GED Social Studies : Population Trends
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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Population Trends
Which of these was not a contributing factor towards the Baby Boom, from 1946 to 1965?
Low birth rates during World War Two
Higher standard of living
The Civil Rights Movement
Decreased infant mortality rates
Government subsidized education
The Civil Rights Movement
The Baby Boom period lasted for about twenty years after the end of World War Two. It was marked by a massive increase in the size of families and the population of the country as a whole. It was caused by several factors, including a much higher standard of living, the relatively low level of birth rates during World War Two, and decreased infant mortality rates. Another contributing factor was the GI Bill. The GI Bill provided loans and grants to returning veterans from World War Two to help them buy houses and have access to higher education. The only answer choice that did not directly contribute to the Baby Boom generation was the Civil Rights Movement. Firstly, this did not really begin in earnest until the mid-1950s, second of all it was a movement to improve social rights and not an economic or health based movement so cannot be expected to have much effect on the birth rate.
Example Question #1 : Population Trends
Population has grown most dramatically in which of these centuries?
The sixteenth century
The seventeenth century
The nineteenth century
The twentieth century
The eighteenth century
The twentieth century
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, the population of the world was less than one billion. It would pass one billion early in the nineteenth century, but would not reach two billion until early in the twentieth century. Since the massive improvements in public health, medicine, technology, and farming practices of the twentieth century, the world population has risen to over seven billion. So the correct answer is easily the twentieth century.
Example Question #2 : Population Trends
In which of these continents is the population the highest?
Asia
Africa
North America
South America
Europe
Asia
More than half the people on the planet live in the continent of Asia: the majority of these living in China and India. Of the more than seven billion people on Earth, at least four billion live in Asia.
Example Question #2 : Population Trends
Which of these is the correct order of continents by population (from highest to lowest)?
North America; South America; Africa; Asia; Europe
Africa; Europe; Asia; North America; South America
Asia; Africa; Europe; North America; South America
Asia; North America; Europe; Africa; South America
Africa; Asia; North America; Europe; South America
Asia; Africa; Europe; North America; South America
More than half the people in the world live in Asia. After Asia, the next highest is Africa, which is the only other continent to have more than a billion people living there. After Africa comes Europe, then North America, then South America. The population of Europe is projected to remain approximately the same for several decades, so by the end of the twenty-first century it will have likely been overtaken by all the other continents, except Oceania and Antarctica.
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