On most maps, a compass rose shows that north is at the top. If a student faces north, which direction is on the student's right?
A. West
B. East
C. South
D. Northwest
Show answer and reasoning
Correct answer: B. East
East is to the right when facing north.
- A: West is on the left when facing north.
- C: South is behind a person facing north.
- D: Northwest is ahead and to the left.
Source: Praxis 5004: Geography, Anthropology, and Sociology (II.C uses of geography)
In a market economy, prices are mainly determined by
A. the interaction of buyers and sellers
B. government planners
C. a national tradition
D. the United Nations
Show answer and reasoning
Correct answer: A. the interaction of buyers and sellers
In a market economy, supply and demand set prices as buyers and sellers make voluntary exchanges.
- B: Prices set by planners describe a command economy.
- C: A traditional economy relies on custom, but market prices are not set by tradition.
- D: The UN does not set prices.
Source: Praxis 5004: World History and Economics (III.D key economic terms and concepts)
Which European explorer, sailing for Spain, reached islands in the Caribbean in October 1492 while searching for a westward sea route to Asia?
A. Christopher Columbus
B. Vasco da Gama
C. John Cabot
D. Ferdinand Magellan
Show answer and reasoning
Correct answer: A. Christopher Columbus
Columbus sailed from Spain in August 1492 and made landfall in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492.
- B: Da Gama sailed for Portugal and reached India by rounding Africa in 1498; he never crossed the Atlantic.
- C: Cabot sailed for England and reached the North American coast in 1497, five years later.
- D: Magellan's expedition began in 1519 and is known for the first circumnavigation, not the 1492 voyage.
Source: Praxis 5004: United States History, Government, and Citizenship (I.A European exploration and colonization)
The first permanent English settlement in North America was founded in 1607 on the James River in present-day Virginia. What was it called?
A. Plymouth
B. Jamestown
C. Roanoke
D. St. Augustine
Show answer and reasoning
Correct answer: B. Jamestown
Jamestown, chartered by the Virginia Company, was settled in May 1607 and survived to become the first permanent English colony.
- A: Plymouth was founded in 1620 in present-day Massachusetts by the Pilgrims.
- C: Roanoke was an earlier English attempt in the 1580s that failed; its colonists vanished.
- D: St. Augustine was founded by Spain in 1565 in Florida, not by England.
Source: Praxis 5004: United States History, Government, and Citizenship (I.A European exploration and colonization)
A third grade teacher explains that the Pilgrims wrote and signed an agreement in 1620 before landing, promising to form a government and obey its laws. Which document is she describing?
A. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
B. The Virginia House of Burgesses charter
C. The Mayflower Compact
D. The Albany Plan of Union
Show answer and reasoning
Correct answer: C. The Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact, signed aboard the Mayflower in November 1620, was an agreement among the male passengers to form a civil body politic and obey its laws.
- A: The Fundamental Orders were adopted in Connecticut in 1639 as a written framework of government, not a shipboard agreement.
- B: The House of Burgesses was Virginia's representative assembly, first meeting in 1619; it was not a signed passenger agreement.
- D: The Albany Plan of Union was Benjamin Franklin's 1754 proposal for colonial union and was never adopted.
Source: Praxis 5004: United States History, Government, and Citizenship (I.A European exploration and colonization)
