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GED Test (Mathematical Reasoning, Science, Social Studies, Reasoning Through Language Arts)

US history: practice questions

Our GED bank has 24 questions on this topic. Here are 5 of them with answers; the full mock exam draws from every topic, like the real one.

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Question 1

President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 because of:

  1. Defeat in the Vietnam War
  2. The Iran-Contra affair
  3. Losing an impeachment trial in the Senate
  4. The Watergate scandal
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D. The Watergate scandal — Facing near-certain impeachment over the Watergate cover-up, Nixon resigned on 9 August 1974. He was never tried by the Senate.

Question 2

The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) guaranteed:

  1. Equal pay for women
  2. Direct election of senators
  3. Women's right to vote
  4. The end of slavery
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C. Women's right to vote — The Nineteenth Amendment: the right to vote shall not be denied 'on account of sex.'

Question 3

Read this excerpt from the Declaration of Independence: 'He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.' Who is 'He'?

  1. The governor of Virginia
  2. King George III of Great Britain
  3. The Prime Minister of France
  4. The first President of the United States
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B. King George III of Great Britain — The Declaration's list of grievances is directed at 'the present King of Great Britain,' George III.

Question 4

The Fifteenth Amendment said the right to vote could not be denied because of:

  1. Sex
  2. Age, for citizens 18 or older
  3. Race, color or previous condition of servitude
  4. Failure to pay a poll tax
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C. Race, color or previous condition of servitude — The Fifteenth Amendment (1870). Sex was addressed by the Nineteenth, age by the Twenty-sixth, poll taxes by the Twenty-fourth.

Question 5

Which document, signed in 1215, limited the power of the English king and influenced later ideas of rule of law?

  1. Treaty of Paris
  2. Mayflower Compact
  3. Magna Carta
  4. Declaration of the Rights of Man
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C. Magna Carta — The Magna Carta (1215) required the king to follow the law and is cited as an early source of limited government.

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