Pictures from History
This page offers a chance to practice gathering information from photographs and a short reading selection, just as you will be asked to do on the Social Studies portion of the GED test. I have taken some liberties for your practice here and used a few videos in place of photographs. Note that videos will not be a part of the GED Test.
Steps to Interpreting a Photograph:
Each time you look at a photograph for the Social Studies test, think of four aspects of it to aid your understanding.
You can print the frame found below to help you keep your thoughts organized and practice writing.
First, take an overall look. What do you see? Describe it.
Second, read the photograph's caption or the text that's included. Give a summary of words
provided to you.
Third, ask yourself, "What historical event or time period does this image represent?" Write it down.
Lastly, think about what else you know about this subject, historical event, or time period. Write
down the most important facts about this time.
Each time you look at a photograph for the Social Studies test, think of four aspects of it to aid your understanding.
You can print the frame found below to help you keep your thoughts organized and practice writing.
First, take an overall look. What do you see? Describe it.
Second, read the photograph's caption or the text that's included. Give a summary of words
provided to you.
Third, ask yourself, "What historical event or time period does this image represent?" Write it down.
Lastly, think about what else you know about this subject, historical event, or time period. Write
down the most important facts about this time.
Child Labor
Brainstorm a list of all the things which this picture makes you think.
Brainstorm a list of all the things which this picture makes you think.
What can you infer?
See if you can use the picture to infer the answers to these questions. Who is the man? What happened to him? What is the relationship between the boy and the man? Do you know where the people are standing (what country, what coast?) Can you make an educated guess at the time period?
See if you can use the picture to infer the answers to these questions. Who is the man? What happened to him? What is the relationship between the boy and the man? Do you know where the people are standing (what country, what coast?) Can you make an educated guess at the time period?
John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address
"In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility, I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it, and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man…" |
Which of the following statements was an effect of President John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address?
1) He won the election of 1960.
2) Lyndon Johnson became vice president.
3) Richard Nixon won the election of 1964.
4) He was the favorite to win the election of 1960.
5) Many Americans were encouraged to serve their country.
1) He won the election of 1960.
2) Lyndon Johnson became vice president.
3) Richard Nixon won the election of 1964.
4) He was the favorite to win the election of 1960.
5) Many Americans were encouraged to serve their country.
Propaganda
This is an example of propaganda, information emphasizing just one side of an issue used to persuade others. Can you explain the argument presented by the pamphlet and three of the points from that perspective? Now name the other point of view and make up three points for that perspective.
"I Have a Dream"
Read this selection from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. You may choose to play the YouTube recording of the speech, or to read the entire text. Answer the question below.
Read this selection from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. You may choose to play the YouTube recording of the speech, or to read the entire text. Answer the question below.
... I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: |
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Which of the following statements is a conclusion based on this exerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech?
1) Dr. King wants former slaves and slave owners to eat together in Georgia.
2) Dr. King hopes that people of all races will be treated fairly and live together peacefully.
3) The United States should live up to its beliefs.
4) Americans should judge a person’s character.
5) Mississippi is a hot, desert state with problems of injustice.
1) Dr. King wants former slaves and slave owners to eat together in Georgia.
2) Dr. King hopes that people of all races will be treated fairly and live together peacefully.
3) The United States should live up to its beliefs.
4) Americans should judge a person’s character.
5) Mississippi is a hot, desert state with problems of injustice.
Industrial Revolution
"[Machines] tend to relieve the workman either from niceties of adjustment which exhaust his mind and fatigue his eyes, or from painful repetition of effort which distort or wear out his frame."
—Andrew Ure
"Each week, automation eliminates between 40,000 and 50,000 jobs. . . . The loss of nearly two and a half million jobs each year, when nearly 4,000,000 young people annually enter the job market, constitutes one of the more serious problems confronting American society."
—Franklin D. Mitchell and Richard O. Davies
Which of the following household machines best fits Ure’s
description? 1) clothes dryer 2) dishwasher 3) sewing machine 4) toaster 5) blender |
Over which of the following statements would the authors of the two quotations most likely disagree?
1) Industry fills needs and wants. 2) Most people require jobs to live. 3) Human health is of primary value. 4) Automation has had a tremendous impact on society. 5) Automation is a great boon to workers. |
Harriet Tubman
"I had reasoned dis out in my mind; there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty, or death; if I could not have one, I would have de oder; for no man should take me alive; I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength lasted, and when de time came for me to go, de Lord would let dem take me."
- Harriet Tubman, recorded in Harriet: The Moses of Her People by Sarah Bradford in 1886 To explore the topic of the Underground Railroad further, click on either of these interactive 'pick a path' adventures along the Underground Railroad.
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What did Harriet Tubman plan to accomplish?
1) She wanted to trick the slave owners. 2) She wanted to take the slaves to Pennsylvania. 3) She wanted to convert slaves to the Quaker religion. 4) She wanted to help people escape slavery. |
Harriet Tubman said that she never allowed anyone from a group to return to their plantation for fear of all the:
1) slave owners forcing runaways to reveal the true identity of Moses. 2) runaways being forced to lie to the slave owners about the whereabouts of Moses and the Underground Railroad. 3) slave owners punishing the relatives of the runaways. 4) runaways being forced to tell everything about the Underground Railroad to the slave owners. |
President Ronald Reagan's
"Tear Down This Wall " speech June 12, 1987 |
"In the 1950's, Khrushchev predicted: "We will bury you." But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being |
What is President Ronald Reagan's point of view on the topic of the Berlin Wall? Why does he think this action is necessary for prosperity? Give three reasons he believes this action is necessary.
Click the image for an interactive look at a Civil War era drawing. Click on the links for maps, tables, and other graphics connected with the Civil War.