Test Information Guide

Field 73: History/Social Science
Sample Multiple-Choice Questions

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World History

Objective 0002
Apply knowledge of major political, economic, social, cultural, and technological developments in the early modern world (from approximately the mid-fourteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century CE).

1. Read the excerpt below from a letter from Nazinga Mbemba, King of Kongo, to the King of Portugal, 1526; then answer the question that follows.

Each day the traders are kidnapping our people—children of this country, sons of our nobles and vassals, even people of our own family. Corruption and depravity are so widespread that our land is entirely depopulated. We need in this kingdom only priests and schoolteachers, and no merchandise, unless it is wine and flour for Mass. It is our wish that this kingdom not be a place for the trade or transport of slaves.

The concerns expressed in the excerpt primarily reflect the impact of which of the following developments on African society during the sixteenth century?

  1. resistance to the establishment of European colonial settlements
  2. opposition from African artisans and merchants to imported goods
  3. increased demand by colonizers in South America for forced labor
  4. political instability following the collapse of the Songhai Empire
Answer
Correct Response: C.

Correct Response: C.

Objective 0003
Apply knowledge of major political, economic, social, cultural, and technological developments in modern world history.

2. Following the acquisition of political independence by the Spanish-speaking areas of mainland Central and South America, the pattern of development of these areas was primarily characterized by:

  1. the consolidation of smaller political units into progressively larger nations.
  2. an enduring role for the Catholic Church in the social structure of these nations.
  3. the persistence of slavery in most of these nations until late in the nineteenth century.
  4. a division between nations that continued warm relations with Spain and those that did not.
Answer
Correct Response: B.

Correct Response: B.

U.S. History

Objective 0005
Apply knowledge of major political, economic, social, and cultural developments in the history of the United States from 1789 to 1918.

3. In the period before 1860, which of the following financial interests was most directly associated with and most consistently drew profits from the slave system of production in the United States?

  1. Southern textile and tool manufacturers
  2. Northern shippers and insurance companies
  3. Southern banking and mercantile firms
  4. Northern railroad and canal corporations
Answer
Correct Response: B.

Correct Response: B.

Objective 0006
Apply knowledge of major political, economic, social, and cultural developments in the history of the United States from 1918 to the present.

4. The publication and popularity of Betty Friedan's 1963 book The Feminine Mystique primarily reflected the:

  1. aspirations of African American women to achieve integration.
  2. discontent of White suburban housewives in middle-class households.
  3. influence of women's voting organizations on national politics.
  4. opposition to Cold War politics by feminist pacifist groups.
Answer
Correct Response: B.

Correct Response: B.

World Geography and Economics

Objective 0007
Apply knowledge of physical and human geography across the following regions: Western Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, North America, Central America, Caribbean Islands, South America, Central and South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.

5. Population growth in East Asia and Southern Africa since 1975 led primarily to which of the following effects?

  1. intensified cultivation of lands suitable for agriculture
  2. movement of people from crowded cities to the countryside
  3. decreased life expectancy for most social classes
  4. escalations in warfare between coalitions of nations
Answer
Correct Response: A.

Correct Response: A.

Objective 0008
Apply knowledge of the relationship between geography and culture across the following regions: Western Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, North America, Central America, Caribbean Islands, South America, Central and South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.

6. The first factories in the eastern United States in the early nineteenth century were often located in which of the following settings?

  1. along a river where rapids could generate water power
  2. far from major population centers to minimize the effects of pollution
  3. near a forest that would be able to supply abundant timber resources
  4. in a seaport near the disembarkation points for immigrant workers
Answer
Correct Response: A.

Correct Response: A.

Objective 0009
Apply knowledge of concepts and principles of economics.

7. Which of the following governmental actions most directly targets the promotion of long-term growth of the economy for decades into the future?

  1. increasing government spending to build physical capital resources
  2. reducing the personal income tax rate during times of high unemployment
  3. imposing more business taxes to widen the burden of funding public goods
  4. accelerating transfer payments to communities struggling during recessions
Answer
Correct Response: A.

Correct Response: A.

Civic Life and Government

Read the excerpt below from the Suffolk Resolves (1774); then answer the two questions that follow.

Whereas the power but not the justice: the vengeance but not the wisdom of Great-Britain, which of old persecuted, scourged, and exiled our fugitive parents from their native shores, now pursues us their guiltless children, with unrelenting severity--And whereas, this, then savage and uncultivated desert was purchased by the toil and treasure, or acquired by the blood and valor of those our venerable progenitors, who bequeathed to us the dear bought inheritance, who consigned it to our care and protection. ... [I]f we arrest the hand which would ransack our pockets, if we disarm the parricide which points the dagger to our bosoms, if we nobly defeat that fatal edict which proclaims a power to frame laws for us in all cases whatsoever, thereby entailing the endless and numberless curses of slavery upon us, our heirs and their heirs for ever; if we successfully resist that unparalleled usurpation of unconstitutional power.

Objective 0010
Apply knowledge of the origin of constitutional government in the United States.

8. The authors of the Suffolk Resolves framed recent actions of the British Parliament as violating which of the following political principles?

  1. self-government
  2. federalism
  3. freedom of expression
  4. fair elections
Answer
Correct Response: A.

Correct Response: A.

Objective 0013
Apply knowledge of the guiding principles and instructional practices of effective history and social science education.

9. A teacher using the excerpt in a high school history and social science course can best avoid upholding a problematic historical narrative by including instruction on which of the following topics?

  1. the ways in which the concept of justice has been transformed since the eighteenth century
  2. the tendency of the founders to overlook or downplay the experience of Native Americans
  3. the influence of the First Great Awakening on the thinking of those who supported colonial expansion
  4. the complexity of the relationship between chattel slavery and indentured servitude in the colonies
Answer
Correct Response: B.

Correct Response: B.

Objective 0011
Apply knowledge of the purposes, principles, and institutions of U.S. and Massachusetts state and local government.

10. After Congress fails to agree on legislation addressing a matter of national interest, the president can take which of the following actions as a form of checks and balances?

  1. issuing an executive order to address the matter
  2. filing a lawsuit in one or more federal district courts
  3. originating a petition to urge Congressional action
  4. escalating the dispute to a hearing of the Supreme Court
Answer
Correct Response: A.

Correct Response: A.