GED Social Studies Practice Test 3

(1) Every state has its own constitution and its own government. Like the national government, each state government has three branches. Voters in every state elect a governor, who heads the executive branch. The governor carries out state laws, proposes a budget and can veto bills. In most states, the governor also has a power the president does not have: the line-item veto. With it, a governor can reject one part of a spending bill, such as a single project, while signing the rest of the bill into law.

(2) Each state also has a legislature that writes state laws and approves the state budget. Forty-nine states have a two-house, or bicameral, legislature, like Congress. Nebraska is the only exception. Since 1937 it has had a single house, called a unicameral legislature, and its members run for office without party labels. In almost every state, the legislature can override a governor's veto with a supermajority vote, often two-thirds of the members of each house.

(3) State courts make up the judicial branch. They hear most of the criminal and civil cases in the United States, from traffic tickets to contract disputes. Each state has its own highest court, usually called the state supreme court. Federal judges are appointed for life, but many state judges are elected by voters or must win "retention" elections to keep their seats.

(4) States share responsibility with two other levels of government. The national government handles matters that affect the whole country, such as national defense and printing money. Counties, cities and towns are created by the state. They run local services such as police patrols, trash pickup and zoning, the rules that decide what may be built where. States themselves handle matters such as issuing driver's licenses, building state highways and setting rules for public schools.

(1) Every state has its own constitution and its own government. Like the national government, each state government has three branches. Voters in every state elect a governor, who heads the executive branch. The governor carries out state laws, proposes a budget and can veto bills. In most states, the governor also has a power the president does not have: the line-item veto. With it, a governor can reject one part of a spending bill, such as a single project, while signing the rest of the bill into law.

(2) Each state also has a legislature that writes state laws and approves the state budget. Forty-nine states have a two-house, or bicameral, legislature, like Congress. Nebraska is the only exception. Since 1937 it has had a single house, called a unicameral legislature, and its members run for office without party labels. In almost every state, the legislature can override a governor's veto with a supermajority vote, often two-thirds of the members of each house.

(3) State courts make up the judicial branch. They hear most of the criminal and civil cases in the United States, from traffic tickets to contract disputes. Each state has its own highest court, usually called the state supreme court. Federal judges are appointed for life, but many state judges are elected by voters or must win "retention" elections to keep their seats.

(4) States share responsibility with two other levels of government. The national government handles matters that affect the whole country, such as national defense and printing money. Counties, cities and towns are created by the state. They run local services such as police patrols, trash pickup and zoning, the rules that decide what may be built where. States themselves handle matters such as issuing driver's licenses, building state highways and setting rules for public schools.

Most U.S. cities use one of two forms of government. The diagram compares two fictional cities. Arrows show who chooses whom.

The Tenth Amendment was ratified in 1791 as the last of the ten amendments known as the Bill of Rights.

(1) "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Editor's note:

(2) The Constitution delegates, or assigns, certain powers to the national government, such as declaring war and regulating trade with other nations. Article I, Section 10 prohibits states from doing certain things, such as making treaties with foreign nations or coining money. Powers that fall into neither group are reserved to the states. States use these reserved powers, often called "police powers," to protect public health, safety and welfare. Examples include licensing workers such as nurses and electricians, setting traffic laws, and creating local governments and school districts.

(1) Around 1900, many Americans believed that their state legislatures had fallen under the control of party bosses and powerful businesses such as railroads. Reformers known as Progressives argued that voters needed ways to act directly when lawmakers would not.

(2) Three tools spread from state to state. The initiative lets citizens propose a new law or constitutional amendment by collecting a required number of voter signatures on a petition. The proposal then goes on the ballot, and voters accept or reject it. The referendum lets voters approve or reject a law that the legislature has already passed. In some states, citizens can force a referendum on a new law by petition. The recall lets voters remove an elected official before the official's term ends. It also begins with a petition and ends with a special vote.

