Introduction

While it is common to see many different question types in a social studies class (matching, fill in the blank, or simple multiple-choice) the most useful questions are always stimulus-based. On your Unit Exams throughout this course, you will encounter stimulus-based multiple-choice questions (MCQ.) 

This type of question gives you a short source—like a quote, image, map, or chart—and asks you to answer questions using both the source and your knowledge of U.S. history. They test your ability to think like a historian: analyzing evidence, understanding context, and connecting it to what you’ve learned. 

These questions can generally be broken down into three basic types:

1. Some questions you will be able to answer even without the stimulus. (You might just already know the answer, which is great!)
2. Some questions you can only answer from the stimulus. (You might know very little about the topic but can figure it out by looking at the document provided.)
3. Most questions will be a combination of the two: you will need to use what you know plus what you can learn from the document to figure out the correct answer.

Work through the following practice MCQ, paying attention to the notes and explanations for each answer (after you make your own guess), to familiarize yourself with this type of question.