The GED Social Studies Exam - Geography

This time ask yourself questions as you read to help you better understand and recall the passage: What is the main point of the text.. A main idea is a general statement that contains a

TH E G E O G R A P H Y S E C T I O Nof the GED will cover many areas, including topography (landforms), climate,

culture, and population distribution This section will also test your ability to use and understand maps Many questions will use a photograph, map, chart, table, or other source to present material

 P h y s i c a l G e o g r a p h y

Physical geography studies the features of the Earth’s surface This branch of geography looks at climate, plant

and animal life, bodies of water, and landforms Maps are the most important tool of geography Topographical maps give details about land They show different elevations above and below sea level Globes and world maps

show oceans, seas, and the seven continents of the planet

C H A P T E R

Geography

IN THE geography section of the GED, you will be asked to answer

questions relating to both physical geography (the features of the Earth’s surface) and cultural geography (the way humans relate to their physical environment)

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Reading and Understanding Maps

Intersecting lines that form a grid help locate specific

areas on a world map Lines of latitude run parallel to the

equator, an imaginary line that runs east and west The

equator is at 0° latitude It divides the globe into two

halves, called the northern and southern hemispheres.

Lines of longitude run parallel to the prime meridian, an

imaginary that runs north and south through

Green-wich, England The prime meridian is at 0° longitude It

divides the globe into two halves, called the eastern and

western hemispheres To find a specific location on the

globe, look for the point where its latitude and longitude

intersect For example, you can find the western portion

of Brazil if you are given its coordinates as 45° west

lon-gitude and 10° south latitude

 C l i m a t e

Climate describes the atmosphere of a region over a long

period of time It includes rainfall, humidity, wind, and

other elements A region’s climate is most affected by its

latitude Broad areas, called climatic zones, lie along

lati-tudinal lines between the equator and the north and

south pole The tropical zone includes all land and water

that falls between two imaginary lines called the Tropic of

Cancer (23.5 north latitude) and the Tropic of Capricorn

(23.5 south latitude) The tropics—hot, wet, with little

seasonal change—contain the world’s largest rainforests

It also contains savanna and desert climates Much of Africa, Central America, the Caribbean, South America, Southeast Asia, and India are part of the tropical zone

The temperate zones lie between the tropics and the

polar circles They are characterized by four seasons, usu-ally a hot summer, cold winter, and intermediate spring and fall Much of North America, Europe, Russia, China, and the Middle East are found in the northern temperate zone Australia and the southern part of South America fall within the southern temperate zone The

polar or arctic zones are the areas near the north and

south pole This zone is characterized by long, cold

win-ters and short, cool summers The Arctic Circle marks the region near the north pole and the Antarctic Circle marks

the area surrounding the south pole

 C u l t u r a l G e o g r a p h y

Cultural geography explores the relationship between humans and their natural environment It looks at how people both adapt to and transform their physical

sur-roundings to suit their needs Many aspects of culture—

a shared way of living among a group of people that develops over time—are influenced by environment Geographers study the belief systems, language, food, architecture, and clothing of particular regions

They also study population—the size, makeup, and

distribution of people in a given area over a period of

time This field, called demography, looks at changes in

population through birth rate, death rate, and migration from one place to another One major factor affecting where people live is a region’s type of economy In areas that depend on agriculture for their economy, people generally live in rural areas In places with an industrial economy, urban areas become major population centers

In 1950, 29% of the world’s population lived in urban areas In 1990, this figure increased to 43%

Today, more than half the world’s population—an estimated 6.2 billion—lives in Asia, with China and India

as major contributors The United States, the third most populous country in the world, makes up less than 5% of the global total

Source: Data from U.S Census Bureau, International Data

Base

The U.S Census Bureau predicts that the world

pop-ulation will reach over nine billion people by 2050, with

most of the population increase occurring in less

devel-oped countries

E XERCISE 10

Use the pie graph and paragraph about world popula-tion distribupopula-tion to answer the following quespopula-tion The answer is on page 169