(3) South Dakota adopted the initiative and referendum in 1898, and Oregon adopted both in 1902. Within two decades, many western states had followed. Today about half of the states allow citizens to place laws or amendments on the ballot by initiative. In every state except Delaware, changes to the state constitution must also be approved by voters.

(4) Supporters say these tools keep government accountable to the people. Critics argue that complicated questions can be hard to judge from a short ballot summary. They also point out that well-funded groups can pay workers to gather signatures, giving organized interests a new path to power.

(1) Around 1900, many Americans believed that their state legislatures had fallen under the control of party bosses and powerful businesses such as railroads. Reformers known as Progressives argued that voters needed ways to act directly when lawmakers would not.

(2) Three tools spread from state to state. The initiative lets citizens propose a new law or constitutional amendment by collecting a required number of voter signatures on a petition. The proposal then goes on the ballot, and voters accept or reject it. The referendum lets voters approve or reject a law that the legislature has already passed. In some states, citizens can force a referendum on a new law by petition. The recall lets voters remove an elected official before the official's term ends. It also begins with a petition and ends with a special vote.

(3) South Dakota adopted the initiative and referendum in 1898, and Oregon adopted both in 1902. Within two decades, many western states had followed. Today about half of the states allow citizens to place laws or amendments on the ballot by initiative. In every state except Delaware, changes to the state constitution must also be approved by voters.

(4) Supporters say these tools keep government accountable to the people. Critics argue that complicated questions can be hard to judge from a short ballot summary. They also point out that well-funded groups can pay workers to gather signatures, giving organized interests a new path to power.

Harlan County is a fictional county. Counties pay for services such as sheriffs, jails, courts, road repair and public health from a general fund. The chart shows where the money in Harlan County's general fund came from in 2025. "State aid" is money the state government gives the county; "federal grants" come from the national government.

During the Progressive Era, Americans amended the Constitution four times between 1913 and 1920. Two of those amendments appear below.

(1) Sixteenth Amendment (ratified 1913): "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration."

(2) Nineteenth Amendment (ratified 1920): "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

Editor's note:

(3) In 1895, in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., the Supreme Court ruled that a federal tax on income from property was a direct tax. Under the original Constitution, direct taxes had to be apportioned, or divided among the states according to population. That rule made a national income tax nearly impossible to collect fairly. Before 1920, about fifteen states, most of them in the West, already allowed women to vote in all elections, but many other states did not.

During the Progressive Era, Americans amended the Constitution four times between 1913 and 1920. Two of those amendments appear below.

(1) Sixteenth Amendment (ratified 1913): "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration."

(2) Nineteenth Amendment (ratified 1920): "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

Editor's note:

(3) In 1895, in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., the Supreme Court ruled that a federal tax on income from property was a direct tax. Under the original Constitution, direct taxes had to be apportioned, or divided among the states according to population. That rule made a national income tax nearly impossible to collect fairly. Before 1920, about fifteen states, most of them in the West, already allowed women to vote in all elections, but many other states did not.

Between about 1890 and 1920, reformers called Progressives worked to limit the power of big business, protect workers and consumers, and give voters more control over government. The timeline shows key events of the period.

President Theodore Roosevelt sent this message to Congress in December 1901, a few months after taking office. A trust was a large combination of companies that worked together to control a market, such as oil or railroads.

(1) "The tremendous and highly complex industrial development which went on with ever accelerated rapidity during the latter half of the nineteenth century brings us face to face, at the beginning of the twentieth, with very serious social problems. The old laws, and the old customs which had almost the binding force of law, were once quite sufficient to regulate the accumulation and distribution of wealth. Since the industrial changes which have so enormously increased the productive power of mankind, they are no longer sufficient."

(2) "There is a widespread conviction in the minds of the American people that the great corporations known as trusts are in certain of their features and tendencies hurtful to the general welfare. … It is based upon sincere conviction that combination and concentration should be, not prohibited, but supervised and within reasonable limits controlled; and in my judgment this conviction is right."

