Students

AHSGE Social Studies Exam Tips

1. The Social Studies exam has 100 questions.
2. As has been stated before, it is a very good idea to mark all answers in the test booklet. Students can tag questions about which they are unsure. They can mark out answers which they know to be wrong as they test. They can make themselves notes in the margin. When all questions have been answered, the answer document can be pulled out and the answers can be "bubbled-in" with great care.
3. The Social Studies test ranges from Colonial and Pre-Colonial times to World War II.
4. Students should read questions carefully. Many wrong answers can be eliminated immediately just by paying attention to dates, events, places, or names given in the question. In one of the sample questions given to us by the State, we see the following:

   "Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five..."   Which is MOST associated with the ride described in the passage? Now think... we are talking about "Paul Revere" and "seventy-five" in the passage. Answers C and D are about the Civil War. You can narrow your answers to A and B immediately. Answer A takes you to winter time. Picture the tired American soldiers and George Washington at the lead. You have probably seen pictures of this. April of 1775 was at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. If you will remember, Revere warned Lexington and Concord that the British were coming. B is the answer.   Here is another sample question:   * telephone * typewriter * transatlantic cable   Which was a result of the inventions shown in the list? A. a growth of new industries B. a decrease in the use of electricity C. a decline in the number of factories D. a movement of people from cities to farms Now think... Would the use of electricity go down as a result of these inventions? Strike B. Would the number of factories go down with new inventions and easier working conditions? Strike C. Would people load up and move to farms because the typewriter had been invented? Strike D. A is the answer. Some of the questions are more difficult than those here, and some are easier. If you read all questions carefully you can really improve the chances that you will pass. Even if you are only able to narrow your choices to two, you will have greatly improved your "guessing odds" on a 100-question test.

5. There are lots of charts, graphs, and maps on the test. Read them carefully. They usually have the correct answers built in to them. Think when you read.
6. In your history classes, pay close attention to historical documents and their impact. Magna Carta, Bill of Rights, Articles of Confederation, Declaration of Independence, Constitution, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments... What did these documents accomplish in our government's history? There are 14 questions on the exam that focus solely on this.
7. There are 18 questions on the exam that focus on the causes and effects of WWI. Think about the things that started the war. Think about what changed as a result of the war.
8. Think about the lifestyle of the typical American and the things that changed or happened as a result of the Great Depression and the New Deal. 8 questions come from this.
9. Consider the Civil War. What caused it? What changed as a result of it?  What were some of the turning point battles and events in the course of it? (8 questions)
10. There are also 8 questions that focus on so many people moving to the cities (urbanization) and the surge in the number of factories built and the number of people who began to work in them (industrialization). In what direction was America trying to move? What kinds of things led to these developments? What were some major events of this time? What were some consequences?

Everything above is the direct result of the hard work of Susan Hayes, Principal in the Hartselle City School System.  Thank You!