1. Which of the following is a statement of fact rather than opinion?

a The Chinese government should continue its

“one child-one family” policy to curtail its population growth

b The world population will exceed nine billion

people by 2050

c Three out of five persons on Earth today live

in Asia

d The U.S population will decline in the next

century because it is too expensive to live here

e Population growth should be a top concern

for all nations

Remaining

Asia 23%

Africa 14%

Latin America and Caribbean 8%

Europe 12%

China 20.5%

India

17%

North America 5%

Oceania 0.5%

Distribution of World Population 2002

– G E O G R A P H Y –

ON T H E SO C I A L Studies Exam, you will read short passages, varying in length from 50 to 170

words, and then answer a multiple-choice question or set of questions concerning the passage Reading passages may be taken from a number of sources, often drawn from a workplace or aca-demic context The test uses both primary sources, such as firsthand historical or practical documents, and sec-ondary sources, such as excerpts from editorials, news articles, or news magazines

 B e a n A c t i v e R e a d e r

When you read social studies material, you use a similar set of skills as you do when you read other kinds of text Reading is an active exercise in which you interact with the text, paying close to attention to the key thoughts and details of a passage Try skimming a passage first so that you can discern its organization and get clues about its main ideas If you read at a slow pace initially, you may lose the overall idea in too many details Look to see if a reading excerpt is broken into sections, if there are any helpful topic headings, and what key terms are boldfaced

or highlighted After you finish skimming, go back and read more closely This time ask yourself questions as you read to help you better understand and recall the passage: What is the main point of the text? How did the author support his or her point? As you read, consider making quick notes on a separate piece of paper to help you high-light important words or ideas

C H A P T E R

Tips and Strategies for the GED Social Studies Exam

YOU HAVE reviewed what you need to know for the Social

Stud-ies Exam Now you will learn some specific tips and strategStud-ies to use

on the exam

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 W h e r e I s t h e M a i n I d e a ?

To show that you understand the concepts presented in

social studies material, the test will sometimes ask you to

find the main idea of a passage A main idea is a general

statement that contains all the ideas within a passage It

is an author’s main point

To locate a main idea, carefully read the topic sentence

of the passage The first sentence may contain the overall

idea that an author wishes to express However,

some-times an author may build up to his or her point, in

which case you may find the main idea in the last sentence

of the introductory paragraph or even the last sentence of

the entire passage Students often confuse the topic or

sub-ject of a passage—that is, what the passage is about—with

the main idea The main idea is what the author intends

to say about the subject For example, read the following

paragraph:

The fertile black soil of the Nile River Valley in

northeastern Africa gave rise to the

agriculture-based society of ancient Egypt For more than

3,000 years beginning as early as 5,000 B.C., this

civilization flourished Its cultural contributions

include basic concepts of arithmetic and

geome-try, a calendar, jewelry, pottery, statues, the

pyra-mids at Giza, underground burial chambers,

and the mummification process The Egyptian

script, called hieroglyphics, is a form of writing

based on pictures The Rosetta Stone, a granite

slab inscribed in 196 B.C with three identical

texts—two in hieroglyphic languages and one in

ancient Greek—aided scholars in deciphering

hieroglyphics

Note that a statement might be too general to best

describe the main idea of a passage For example, look at

the following choices Which best describes the main

idea of the selection?

a Early civilizations often developed near a

water source

b Before deciphering the Rosetta Stone, scholars

could not read Egyptian hieroglyphics

c Ancient Egypt was a sophisticated civilization

that made many contributions to human

culture

d The most important Egyptian contribution

was a written script called hieroglyphics

e Scholars have found similarities between

heiroglyphics and ancient Greek

Although choice a is a true statement, it is too general

to express the main idea of the paragraph Choice b is

also a true statement but is too specific to describe the

passage’s main idea Choice d is an opinion that is not supported by the details of the passage Choice e is not supported by the passage Choice c best describes the

paragraph’s main idea

To practice finding the main idea, ask yourself some of the following questions when you read:

■ What is this passage about?

■ What is the author’s purpose?

■ If you were asked to choose a headline or title for the passage, what would you choose?

■ Which sentence contains all the ideas expressed

in the passage?

