GED® Social Studies Unit 3 Practice Flashcards

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering Civics, U.S. History, Economics, and Geography as outlined in the Unit 3 Social Studies lecture notes.

GED® Social Studies Test Passing Score

A minimum score of $145$ is required to pass the Social Studies Test, which is one of the four tests needed to earn a high school equivalency diploma.

Civics and Government Content Area

This covers modern and historic governments, the electoral system, and the roles of citizens, comprising $50\%$ of the test content.

U.S. History Content Area

This accounts for $20\%$ of the test and spans from colonialism and the American Revolution through the Civil War and the modern era.

Economics Content Area

This covers basic economic concepts, systems, and labor/consumer issues, making up $15\%$ of the test content.

Geography and the World Content Area

This covers major stages in world history and the relationship between societies and the environment, making up $15\%$ of the test content.

Aristocracy

A political system known as the 'rule of an elite class,' such as lords or barons, where power is concentrated in the hands of a small group.

Democracy

A political system originating in ancient Greece meaning 'rule of the people.'

Median

The middle value in a statistical data set.

Average (Mean) Formula

$$\text{Average} = \text{sum of amounts} \div \text{number of amounts}$$

Privateers

Independent ships authorized during the Revolutionary War to harass and capture enemy merchant and cargo ships.

Hubris

Excessive pride or overconfidence, often serving as the tragic flaw for main characters in ancient Greek tragedies.

Central Idea

The topic or main point of a passage or graphic, which is supported by details or examples.

Inference

A skill requiring the reader to go beyond what is directly stated to determine what is meant or implied.

Bias

An author's tendency to see one point of view, which should be taken into account when evaluating social studies materials.

Propaganda

An extreme form of bias in which an author selectively includes or ignores facts and uses loaded words to trigger emotional responses to convince people to act a certain way.

Fact

Information that can be proven to be true based on empirical data.

Opinion

Beliefs about a concept or situation that are not necessarily supported by evidence.

Judgment

A conclusion that is supported by reasons and evidence.

Articles of Confederation

The first effort of the United States to form a national government, which stressed a loose confederation of states with strong local control.

U.S. Constitution

The supreme law of the land, ratified in $1788$, which established the structure and principles of the centralized U.S. government.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which promised individual freedoms such as speech and assembly.

Emancipation Proclamation

Issued in $1863$ by President Lincoln, it freed all people enslaved in the states that had seceded from the Union.

Reconstruction

The $12$-year period following the Civil War during which federal troops oversaw the rebuilding of the South.

Imperialism

The policy by which a stronger nation extends economic, military, and/or political control over a weaker nation or region.

Great Depression

A serious economic downturn that began when the stock market crashed in $1929$.

Fascism

A political system that squelches democracy and advocates for the takeover of other nations, which rose to power in Europe during the $1930s$.

Cold War

A power struggle between capitalist nations (led by the U.S.) and communist nations (led by the Soviet Union) lasting from the end of WWII until $1991$.

Magna Carta

A document signed in England in $1215$ that limited the king's absolute power and subjected his decisions to review.

Habeas Corpus

A legal doctrine that makes it illegal for the government to hold or imprison individuals without granting them trials.

Parliamentary Democracy

A system where the government is formed by the party holding a majority of seats in the parliament, which then appoints the chief executive.

Naturalization

The legal process through which people who immigrate to the United States from other countries can become U.S. citizens.

Resident Alien

A category of noncitizen describing a foreigner who has established permanent residence in the United States.

Federalism

A basic principle of the U.S. Constitution where power is shared between the national (federal) and state levels of government.

Checks and Balances

A system where each branch of government has separate powers and the ability to limit or affect the other branches (e.g., the presidential veto).

Electoral College

The body of electors from each state who cast votes to determine the winner of the presidential election.

Capital (Economics)

A term for things that can produce income, including money, equipment, land, and buildings.

Labor

The work of human beings used to transform capital and materials into goods and services.

Producer Goods

Materials and parts used to build or manufacture products.

Consumer Goods

Finished products that are ready to be sold in stores to consumers.

Laissez-faire Capitalism

Economic theory by Adam Smith suggesting that if individuals are free to act in their own best interests, the sum of their actions will benefit society as a whole.

Recession

A phase of the business cycle where unemployment rises, consumer spending slows, and businesses act conservatively.

Inflation

A condition where the combined price of goods and services grows faster than the purchasing power of the currency.

Fiscal Policy

The method by which the government influences the economy by increasing or decreasing taxes and spending.

Monetary Policy

The method by which the government (the Fed) increases or decreases the supply of money to stimulate or slow the economy.

Desertification

The spread of deserts, often caused by human activities such as excessive plowing, overgrazing, and clearing trees.

Conservation

The practice of using natural resources carefully to help preserve them for the future.

Sustainable Use

Using resources in ways that do not exhaust them for future generations.

Biodiversity

The maintenance of many different species of organisms within an ecosystem.

Nonrenewable Resources

Materials like petroleum, natural gas, coal, and iron that humans use but cannot replace.

Renewable Resources

Materials that can be sustained through replacement or that never run out, such as solar energy, wind energy, and harvested plants.