Sample Questions

Directions:

Choose the one best answer to each question.

Question 1 is based on the following information.

The history of the world is filled with stories of people migrating. Migration is the movement of people from one place to another as they seek a new home. Famine, overpopulation, limited resources, war, and religious and political persecution "push" immigrants to move to another country. Hopes for employment and a better life "pull" immigrants to new places.

Millions have migrated to North America since the 1600s. Spanish, French, English, and Dutch immigrants were the first European settlers to establish permanent colonies. They settled in lands originally populated by people from Asia. Many people from Africa were driven from their homes at this time to be enslaved to work in colonies in the Americas.

Throughout the 1800s, immigrants looking for employment came to North America from Japan, China, and southeastern Europe. In the 1970s and 1980s, Southeast Asians, Latin Americans, and Caribbeans migrated to North America. Many of these immigrants fled from war-torn countries, political persecution, and economic difficulties.

Question 1

The government of a country may restrict the number of immigrants allowed to enter that country.

These restrictions on immigration are most likely based on what belief?

1. An economy can support unlimited numbers of people.
2. The "push" factors justify most immigration.
3. Immigrants enrich the culture of a country.
4. A country has a limited number of jobs and services.
5. A government should not interfere with the migration of people.

Answer: 4

This application question requires you to focus on a universal immigration issue that is related to the information but newly introduced by the question. It is a general case of a concrete situation that faces all countries-that is, the regulation of immigration to a country. The concept of scarcity (4) is the only logical reason for restrictions among the alternatives offered.

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Question 2 is based on the following information.

The history of the world is filled with stories of people migrating. Migration is the movement of people from one place to another as they seek a new home. Famine, overpopulation, limited resources, war, and religious and political persecution "push" immigrants to move to another country. Hopes for employment and a better life "pull" immigrants to new places.

Millions have migrated to North America since the 1600s. Spanish, French, English, and Dutch immigrants were the first European settlers to establish permanent colonies. They settled in lands originally populated by people from Asia. Many people from Africa were driven from their homes at this time to be enslaved to work in colonies in the Americas.

Throughout the 1800s, immigrants looking for employment came to North America from Japan, China, and southeastern Europe. In the 1970s and 1980s, Southeast Asians, Latin Americans, and Caribbeans migrated to North America. Many of these immigrants fled from war-torn countries, political persecution, and economic difficulties.

Question 2

Based on the information, which is an opinion rather than a fact about immigrants to North America?

Immigrants

1. traveled long distances to find a better life
2. migrated to find employment
3. learned to live in a foreign culture
4. escaped from political persecution
5. found a better life

Answer: 5

(1), (2), (3), and (4) are all facts stated or implied in the passage. (5) is what many immigrants have hoped for, but whether they have actually found a better life is unknown.

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Question 3

Question 3 refers to the following cartoon.

Source: No-That "S" Stands for Senior Power! Arthur Henderson, Arlington Heights (IL) Daily Herald. 1989. Reprinted with permission.

What is the main idea represented by the artist of this cartoon?

1. Congress cannot pass legislation on health issues.
2. Hatred exists between Congress and senior citizens.
3. Senior citizens are a powerful interest group.
4. Older people are healthier and stronger than the generation before them.
5. Senior citizens favor Congress over the president.

Answer: 3

This comprehension question requires you to interpret the symbolic meaning of the person wearing the cape and to understand the meaning of the words between the two legislators in the cartoon. The answer shows the connection between cartoon superheroes and politics in the United States-senior citizens in the United States had considerable political clout at the time this cartoon was printed.

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Question 4

Question 4 refers to the following cartoon.

Source: No-That "S" Stands for Senior Power! Arthur Henderson, Arlington Heights (IL) Daily Herald. 1989. Reprinted with permission.

Which political and economic assumption does the cartoon suggest is held by U.S. senior citizens?

1. Seniors are entitled to certain social insurance programs.
2. Seniors do not contribute for the economic productivity of the nation.
3. Entitlements should be cut within the federal budget.
4. Seniors should lobby at the state level of government, not the federal level.
5. Social insurance programs can only be paid for by higher taxes.

Answer: 1

This analysis question requires you to understand that senior citizens have responded unfavorably to certain congressional plans that deal with federally funded health and welfare insurance programs that affect seniors' lives. You must know that a powerful political lobby exists in the United States that supports seniors' desire for federal support for social insurance programs. There is insufficient or contradictory evidence in the cartoon regarding (2), (3), (4), and (5).

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Question 5

Question 5 refers to the following chart.

Computer Stores: Customer Satisfaction Report Percentage of Satisfied Customers
Computer Store	Type Computer Sold	Variety of Products	Service Promptness	Reliable Advice
AAA Business	Brand A Brand B Brand C Brand D	100%	96%	71%
Operating Systems	Brand D Brand E Brand F	83%	69%	78%
Programs 'N' Stuff	Brand A Brand C Brand D	92%	79%	80%
Technodazzle	Brand G	67%	100%	95%
Compu-Wonder	Brand B Brand C Brand F	100%	89%	76%

Some people think that stores that sell fewer brands of computers provide faster service than stores that sell a wider variety of brands.

What information from the chart supports this idea?

1. AAA Business - 96% service promptness
2. Operating Systems - 69% service promptness
3. Programs 'N Stuff - 79% service promptness
4. Technodazzle - 100% service promptness
5. Compu-Wonder - 89% service promptness

Answer: 4

This evaluation question requires you to understand how to read the results of a customer survey. You must also recognize information that supports the correct generalization that customers tend to perceive that they receive faster service from businesses that sell fewer brands of a certain product (in this case, computers). Technodazzle satisfied 100% of its customers for service promptness-more than any other-and it sold only one brand of computer (4). All of the other companies (1), (2), (3), and (5) scored lower in service promptness and sold more brands of computers than Technodazzle. Technodazzle shoppers also rated the company higher in the "reliable advice" category than did the other shoppers in their experiences at other stores.

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Question 6

"We hold these Truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these rights are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

Which of the following political actions violated the principle of "unalienable Rights" of liberty that evolved from the above excerpt of the U.S. Declaration of Independence?

1. In 1857, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling promoted the expansion of slavery in U.S. territories.
2. In 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution outlawed the practice of denying the right to vote because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
3. In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitutiongranted women the right to vote nationwide.
4. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act outlawed racial discrimination in employment and public accommodations.
5. In 1971, the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the Constitution extended the right to vote to 18-year-old citizens.

Answer: 1

This application question requires the candidate to read and understand a short excerpt from the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The candidate must understand the meaning of "unalienable Rights" in the document and determine which, among several political actions taken by the U.S. government, have elements that deny the right to "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." Slavery, though legal at the time and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, denied liberty and political rights to many blacks in the United States and its territories in 1857 (1). The Fifteenth (2), the Nineteenth (3), and the Twenty-sixth (5) Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and the 1964 Civil Rights Act (4) actually extended political rights to more and more people in the United States.

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