STAAR USH Practice Questions

Which statement describes one reason the year 2008 was significant?

• First Lady Hillary Clinton testified before Congress on health care reform.

• Barack Obama was the first African American to be elected president

• Ross Perot was the first third party candidate to win a presidential debate

• President George W. Bush announced a war on terrorism.

Read the list and answer the question that follows.

Goal 1: Addressing Climate Change and Improving Air Quality

Goal 2: Safeguarding America’s Waters

Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development

Goal 4: Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution

Which government entity is responsible for achieving these goals?

• National Park Service

• Department of Homeland Security

• Environmental Protection Agency

• Federal Emergency Management Agency

Read the list and answer the question that follows.

• 19th Amendment • 24th Amendment • 26th Amendment

What was one reason why these amendments were added to the Constitution?

• To guarantee due process of law

• To expand the authority of the states over the federal government

• To limit the freedom of expression

• To expand the rights of individuals to participate in the government

What was one effect of the event described in this headline?

• Increased support for gender equality in labor union membership

• Decreased support for socialism by labor union members

• Increased federal government involvement in labor union activities

• Decreased federal government surveillance of labor union leaders

How did the Great Depression affect American society?

• The price of agricultural goods decreased, causing an increase in demand for farm labor

• Manufacturing wages increased, causing businesses to concede to labor union demands

• Demand for luxury goods increased, causing overproduction in manufacturing

• Businesses were forced to close, causing widespread unemployment

According to the excerpt, which goal was the focus of the Great Society?

• To increase taxation

• To privatize education

• To expand voting rights

• To fight social inequality

How did the Battle of Midway alter the course of the war in the Pacific?

• By stopping the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

• By halting the progress of Japanese expansion

• By preventing the continued use of Japanese kamikaze planes

• By defending the Philippines from Japanese conquest

This list describes selected features of the Homestead Act of 1862.

• Adult citizens were granted 160 acres of public land.

• People claiming the land were required to improve the land by building a home and farming the land.

• After 5 years on the land, the person claiming the land paid a registration fee and officially owned the land.

What was one effect of the act described in this list?

• The population of settlers in the American West increased.

• The debt of the federal government increased

• The number of conflicts with American Indians decreased

• The demand for natural resources decreased

This list provides a partial summary of a presidential plan. Ideas from President Wilson’s Fourteen Points, 1918

1. Open and public peace treaties

2. Freedom of the seas outside territorial waters

3. Removal of trade barriers among all nations

4. Arms reductions

5. An association of nations

Which statement describes the purpose of this plan?

• To establish a new era of isolationism

• To punish countries that are defeated in war

• To prevent multinational countries from breaking apart

• To create conditions that prevent future global conflicts

Which previous Supreme Court decision had protected the practice described in this excerpt?

• Sweatt v. Painter

• Hernandez v. Texas

• Plessy v. Ferguson

• Wisconsin v. Yoder