Questions 1 and 2 refer to the following information.
In a sense the Social Security system pits wage earners against senior citizens. The system was originally sold to wage earners as a way to provide for their old-age and also to relieve them from financial responsibility for their parents. As the life expectancy of Americans increased over the years, the cost of providing benefits for retirees also rose. In addition, Congress steadily increased Social Security benefits in an attempt to keep up with rising costs of living for retirees. Congress also added benefits such as disability payments and Medicare, a system of health insurance for older Americans, which is paid from Social Security taxes and from direct contributions by the beneficiaries.
Questions 3 through 5 refer to the following information and map.
The true discovers of the American continent were ancestors of the people Christopher Columbus called Indians. It is believed that they came from Asia to America across the Bering Strait. Today the Bering Strait is a 60-mile-wide stretch of water, but at several periods during the last Ice Age, some 10,000 to 40,000 years ago, much of the world’s water was frozen in glaciers, and the sea level was very low. It would have been possible to walk on dry land from Siberia to North America. Although much of North America was covered with ice, a broad ice-free strip to the east side of the Rocky Mountains stretched from Alaska southward. As the great herds of game animals moved south, so did the migrating people.
Questions 6 through 8 refer to the following information.
Historians sometimes give names to certain periods of time in which events or attitudes make them distinct, or different, from other time periods. Listed below are some time periods that have been important in world and United States history. Age of Discovery—the 1400s, when Europe sought to expand trade with the East. Improvements in navigation and sailing methods made possible the great sea voyages of Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, and others and led to the European discovery of the Americas.Federalist Era—the period of influence of the Federalists, a political party formed in 1787 to promote ratification (approval) of the U.S. Constitution and a strong federal government. In 1801 they lost the presidency to the Republican party, which favored states’ rights over the federal government.Age of Reform—a time of intense social change from about 1820 to 1850 that saw religious revival; reforms in education, the treatment of prisoners, and the disabled; crusades for temperance (no drinking of alcohol), the abolition of slavery, and promotion of women’s rights.Gilded Age—an economic boom period after the Civil War noted for its extravagant display of wealth and political corruption.Jazz Age—the 1920s, also called the Roaring Twenties, when people adopted a "live for the moment" attitude that emphasized spontaneity, freedom, and self-indulgence.
"The men who framed this plan are Americans as much interested in good government as any of us. They saw it would be impossible to agree on a plan that would exactly suit the local policy and goals of each state, and they thought it best to compromise."
"Sir, forasmuch as I know that you will take pleasure in the great triumph with which Our Lord has crowned my voyage, I write this to you, from which you will learn how, . . . I reached the Indies. . . . And there I found very many islands filled with people without number, and of them all have I taken possession for Their Highnesses, by proclamation and with the royal standard displayed, and nobody objected."
"Resolved. That all laws which prevent woman from occupying such a station in society as her conscience shall dictate, or which place her in a position inferior to that of a man, are contrary to the great precept (rule) of nature, and therefore of no force or authority."
Questions 9 and 10 refer to the following population maps. The following maps refer to data for Tucson, AZ taken from the 2000 U.S. Census.