Praxis II Middle School Social Science Exam by ETS
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The exam is aimed for those individuals who wants teach social studies at the middle school level. Two hours will be provided, to complete 90 multiple choice questions and 3 short essay questions that comprise this exam. There will be 1 − 6 questions pertaining to anthropology and sociology, 12 − 14 pertaining to economics, 14 − 16 pertaining to geography, 13 − 15 pertaining to civics and government, 16 − 19 pertaining to world history and 22 − 24 questions pertaining to United States history. Topics for the 3 short essay questions are: United States history and how it relates to government and civics, the relationship between world history and geography and U. S. History and its similarity to government and civics or the relationship between world history and economics of government and civics.
Short Essay Questions
Questions will be asked to answer 3 short essay questions. The first question will cover the relationship between the government and U. S history. The second question will cover the relationship between geography and world history. For the third question there are two options. The first option will cover the relationship between economics or geography and United States history. The second option will cover the relationship between government or economics and world history.
- Sociology and Anthropology: This section will focus on cultural change, social problems, multicultural diversity, population studies, social institutions, social organization patterns and socialization. Questions pertaining to cultural change your knowledge of extinction, assimilation, adaptation, cultural diffusion and innovation will be tested. The questions pertaining to social problems will assess your knowledge of the consequences, causes, and proposed solutions of social problems. The multicultural diversity questions will test your knowledge of pluralism, religious, racial, and ethnic variation, and cultural relativity and ethnocentrism. Questions pertaining to populations study will assess your knowledge of immigration, migration, and the impact of society on population distribution in a region. Questions pertaining to social institutions will assess your knowledge of the economy, religion, government, education, and their impact on the family unit. Questions pertaining to social organizational patterns will assess your knowledge of social stratification, beliefs, values, laws, mores and folkways. Questions pertaining to socialization will test your knowledge of the positive and negative impacts of socialization on society as a whole.
- Economics: This section will focus your knowledge of micro economics and macro economics. The questions pertaining to macro economics will assess your knowledge of the Federal Reserve System, international finance, investment concepts, foreign-exchange markets, currency depreciation and appreciation, decrements of long term economic growth, international and national controversies, government spending and taxes and federal and national budget deficits. Your knowledge of national income determination by the utilization of aggregate supply analysis and demand, the causes and consequences of inflation, the measurements and consequences of unemployment, and the gross՚s domestic product (GDP) will also be assessed in this section of the exam. The questions pertaining to micro economics will test your knowledge of income distribution, factor markets, monopolistic competition, monopoly, oligopoly, public policy and market failure. Your knowledge of the market influence of taxes, price floors, price ceilings, market shortages, market surpluses, the laws of supply and demand, pricing and competitive markets and, property rights and incentives will be tested. Questions pertaining to trade barriers, free-trade, comparative and absolute advantage, capitalism, socialism, mixed models, free market՚s, unemployment, trade-offs, inefficiency, choice and scarcity and the usage of production factors along will also be included.
- Geography: This section will focus on knowledge of regional geography, human geography, physical geography, map skills and themes. Questions pertaining to regional geography will cover the geography of major world regions. Questions pertaining to human geography will cover population geography, political geography, economic geography and cultural geography. The questions pertaining to physical geography will cover the impact of human beings on the environments, natural resources, vegetation, water, climate and land forms. The map skills questions will require you to use a legend or key, and you will be asked to recognize spatial patterns, locate physical features, and calculate longitude, latitude, direction and distance. The questions pertaining to themes will assess sure knowledge of trade, migration, movements, human environmental interactions and the physical and human characteristics of a location.
- Governments and Civics: This section will focus on your knowledge of international relations different forms of government, the U. S political system and basic political concepts. Questions pertaining to international relations will cover the power and function of international organizations such as the United Nations. Questions pertaining to other forms of governments will assess your knowledge of the form and structure of various types of government. Questions pertaining to the United States political system will cover individual and group political behavior, elections, the relationship between local, state, and federal governments and operations that are established outside the Constitution. Questions pertaining to the powers and functions of the judicial, executive, and legislative branches of government, the constitutional foundation of United States government and the basic structure and content of the United States Constitution, along with its interpretation will also be included in this section of the exam. Your knowledge of various political orientations, political concepts, political theory and the need for government will be tested.
- World History: This section will focus on the your knowledge of world history within specific timelines. World history from 1914 to the present: Questions pertaining to globalization, regional and global environmental and economic interdependence, the new Europe and the Pacific Rim, the impact of population growth, capitalism, socialism, Communism and the role of UNO and the League of Nations, economic and social roles to extend rights to minorities and women, the impact of the Cold War, decolonization, neocolonialism, the Holocaust, and the Second World War, anti-colonialism, fascism and militarism in Japan, Italy, and Germany will be assessed in this section of the exam. Questions pertaining to economic instabilities of China and Europe, the consequence of the Russian revolution, the First World War, conflicts, changes and ideologies into the 20th -century.
