STAAR EOC US History Questions: Early Cold War

Which of the following was a direct result of the 1957 launch of Sputnik 1?

• The United States began a period of technology sharing with the Soviet Union.

• The U.S. government founded a federal agency dedicated to space exploration.

• The Soviet Union was unable to collect images of the United States from space.

• The Soviet government collapsed because of economic competition.

Which action best explains the differences shown in these photographs?

• The United States gave economic assistance through the Marshall Plan.

• The United States and the Soviet Union created an alliance after World War II.

• U.S. leaders created the United Nations.

• The Soviet Union established the “Iron Curtain” after World War II.

Which statement correctly completes this timeline?

• The Allied powers divide Germany and Berlin into four sectors.

• German citizens vote to reunite East and West Germany.

• The United States and Great Britain airlift supplies to West Berlin.

• The United Nations sends troops into Eastern Europe.

Which sentence best completes this diagram?

• The president authorizes a military strike against forces threatening the borders of Western Europe.

• Congress appropriates funding for nuclear arms facilities in Western Europe.

• The president signs a treaty requiring reparations to be paid to Western European countries.

• Congress passes a bill to provide financial assistance to Western European countries.

As a result of the Berlin Airlift, the United States was able to —

• Bypass a Soviet blockade without provoking a military conflict.

• Transport Polish refugees to safety.

• Prevent the Nazi Party from reorganizing.

• Intimidate Soviet leaders by demonstrating superior military power.

President John F. Kennedy responded to reports that the Soviet Union was constructing missile sites in Cuba by —

• Ordering a naval blockade of Cuba.

• Asking Congress to declare war on Cuba.

• Authorizing military strikes on strategic targets in Cuba.

• Seeking United Nations approval for economic sanctions against Cuba.

This is a cross-sectional diagram of a major operation ordered by President Harry S. Truman in 1948. The flight pattern illustrated in the diagram was designed to allow an airplane to land every three minutes. Why was this operation undertaken?

• To enable a rapid withdrawal of troops from a war-torn city.

• To deploy substantial invasion forces.

• To provide supplies to a blockaded city.

• To rescue thousands of stranded political refugees

What prompted the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) to target the “Hollywood Ten”?

• Support for American isolationism in the years leading up to World War II.

• Increased political pressure from racial groups regarding civil rights legislation.

• Growing anxiety related to the economic effects of the Great Depression.

• Fear of communist infiltration within the American entertainment industry.

In this excerpt, McCarthy is attempting to incite fear about —

• Japanese Americans confined in internment camps.

• Organizers of the Civil Rights movement.

• Accomplices in the Watergate scandal.

• Members of the Communist Party in government positions.

Which of the following resulted from McCarthyism during the 1950s?

• Membership in the U.S. Communist Party increased.

• U.S. citizens were arrested for being suspected communists.

• Recruitment procedures for the U.S. military branches were reformed.

• U.S. diplomats began to express dissenting political viewpoints more freely.