 F i n d i n g S u p p o r t i n g I d e a s

After you have highlighted the main idea of a passage, the next step is to find the details or facts that an author has provided to support his or her main position While a

main idea is a general statement, a supporting idea is spe-cific information For example, read the next paragraph

from a U.S Census Bureau report:

The growth of human population has been, is now, and in the future will be almost entirely determined in the world’s less developed coun-tries (LDCs) Ninety-nine percent of global nat-ural increase—the difference between numbers

of births and numbers of deaths—now occurs

in the developing regions of Africa, Asia, and Latin America

The topic of this paragraph is world population The

main idea of the passage is what the writer is saying about

world population In this case, the first sentence

expresses the main idea: The growth of human population has been, is now, and in the future will be almost entirely determined in the world’s less developed countries (LDCs).

The next sentence offers specific information that

supports the main idea It offers a specific fact in the

form of a statistic (ninety-nine percent of global natural

increase) and gives details about which areas of the world

the passage is talking about (developing regions of Africa,

Asia, and Latin America).

These words and phrases are often used to introduce

a detail or idea that supports an author’s position:

for example for instance

one reason is in one case

in particular specifically

To practice locating supporting ideas while you read,

skim the text and look for the following:

■ examples that bolster the main idea

■ contrasting arguments that clarify the author’s

point

■ arguments for the author’s position

■ details that answer what, when, where, why,

or how

 R e s t a t i n g I n f o r m a t i o n

The GED Social Studies Test will ask you to answer

ques-tions based on details supplied in a passage However, the

answer choices will not present the details in the same

words—they may restate the information in different

terms To strengthen your critical thinking skills, when

you are reading, pause and think about what the

mate-rial is stating Then try putting it in your own words

This will help you better understand reading material

and increase your ability to recognize the same material

even if it is written in new terms For example, read the

following passage:

The North American Free Trade Agreement

(NAFTA) is an agreement between Canada,

Mexico, and the United States to remove tariffs

and trade barriers from goods made and sold in

the continent Before the pact was approved in

1993, lawmakers and special-interest groups

fiercely debated the issue Labor groups believed

that NAFTA would make it easier for U.S

busi-nesses to move their production plants to

Mex-ico to take advantage of cheap labor

Environmental groups opposed NAFTA because they felt that pollution regulations would be more difficult to enforce

Think about how you would rephrase this informa-tion in your own words Now answer the practice question

According to the information in the paragraph, which

of the following is true?

a Supporters of NAFTA were not challenged.

b Opponents of NAFTA wanted to keep duties

and other tariffs on U.S goods shipped to Mexico

c Labor groups were afraid that U.S jobs would

be lost

d Canada and the United States never approved

NAFTA

e Labor groups believe it is cheaper to produce

goods in the United States

Choice c is correct It restates the following sentence

from the passage: “Labor groups believed that NAFTA would make it easier for U.S businesses to move their plants to Mexico to take advantage of cheap labor.”

Choices a and d are incorrect statements Choice b may

be true, but it is not mentioned in the paragraph

 M a k i n g I n f e r e n c e s

While restating information tests your ability to know

what a text says, making inferences about a passage demonstrates your ability to know what a text means.

Sometimes, an author may not explicitly state his or her main idea or offer a conclusion You must infer the

author’s meaning Being able to make inferences is an

important critical thinking skill To figure out an

unstated idea or conclusion, look at what the author has

stated Ask yourself these questions:

■ What can I conclude based on the information provided?

■ What is the author suggesting?

■ What will be the outcome?

■ Would the same outcome occur in another setting?

– T I P S A N D S T R AT E G I E S F O R T H E G E D S O C I A L S T U D I E S E X A M –

Read the following excerpt from Elizabeth Cady

Stan-ton’s paper, “Government the Best Means of

Self-Development,” which she presented to the U.S Senate

Committee on Woman Suffrage at a March 7, 1884

hear-ing Then answer the practice question

“They who say that women do not desire the

right of suffrage, that they prefer masculine

domination to self-government, falsify every

page of history, every fact in human experience

It has taken the whole power of the civil and

canon law to hold woman in the subordinate

position which it is said she willingly accepts.”

What is the author of this passage suggesting?

a Women do not want the right to vote.

b Women need to have access to education

before they are allowed the right to vote

c Lawmakers and religious leaders have been

coercive in maintaining women’s status as

“second-class” citizens

d Women can still be influential citizens

with-out the right to vote

e Women willingly accept their subordinate

position

Statements a, d, and e are incorrect Elizabeth Cady

Stanton is making a counterargument against the

posi-tion that women do not want the right to vote Statement

b is not supported by the details given in the passage.