- World history from 1750 − 1914: Cover the revolutionary and reformist periods, Marxism, nationalism, imperialism, socialism, and liberalism. Urbanization, industrialization, population expansion, the French revolution, the American revolution and independence movements of Latin America will also be covered in this section of the exam. World history from 1400 to 1914: Questions in this section of the exam will cover nationalism, industrial and political revolutions, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, cultures of Africa, Asia and America, and the cultural destruction of South America and Mesoamerica. Global interactions between 1400 and 1800 C. E. European reformation, resistance, the scientific revolution, the rise and fall of the centralized states and, global cultural diffusion will also be covered in this section.
- Prehistory to 1400 C. E. Questions pertaining to the decline of classic civilization from 500 − 1400 C. E. Will cover the following topics: Feudalism in central and Western Europe, Ming China, Song, Tang, Andean and Mesoamerican cultures, the Songhai, Mali, and Ghana African kingdoms, the rise in expansion of Islamic civilization, the development of Russia, Eastern Europe, and the Byzantine empire, and the nomadic migration of Mongols, Hans, and Germanic people. Questions pertaining to ancient civilizations from 1700 B. C. E. 500 C. E. Will cover the African cultures of Bantu, Nok, Axum, and Kush. Mediterranean cultures of Greece and the Hellenistic՚s, the Roman Empire, and Christianity will also be included in this section of the exam. Questions pertaining to Western Asian cultures of Persia, Israel, and Assyria along with Chinese cultures of Daoism, Confucianism and the Han dynasty, Buddhism, Hinduism, and the Vedic age of India. The development of city civilization from 3000 − 1500 B. C. E.In Mesoamerica, the Hang He River Valley, the Indus River Valley, the Nile Valley, and Mesopotamia will be covered in this section of the exam. Knowledge of human society prior to 3000 B. C. E.In the development of sedentary communities, animal husbandry, agriculture and hunting and gathering skills will be tested in this section.
- American History: This section will focus on the history of the United States from pre 1776 to the present.
- 1960 to present: This section will focus on the United States role in worldwide economics and politics, international relations, the population of America, the cultural and social impacts of change on the American family, American social policy, energy and environmental issues, deregulation, the budget deficits, economic developments, political developments and the Vietnam War.
- 1939 − 1963: This section will focus on the Second World War and the postwar period. Your knowledge of the impact of cultural, social, political, and economic issues on life in the 1950s, foreign and domestic developments during the Cold War and the consequences of American participation in the Second World War will be tested.
- 1900 − 1939: This section will focus on the Progressive Era through the New Deal. Questions in this section of the exam will assess your knowledge of the Great Depression the new deal, political, social, economic and cultural life in the 1920s, the consequences of American participation in the First World War and political economic and social developments during this time period.
- 1877 − 1900: This section will focus on the emergence of the modern United States. Questions in this section of the exam will assess your knowledge of cultural, political, and social movements, urban development, aspects of American industrialization, displacement of Native Americans and developments of the western United States.
- 1850 − 1870: This section will focus on the Civil War era. Questions in this section of the exam will assess your knowledge of the growth of America, political compromise, the abolitionist movement, politics of the 1850s, the causes, leaders and major events of the Civil War and the reconstruction, constitutional amendments and the 1877 compromise.
- 1829 − 1850: This section will focus on national developments. Questions in this section will test your knowledge of reformation movements, women in society, the early labor movements, agricultural and technological innovations, industrialization, the transportation network, geographic expansion, the Oregon territory, the Mexican War, Manifest Destiny, the nullification crisis, the Jacksonian democracy and the development of American politics.
- 1791 − 1829: This section will focus on the early years of the American nation. Questions in this section of the exam will assess your knowledge of regionalism, nationalism, religion, women՚s roles, immigration, family life and the frontier. Your knowledge of commerce, industry, agriculture, tariffs, economic plans, the Monroe doctrine, the War of 1812, the Louisiana Purchase, the beginning and growth of political parties, the federal Judiciary system and early presidential administrations will be tested.
- 1776 − 1791: This section will focus on the establishment of America as a new nation. Questions in the section will test your knowledge of the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution.
- Geography of North America: Questions in this section will test your knowledge of Native Americans, European exploration and colonization. Your knowledge of the growth and establishments of English colonies, colonization by European powers, major European explorers and the results of their contact with Native Americans will be tested. Questions concerning Native American tribes and their economic, political, social and cultural issues along with American weather patterns, rivers, lakes and continents will be included in this section.