(3) "Great corporations exist only because they are created and safeguarded by our institutions; and it is therefore our right and our duty to see that they work in harmony with these institutions. … The first essential in determining how to deal with the great industrial combinations is knowledge of the facts--publicity."

(1) In the decades after the Civil War, the United States became the world's leading industrial nation. New machines and new sources of power, first steam engines and later electricity, allowed factories to produce goods in huge quantities. Railroads carried coal and iron ore to factories and carried finished goods to customers across the country.

(2) Factories were usually built where workers, transportation and customers came together: in cities. At the same time, new farm machinery meant that fewer people were needed to grow the nation's food. Millions of young people left farms and small towns for jobs in cities. Millions of immigrants, many from southern and eastern Europe after 1890, also settled in cities such as New York, Chicago and Pittsburgh.

(3) Cities grew faster than they could provide services. Many working families crowded into tenements, apartment buildings with little light or fresh air. Factory smoke darkened the sky, and waste was dumped into rivers that also supplied drinking water. These conditions led reformers to push for building codes, clean water systems and public health departments.

(4) The graph shows the percent of Americans who lived in urban areas, which the U.S. Census defined as places with 2,500 or more people.

(1) In the decades after the Civil War, the United States became the world's leading industrial nation. New machines and new sources of power, first steam engines and later electricity, allowed factories to produce goods in huge quantities. Railroads carried coal and iron ore to factories and carried finished goods to customers across the country.

(2) Factories were usually built where workers, transportation and customers came together: in cities. At the same time, new farm machinery meant that fewer people were needed to grow the nation's food. Millions of young people left farms and small towns for jobs in cities. Millions of immigrants, many from southern and eastern Europe after 1890, also settled in cities such as New York, Chicago and Pittsburgh.

(3) Cities grew faster than they could provide services. Many working families crowded into tenements, apartment buildings with little light or fresh air. Factory smoke darkened the sky, and waste was dumped into rivers that also supplied drinking water. These conditions led reformers to push for building codes, clean water systems and public health departments.

(4) The graph shows the percent of Americans who lived in urban areas, which the U.S. Census defined as places with 2,500 or more people.

Dalton County is a fictional county. Wages, like other prices, are set by supply and demand. Workers supply labor, and employers demand it. In 2025, an online retailer opened a large new distribution center in Dalton County. The graph shows the market for warehouse workers before the center opened (D1) and after it opened (D2). E1 and E2 mark the equilibrium wage and number of workers before and after.

In May 1937, during the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to pass a law setting national minimum wages and maximum working hours. Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act the next year. It set the first national minimum wage, 25 cents an hour, limited the workweek and banned most child labor in industries that shipped goods across state lines.

(1) "One-third of our population, the overwhelming majority of which is in agriculture or industry, is ill-nourished, ill-clad and ill-housed."

(2) "Our Nation so richly endowed with natural resources and with a capable and industrious population should be able to devise ways and means of insuring to all our able-bodied working men and women a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. A self-supporting and self-respecting democracy can plead no justification for the existence of child labor, no economic reason for chiseling workers' wages or stretching workers' hours."

(3) "Goods produced under conditions which do not meet rudimentary standards of decency should be regarded as contraband and ought not to be allowed to pollute the channels of interstate trade."

(1) On a sunny summer afternoon, the surfaces of a city can be much hotter than the countryside around it. Scientists call this an urban heat island. Dark surfaces such as asphalt streets, parking lots and tar roofs absorb sunlight and release the heat slowly. Buildings block breezes that would carry heat away. Trees and other plants help cool an area in two ways: they shade the ground, and they release water vapor through their leaves, which cools the air around them. Water also stays cooler than pavement during the day.

(2) Scientists in the fictional city of Marston measured surface temperatures in six zones at 3 p.m. on a clear day in July. The map shows their results.

(1) On June 22, 1969, oil-soaked debris floating on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire. Firefighters put out the blaze quickly, and it caused fairly little damage. It was not even the river's first fire. The Cuyahoga had burned several times since the late 1800s, including a far more destructive fire in 1952.