Statement c is the best answer Stanton uses strong

lan-guage to make her argument for women’s suffrage She

says that “canon law,” which refers to the laws of the

Christian Church, and “civil law,” which refers to the laws

of the United States, have used their power to keep

women in a “subordinate position.”

Looking for Proof

Just because something is in print does not mean that the

reader must believe it or take it as fact Most written

material has some bias Sometimes, a writer’s beliefs may

unknowingly affect how he or she writes about an event

In other instances, a writer purposefully tries to shape

your reaction and opinion For example, a writer may

present only one perspective of an event or include only

facts that support his or her position One crucial

think-ing skill that the GED will measure is your ability to

make judgments about what you read As you read, you

will need to challenge the author’s assumptions and posi-tions, tell the difference between fact and opinion, and look for complete and accurate information

F ACT VS O PINION

A fact is a statement that can be verified by a reliable

source Because all sources have some bias, you must decide whether you think a source presents accurate, researched information Examples of reliable sources of information may include official government docu-ments, encyclopedias, or well-documented studies Here

is an example of a factual statement:

The U.S population is growing older—in fact, adults over age 65 are the fastest-growing seg-ment of today’s population

This sentence could be supported by the recent national census

An opinion is a statement of the beliefs or feelings of

a person or group It cannot be proven by a reliable source An opinion is a judgment that may or may not

be true It includes predictions of the future because it cannot be proven at the current time The following sen-tence represents an opinion:

Many believe that the population boom among elderly Americans will create a future health-care crisis

Note that this statement is attributed to a source (“many”) that is unknown and therefore cannot be ver-ified It also represents a belief or speculation about the future Others may disagree with this prediction

Be alert to the common words that may introduce a statement of opinion:

likely should/could say

probably believe attest

E MOTIONAL L ANGUAGE

Propaganda refers to techniques that try to influence

your opinion, emotions, and attitudes in order to bene-fit an organization or individual Propaganda uses lan-guage that targets your emotions—your fears, beliefs, values, prejudices—instead of appealing to reason or critical thinking Advertising, media, and political

cam-paigns use propaganda techniques to influence you To

detect propaganda, ask yourself the following questions

about written material:

■ Who does it benefit?

■ What are its sources?

■ What is the purpose of the text?

Here are six common propaganda techniques:

Bandwagon—The basic message of bandwagon

propaganda is “everyone else is doing something, so

you should be, too.” It appeals to the desire to join

the crowd or be on the winning team Phrases like

“Americans buy more of our brand than any other

brand” or “the brand that picky parents choose” are

examples of the bandwagon technique To evaluate a

message, ask these questions:

■ Does this program or policy serve my particular

interests?

■ What is the evidence for or against it?

Common Man—This approach tries to convince

you that its message is “just plain old common

sense.” Politicians and advertisers often speak in an

everyday language and use common jokes and

phrases in order to present themselves as one “of the

people,” and thereby appeal to their audience For

example, a presidential candidate campaigning in

New Hampshire may dress in a plaid shirt and chop

wood or visit a mill in order to look like an ordinary

citizen To avoid the common-man technique, ask

yourself these questions:

■ What ideas is the person presenting—separate

from the person’s image or language?

■ What are the facts?

Euphemisms—Instead of emotionally loaded

lan-guage that rouses its audience, these terms “soften”

an unpleasant reality and make it less emotional

Terms that soften the nature of war are an example

A historical instance of euphemism is when in the

1940s, the U.S government renamed the War

Department to the Department of Defense Stay

alert to euphemisms What facts are being softened

or hidden?

Generalities—This approach uses words and

phrases that evoke deep emotions Examples of

gen-eralities are honor, peace, freedom, or home These

words carry strong associations for most people By using these terms, a writer can appeal to your emo-tions so that you will accept his or her message with-out evaluating it Generalities are vague so that you will supply your own interpretations and not ask further questions An example might be, “The United States must further restrict immigration in order to preserve freedom and liberty.”

