GED Practice Quiz

Directions:

Choose the one best answer to each question. When you have finished the quiz, click on Submit Answers to receive feedback and results. You may also choose to e-mail your results to your instructor.

Question 1 refers to the following cartoon.

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1	According to this cartoon, what is the relationship between Enron and the Republican Party?
		A)	The Republican Party is owned, and controlled, by Enron.
		B)	They don’t have any relationship.
		C)	The Republican Party gives money to Enron.
		D)	The Republican Party owns Enron.
		E)	The Republican Party created Enron.

Questions 2 through 5 refer to the following information.

Societies organize and manage the production and distribution of goods and services through various economic systems. Five types of economic systems are listed below.
market economy—a system in which the means of production are privately owned, and things such as price and income distribution are decided in the marketplace

command economy—a system in which government, by owning the means of production and setting economic goals through central planning, decides the fundamental economic questions

mixed economy—a system that combines some elements of the market economy, such as private ownership of property, with some elements of the command economy, such as limited government regulation

democratic socialist economy—a type of mixed economy that blends private ownership with democratically elected government ownership of resources. It combines free-market determination of supplies and prices with a government social welfare system.

traditional economy—a system in which economic decisions are based on what has been done in the past; usually found in smaller, poorer societies


2	The State Committee on Prices in the former Soviet Union established guidelines that enabled 45,000 bureaucrats to set approximately 10 million prices. What type of economy is represented here?
		A)	a market economy
		B)	a command economy
		C)	a mixed economy
		D)	a democratic socialist economy
		E)	a traditional economy


3	Feudalism was the economic system in Europe approximately 900 years ago. People were expected to do the same jobs their parents did. Feudalism is an example of which of the five types of economic systems?
		A)	a market economy
		B)	a command economy
		C)	a mixed economy
		D)	a democratic socialist economy
		E)	a traditional economy


4	Japan’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry asked the country’s automakers to limit any increase in exports to Europe. Officials did not impose a quota, however. This is an example of which of the five types of economic systems?
		A)	a market economy
		B)	a command economy
		C)	a mixed economy
		D)	a democratic socialist economy
		E)	a traditional economy


5	In Sweden, where most productive resources are privately owned, taxes are exceptionally high and pay for massive social programs, such as national health care. This is an example of which one of the five types of economic systems?
		A)	a market economy
		B)	a command economy
		C)	a mixed economy
		D)	a democratic socialist economy
		E)	a traditional economy

Questions 6 and 7 refer to the following information and graph.

By the end of the twentieth century, women made up approximately 50 percent of the workforce. Also, more and more jobs began to require higher levels of education. Jobs requiring less than a high school education either declined or showed very slow growth.

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Source: U.S. Census Bureau


6	Based on the graph, which of the following statements is true?
		A)	Men earned more than women, regardless of education.
		B)	A person with a graduate degree will always earn more than a college graduate.
		C)	On average, men with the same education as women earn more money.
		D)	Each step up in education roughly doubles a person’s income.
		E)	A person needs a college education to make more than $20,000 a year.


7	If the predicted job market for people with less than a high school education proves correct, and the number of people in this group remains the same, what will likely result?
		A)	Unemployment among high school dropouts will rise.
		B)	The median income of workers in this group will be even less than $12,000.
		C)	People in this group will be able to demand higher wages.
		D)	Their number in the labor force will increase.
		E)	Their raises will keep pace with high school and college graduates.

Questions 8 and 9 refer to the following information.

In the economic war, the challengers change constantly. On the retail battleground, powerful merchants such as Sears and JCPenney have lost ground to discount chains like Target, Wal-Mart, and Kmart. Corporate heavyweights like Montgomery Ward were felled. In the auto arena, the Chrysler Corporation almost went bankrupt while General Motors, Ford, and AMC lost sales to foreign companies that heeded the demand of American buyers for fuel-efficient cars. On the office machinery front, Xerox, which had dominated the market for photocopying equipment, is fending off competition from a host of Japanese firms and smaller American companies. Even IBM is barraged by competition from new entries and old rivals in the computer field.


8	Which of the following statements is best supported by evidence in the passage?
		A)	Consumers will shop where they can get the best value.
		B)	Companies need security systems to prevent economic ambush.
		C)	Corporate giants are not immune to market pressures.
		D)	Large corporations manipulate consumers through advertising and marketing.
		E)	Brand loyalty is a thing of the past.


9	Which of the following titles best fits the passage?
		A)	Technological Advances Spur Businesses
		B)	Business Is War
		C)	The Consumer Is King
		D)	The Changing Face of Big Business
		E)	Competition: An Economic Spur

Question 10 refers to the following information and graph.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the value of all things produced in a nation in one year. GDP is, as one economist put it, a crude yardstick for measuring national well-being.

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Source: U.S. Department of Commerce


10	A recession is a period of lowered productivity. Which years shown on the graph mark recessions?
		A)	1991
		B)	1992
		C)	1994
		D)	1996
		E)	2000

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