(2) For about a century, steel mills, oil refineries and other factories along the river had dumped their wastes into it, and the growing city had poured in sewage. In parts of the river, almost no fish could survive. National magazine coverage later that summer made the burning river a symbol of industrial pollution. The image helped build public support for stronger national pollution laws.

(3) In 1970, the federal government created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 1972, Congress passed major changes to the federal water pollution law, now known as the Clean Water Act. The law required a permit for anyone discharging pollution from a pipe or other single "point source" into the nation's waters, and it set a goal of making waters safe for fishing and swimming. Congress passed the law over President Richard Nixon's veto.

(4) Today the Cuyahoga is much cleaner, and dozens of kinds of fish live in stretches where few could survive in 1969. Problems remain, however. When it rains, runoff from streets, lawns and parking lots carries oil, salt, fertilizer and trash into rivers. Because this pollution comes from thousands of scattered places rather than one pipe, it is much harder to regulate.

(1) On June 22, 1969, oil-soaked debris floating on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire. Firefighters put out the blaze quickly, and it caused fairly little damage. It was not even the river's first fire. The Cuyahoga had burned several times since the late 1800s, including a far more destructive fire in 1952.

(2) For about a century, steel mills, oil refineries and other factories along the river had dumped their wastes into it, and the growing city had poured in sewage. In parts of the river, almost no fish could survive. National magazine coverage later that summer made the burning river a symbol of industrial pollution. The image helped build public support for stronger national pollution laws.

(3) In 1970, the federal government created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 1972, Congress passed major changes to the federal water pollution law, now known as the Clean Water Act. The law required a permit for anyone discharging pollution from a pipe or other single "point source" into the nation's waters, and it set a goal of making waters safe for fishing and swimming. Congress passed the law over President Richard Nixon's veto.

(4) Today the Cuyahoga is much cleaner, and dozens of kinds of fish live in stretches where few could survive in 1969. Problems remain, however. When it rains, runoff from streets, lawns and parking lots carries oil, salt, fertilizer and trash into rivers. Because this pollution comes from thousands of scattered places rather than one pipe, it is much harder to regulate.

(1) Between about 1910 and 1970, roughly six million African Americans left the rural South for cities in the North, Midwest and West. Historians call this movement the Great Migration. The first large wave came during World War I.

(2) In the South, most Black families worked as sharecroppers or farm laborers, often for very low pay and trapped in debt. State and local "Jim Crow" laws enforced racial segregation, and poll taxes and literacy tests kept most Black men from voting. Lynching and other violence threatened Black communities. In the 1910s, an insect called the boll weevil spread across the cotton-growing South and destroyed crops, wiping out many farm jobs.

(3) In the North, the war created new opportunities. Factories were producing weapons, ships and supplies, and the war had nearly cut off immigration from Europe, which had supplied much of industry's labor. Some employers sent recruiters south. Black-owned newspapers, especially the Chicago Defender, printed job listings and letters from migrants describing better pay and schools. Factory jobs in cities such as Chicago, Detroit and Pittsburgh often paid far more than farm work in the South.

(4) Life in the North was not free of discrimination. Migrants often faced segregated housing, unfair hiring and, in 1919, deadly riots in Chicago and other cities. Still, the migration reshaped American cities, politics and culture.

(1) In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act. It created the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, a planned network of about 41,000 miles of high-speed, limited-access roads. The federal government agreed to pay 90 percent of the construction cost, and the states would pay the rest. The federal share would come from a tax on gasoline placed in a new Highway Trust Fund.

(2) The highways had a Cold War purpose as well as an economic one. The United States and the Soviet Union were rivals, and both had nuclear weapons. Supporters argued that in a national emergency, good roads would let the military move troops and equipment quickly and help people evacuate cities. Eisenhower also remembered a 1919 army truck convoy that had taken about two months to cross the country on poor roads.