Try to challenge what you read or hear Ask yourself:

■ What does the generality really mean?

■ Has the author used the generality to sway my emotions?

■ If I take the generality out of the sentence, what are the merits of the idea?

Labeling or name calling—This method links a

negative label, name, or phrase to a person, group, belief, or nation It appeals to hates and fears Name calling can be a direct attack or it can be indirect, using ridicule Labels can evoke deep emotions, such

as Commie, Nazi, or Terrorist Others can be nega-tively charged, depending on the situation: Yuppie, Slacker, Liberal, or Reactionary When a written text

or speech uses labeling, ask yourself these questions:

■ Does the label have any real connection to the idea being presented?

■ If I take away the label, what are the merits of the idea?

Testimonials—In advertising, athletes promote a

range of products, from cereal to wristwatches In politics, celebrities endorse presidential candidates Both are examples of testimonials A testimonial uses a public figure, expert, or other respected per-son to endorse a policy, organization, or product Because you may respect or admire a person, you may be less critical and accept a product, candidate,

or idea more readily Ask yourself these questions:

■ Does the public figure have any expert knowledge about this subject?

■ Without the testimonial, what are the merits of the message?

– T I P S A N D S T R AT E G I E S F O R T H E G E D S O C I A L S T U D I E S E X A M –

O NLY H ALF THE S TORY

Another way a writer may slant information is to omit

evidence A writer may try to convince you to accept his

or her interpretation of an event or issue by giving you

only one side of the story and by leaving out contrasting

facts or perspectives When this is done deliberately, it is

a propaganda technique called card stacking When you

read, evaluate whether the author has presented different

points of view and offered balanced evidence For

instance, a campaign ad might highlight a candidate’s

positive qualities and leave out unfavorable

characteris-tics Campaign ads might also target an opponent,

pre-senting negative qualities and omitting positive ones,

thereby creating a distorted perspective

 C a u s e a n d E f f e c t R e l a t i o n s h i p s

The GED Social Studies Test will ask you to identify the

relationships between events Often, historical events are

connected to situations that came before them When

you are considering the causes of an event, be aware that

multiple causes can create one effect, just as one cause

can have many effects Sometimes, what is considered a

cause can be controversial In the following passage,

leg-islators and criminologists argue over the causes that

might have contributed to a drop in the youth crime rate

Juvenile crime has reached its lowest national

level since 1988 The number of arrests for

juve-nile murder has also dropped It is now at the

lowest level since 1966 Backers of “adult time”

legislation—“get-tough” laws that send violent

teenagers to adult prison—believe that fear of

imprisonment is stopping juveniles from

com-mitting crimes However, the decrease in crime

often started before these laws took effect Some

criminologists believe a drop in crack cocaine use and gun carrying is the more likely cause These experts argue that as the crack market dropped off in the mid-1990s, fewer teens were dealing drugs and fewer were carrying guns to protect themselves Police also increased their efforts to enforce gun laws With fewer young people carry-ing weapons, the teen murder rate dropped

According to the criminologists mentioned in the pas-sage, which of the following is NOT a cause of the drop

in juvenile crime?

a fewer gun-carrying juveniles

b enforced gun laws

c fear of jail time

d fewer drug dealers on the street

e police presence

The correct choice is c In the passage, criminologists

argue that “adult time” laws have not had an effect on the

decrease in youth crime They believe that choices a, b, d, and e are multiple causes of the drop in crime.

 S o c i a l S t u d i e s K e y Wo r d s

As with any type of study, the social sciences use specific terms and vocabulary While you are studying for the test, use a dictionary to look up unfamiliar terms How-ever, even if you do not recognize a word, you might

be able to figure out its meaning The parts of a word—

prefix, root, and suffix—can offer clues to its meaning A number of terms used in social studies derive from Latin

or Greek Knowing some useful word parts can help you make an educated guess about the meaning of a word Review these common Latin and Greek word parts:

ante before

anthrop human

arche beginning,

government

auto self

bi two

bio life

bene good

cracy rule

co, con with

demo people

dis not, opposite

femina woman

geo Earth

genos race

inter between

mis wrong

mono one

ology study

poly many

proto first

sub under, below

super over

theo god

topos place

tri three

uni one