting American trade
Correct answer: A combination of stock market crash, bank failures, and reduced consumer spending
The Great Depression resulted from multiple factors: the 1929 stock market crash wiped out investments; bank failures destroyed savings; reduced consumer spending further reduced demand; and the Smoot-Hawley Tariff hurt international trade.
Question 2: The Women's Suffrage Movement in the U.S. achieved its goal with the ratification of:
- The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) (Correct answer)
- The Fifteenth Amendment (1870)
- The Equal Rights Amendment
- The Civil Rights Act of 1964
Correct answer: The Nineteenth Amendment (1920)
The 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, granted women the right to vote in the United States. The movement was led by figures like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton over decades of activism.
Question 3: NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) was designed to:
- Eliminate trade barriers and tariffs between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico (Correct answer)
- Create a common currency for North America
- Establish a joint military defense system in North America
- Set environmental and labor standards for North American companies
Correct answer: Eliminate trade barriers and tariffs between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico
NAFTA (1994), replaced by USMCA in 2020, eliminated most tariffs on goods traded between the three North American countries. It aimed to boost trade and economic growth, though critics argued it led to job losses in manufacturing.
Question 4: The system of government in ancient Athens is historically significant because it was one of the first examples of:
- Direct democracy, where citizens voted on laws themselves (Correct answer)
- Representative democracy through elected officials
- Constitutional monarchy limiting royal power
- A federal system dividing power among city-states
Correct answer: Direct democracy, where citizens voted on laws themselves
Athenian democracy (5th century BCE) allowed male citizens to directly vote on laws and policies. While limited (excluding women, slaves, and foreigners), it was an early model of democratic governance that influenced modern systems.
Question 5: A political map of Europe in 1914 shows many multi-ethnic empires (Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, Russian). By 1920, these empires had:
- Collapsed, creating many new independent nation-states (Correct answer)
- Expanded their territories significantly
- United into a single European federation
- Reformed as constitutional monarchies
Correct answer: Collapsed, creating many new independent nation-states
World War I and its aftermath (especially the Treaty of Versailles) caused the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian empires. New nations like Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and the Baltic states emerged from their territories.
Question 6: The term "bicameral legislature" describes a law-making body with:
- Two separate chambers (e.g., Senate and House of Representatives) (Correct answer)
- One chamber with all elected members
- Both elected and appointed members in a single body
- Equal representation for all states regardless of population
Correct answer: Two separate chambers (e.g., Senate and House of Representatives)
A bicameral legislature has two houses. The U.S. Congress is bicameral: the Senate (100 members, 2 per state) and the House of Representatives (435 members, based on population). Both chambers must pass a bill for it to become law.
GED Social Studies Test #7 2
The primary cause of the Great Depression (1929) was: