GED Social Studies : Arms and Technology Races

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GED Social Studies

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Example Questions

Example Question #81 : United States History

Who was the leader of the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Possible Answers:

Leonid Brezhnev.

Nikita Khrushchev.

Vladimir Lenin.

Josef Stalin.

Mikhail Gorbachev.

Correct answer:

Nikita Khrushchev.

Explanation:

The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in 1962, when the Soviet Union installed nuclear weapons in Cuba, less than ninety miles from United States’ soil. The American President at the time was John F. Kennedy, and the leader of the Soviet Union was Nikita Khrushchev. The result of the incident was that the Soviet Union ended up withdrawing it’s nuclear weapons from Cuba under the agreement that the United States would remove its from Turkey. For the short period of time that the Cuban Missile Crisis raged, it is generally considered to be the closest that the two superpowers got to nuclear annihilation during the long Cold War.

Example Question #81 : United States History

What was Sputnik?

Possible Answers:

It was an American spy plane that crashed in the Soviet Union and sparked a diplomatic crisis.

It was a Soviet spy plane that crashed in Canada and almost led to nuclear war.

It was a Soviet propaganda program that bred discontent in capitalist countries.

It was an American space ship that was the first to touch down on the surface of the moon.

It was a Soviet satellite and was the first man-made object to orbit the earth.

Correct answer:

It was a Soviet satellite and was the first man-made object to orbit the earth.

Explanation:

Sputnik was a Soviet satellite. It was the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. This took place in 1957 and began the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States. Sputnik was important, geopolitically speaking, for promoting panic in the United States that America was getting left behind by the more scientifically and technologically advanced Soviets. It can be seen as the reason why America landed on the moon only twelve years later.

Example Question #1 : Arms And Technology Races

The Bay of Pigs Invasion took place during the Presidency of __________

Possible Answers:

Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Lyndon B. Johnson.

Harry Truman.

Dwight D. Eisenhower.

John F. Kennedy.

Correct answer:

John F. Kennedy.

Explanation:

Although the Bay of Pigs Invasion was planned during the Presidency of Dwight Eisenhower, it was not actually carried out until 1961, during the Presidency of John F. Kennedy. It was a failed American invasion of Cuba and is important in the larger context of the Cold War for solidifying the complete deterioration of American relations with Cuba and for precipitating the Cuban Missile Crisis only a year later.

Example Question #2 : Arms And Technology Races

The Bay of Pigs Invasion was meant to overthrow the government of __________

Possible Answers:

Ayatollah Khomeini.

Saddam Hussein.

General Tito.

Nikita Khrushchev.

Fidel Castro.

Correct answer:

Fidel Castro.

Explanation:

The Bay of Pigs invasion took place in 1961. The CIA trained exiled Cuban troops that then touched down on Cuban soil with the intention of overthrowing the Cuban government and assassinating Fidel Castro. It did not succeed.

Example Question #3 : Arms And Technology Races

Yuri Gagarin __________

Possible Answers:

was assassinated on the commands of Josef Stalin for attempting to sell state secrets.

was the first human in outer space.

defected to the United States and sold Soviet secrets.

assassinated Josef Stalin.

crashed a spy plane on United States’ soil.

Correct answer:

was the first human in outer space.

Explanation:

Yuri Gagarin was the first human in outer space. He was a citizen of the Soviet Union and was the first man to orbit the earth in 1961. His achievement was part of the early years of the Space Race when the Soviet Union was the first nation to put a satellite into orbit and the first to put a man into space.

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