Sample Questions: Social Sciences and History

The following Social Sciences and History sample questions aren't used in actual CLEP exams and aren’t presented here as they will be on the test. Use them to get a sense of question format and difficulty level.

Directions

Each of the questions or incomplete statements below is followed by five suggested answers or completions. Select the one that is best in each case.

Questions

1. The Missouri Compromise in 1820, the Compromise Tariff of 1833, and the Compromise of 1850 were all crafted by which of the following?
   1. John Quincy Adams
   2. Henry Clay
   3. James K. Polk
   4. Stephen Douglas
   5. John C. Calhoun
2. Which of the following statements describes the importance of congressional passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?
   1. It condemned Communist Party activity in South Vietnam.
   2. It marked the beginning of the United States commitment to withdraw troops from South Vietnam.
   3. It authorized President Johnson to take all necessary steps to repel armed attacks on United States forces.
   4. It outlawed antiwar demonstrations in the United States.
   5. It restricted the powers given to the United States president by the Constitution.
3. Buddhism’s spread to China resulted in
   1. a challenge to the Confucian view of women
   2. support for greater political involvement
   3. a weakening of the Chinese monastic movement
   4. greater unity under strong emperors
   5. closer ties with Japan
4. Which of the following was a result of the 18th-century Atlantic slave trade?
   1. Stimulation of European capitalism
   2. Industrialization of West Africa
   3. Decrease in the trade between Europe and North America
   4. Increase in amount of gold and silver shipped to Spain
   5. Equal numbers of male and female slaves in the Americas
5. Missouri has 11 electoral votes. The Democratic candidate received 50.01 percent of the popular vote for president and the Republican candidate received 49.99 percent. How would Missouri’s electoral vote be apportioned between the two candidates?
   1. The Democratic candidate would receive six electoral votes, and the Republican candidate would receive five.
   2. Each candidate would receive five and a half electoral votes.
   3. The Democratic candidate would receive all 11 electoral votes.
   4. The Democratic candidate would receive the state’s two at-large electoral votes, and the remaining nine electoral votes would be allocated according to the popular vote.
   5. The election would be decided by the Missouri House of Representatives.
6. The “Green Revolution” was a term used in the 1960s to describe programs designed to
   1. achieve zero population growth worldwide
   2. establish belts of open space around the world’s major cities
   3. control the rate of deforestation in the tropics
   4. increase environmental awareness in industrialized nations
   5. increase food production to meet world population growth
7. Which of the following is the most commonly used single measure of the overall output of the United States economy?
   1. Consumer spending
   2. Wholesale price index
   3. Gross domestic product
   4. Balance of trade
   5. Total tax collections
8. Which of the following accomplished the national unification of his or her country?
   1. Catherine the Great
   2. Napoleon I
   3. Otto von Bismarck
   4. Giuseppe Mazzini
   5. Lech Wałęsa
9. From the American Revolution through the Second World War, which of the following was the most immediate effect of wartime conditions on women in the United States?
   1. Educational opportunities for women increased.
   2. Women secured many important political rights.
   3. Women gained greater access to work opportunities.
   4. Support for an equal rights amendment increased.
   5. Women’s legal rights to hold property expanded.
10. Which of the following was a result of industrialization in nineteenth-century Western Europe?
    1. Increased urbanization
    2. Overall decrease in population
    3. Increasing birthrates
    4. Decreasing literacy rates
    5. Decreasing rates of illegitimate births

Answers

1) B   2) C   3) A   4) A   5) C   6) E   7) C   8) C   9) C   10) A