Achim Krull - GED Social Studies for Dummies

GED Social Studies Test For Dummies

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John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
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Copyright 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2015946682

ISBN 978-1-119-02983-0 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-02982-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-02984-7 (ebk)

1. Table of Contents

Youve decided to take the General Education Development (GED) test to earn the equivalent of a high school diploma. Congratulations! Youre about to clear a major hurdle standing between you and your educational and professional goals. But now you realize that you need extra guidance to tackle the GED Social Studies test. Perhaps you took the test once or even twice and didnt do so well. Perhaps youve done an honest self-assessment and now realize that social studies was never your favorite or best subject. Whatever the reason, you need to quickly review the essentials and practice answering questions like those youll encounter on the test. You want to know what to expect so youre not blindsided on test day.

Welcome to GED Social Studies Test For Dummies your key to excelling on the GED Social Studies test. Here, you find everything you need to do well on the test, from guidance on how to improve reading speed and comprehension to whirlwind tours of civics, government, history, economics, and geography that get you up to speed on the basics. You also find out how to write a top-notch essay for the Extended Response portion of the test. Along the way, you get plenty of practice questions to cement your knowledge and skills.

As we were writing GED Test For Dummies, 3rd Edition (Wiley), we didnt have the space to cover all four sections of the GED test in great detail. In that book, we provide a general overview of the GED test and two full-length practice tests that cover all four sections Reasoning Through Language Arts (RLA), Mathematical Reasoning, Science, and Social Studies.

Knowing that test-takers can take each section of the GED test separately and that they probably need more guidance in some subject areas than in others, we decided to develop a separate workbook for each section four workbooks, each with a balance of instruction and practice. In this book, the GED Social Studies Test For Dummies, we focus exclusively on the GED Social Studies test. Our goal is twofold: to prepare you to answer correctly any social studies question youre likely to encounter on the test so that youll receive a high score and to help you do well on your Extended Response essay.

We begin by giving you a sneak peek at the test format and an overview of whats on the GED Social Studies test. We then provide a diagnostic test that presents you with Social Studies questions that challenge your reading, reasoning, and social studies skills and knowledge and identify your unique strengths and weaknesses. The diagnostic test and the self-assessment table following it guide you to specific skills and knowledge areas where you may need to focus your test-prep activities. When you feel ready, you can then tackle the full-length Social Studies practice test in for answers and explanations. Check the answers even for questions you answered correctly because the answers provide additional insight.

We wrap up with two Part of Tens chapters one that presents ten study tips and another that reveals ten skills to develop prior to test day.

When we wrote this book, we made a few assumptions about you, dear reader. Heres who we think you are:

• Youre serious about earning a GED as soon as possible.
• Youre looking for additional instruction and guidance specifically to improve your score on the GED Social Studies test, not the Reasoning Through Language Arts (RLA), Math, or Science test. We have a separate workbook for each of those tests for when youre ready to tackle them.
• Youve made earning your GED a priority in your life because you want to advance in the workplace or pursue higher learning that requires a GED or high-school diploma.
• Youre willing to give up some activities so you have the time to prepare, always keeping in mind your other responsibilities.
• You meet your states requirements regarding age, residency, and the length of time since leaving school that make you eligible to take the GED test. (See for details.)