(3) The interstates changed where Americans lived. Fast highways made it practical to live in a suburb and drive to a job in the city. Shopping centers, factories and offices followed people out of central cities. In many cities, highway routes were drawn through older, often low-income and minority neighborhoods, destroying homes and businesses and splitting communities apart. Cars became the main way to get around, which increased traffic and air pollution.

City of Fairmont (a fictional city)

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

(1) The Fairmont City Council will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, March 10, at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers, City Hall, 200 Main Street. The hearing will also be streamed live on the city's website.

(2) Purpose: The council will consider Ordinance 26-14. The ordinance would rezone 12 acres at the corner of Oak Avenue and Route 9 from "agricultural" to "commercial" so that a grocery store and parking lot can be built.

(3) How to take part: Any resident may speak for up to three minutes. Sign up at the door before 6:15 p.m. Residents who cannot attend may email written comments to the city clerk until noon on Monday, March 9. All spoken and written comments become part of the public record.

(4) The full text of the ordinance and a traffic study are available for review at City Hall and at the public library during regular hours.

(5) The council will vote on the ordinance at its regular meeting on Tuesday, March 24.

In most U.S. cities, candidates for mayor and city council run without party labels on the ballot. These nonpartisan elections began as a Progressive Era reform. Reformers hoped to weaken political machines, which were party organizations that traded city jobs and favors for votes. The fictional city of Harwell is considering adding party labels to its city ballots. Two residents share their views.

Dana Ruiz, retired city clerk

(1) Fixing potholes and running a water plant is not a Democratic or Republican job. Without party labels, voters have to learn about the actual candidates instead of simply voting for their party. In my thirty years at City Hall, the council members who worked best together were the ones who never thought of themselves as party soldiers. Adding labels would drag national arguments into local problems.

Marcus Bell, high school government teacher

(2) A party label is a useful shortcut. Most voters do not have time to research a dozen candidates for city council, and some studies have found that turnout tends to be lower in nonpartisan local elections. Without labels, many voters fall back on name recognition, which helps incumbents and candidates who can afford more advertising. Parties also give voters someone to hold responsible when things go wrong.

In most U.S. cities, candidates for mayor and city council run without party labels on the ballot. These nonpartisan elections began as a Progressive Era reform. Reformers hoped to weaken political machines, which were party organizations that traded city jobs and favors for votes. The fictional city of Harwell is considering adding party labels to its city ballots. Two residents share their views.

Dana Ruiz, retired city clerk

(1) Fixing potholes and running a water plant is not a Democratic or Republican job. Without party labels, voters have to learn about the actual candidates instead of simply voting for their party. In my thirty years at City Hall, the council members who worked best together were the ones who never thought of themselves as party soldiers. Adding labels would drag national arguments into local problems.

Marcus Bell, high school government teacher

(2) A party label is a useful shortcut. Most voters do not have time to research a dozen candidates for city council, and some studies have found that turnout tends to be lower in nonpartisan local elections. Without labels, many voters fall back on name recognition, which helps incumbents and candidates who can afford more advertising. Parties also give voters someone to hold responsible when things go wrong.

In most U.S. cities, candidates for mayor and city council run without party labels on the ballot. These nonpartisan elections began as a Progressive Era reform. Reformers hoped to weaken political machines, which were party organizations that traded city jobs and favors for votes. The fictional city of Harwell is considering adding party labels to its city ballots. Two residents share their views.

Dana Ruiz, retired city clerk

(1) Fixing potholes and running a water plant is not a Democratic or Republican job. Without party labels, voters have to learn about the actual candidates instead of simply voting for their party. In my thirty years at City Hall, the council members who worked best together were the ones who never thought of themselves as party soldiers. Adding labels would drag national arguments into local problems.

Marcus Bell, high school government teacher

(2) A party label is a useful shortcut. Most voters do not have time to research a dozen candidates for city council, and some studies have found that turnout tends to be lower in nonpartisan local elections. Without labels, many voters fall back on name recognition, which helps incumbents and candidates who can afford more advertising. Parties also give voters someone to hold responsible when things go wrong.