Budget deficits force U.S. and Canadian leaders to make hard choices.In each country, a large portion of the budget pays interest on the national debt.With remaining tax dollars, national lawmakers must decide how much money to spend on programs such as defense, health care, education, transportation, and environmental cleanup. Each of those programs has its own strong supporters.
Based on the information above, if legislators wished to get re-elected, which of the following should they do?

• A. poll voters and groups about their views
• B. vote to increase defense spending
• C. vote to increase the national debt
• D. vote to eliminate most social programs
• E. cross party lines to vote with the opposition

The button at the left was worn by a demonstrator in the United States in the 1960s.

Which movement was the demonstrator most likely supporting?

• A. the civil rights movement
• B. the anti-Vietnam war movement
• C. the environmental movement
• D. the women's liberation movement
• E. the anti-apartheid movement

-- Exhibit -
In April 1989, encouraged by the economic reforms of the Chinese government, Chinese students and civilians gathered in the capital city of Beijing, at Tiananmen Square, to demand democratic political reforms. At first, government soldiers were unable to disperse the crowd peacefully. The students paraded a statue modeled on the U.S. Statue of Liberty. Thousands more civilians joined the demonstrators in the square. This democratic movement spread rapidly to other cities in China.
Finally, on June 4, the government responded by calling in the army to Tiananmen Square. Ten thousand soldiers moved through the square, killing hundreds of demonstrators and arresting many more. One student (pictured above) stopped a column of tanks. In the end, the demonstrators were no match for the troops and were dispersed. The political freedom movement that had earlier swept Eastern Europe collapsed in China. This event strained China's relations with the Western world.
-- Exhibit -

Which statement most reasonably explains the photograph's worldwide appeal?

• A. the need for the Chinese government to use force
• B. the greater power of machines over people
• C. the weakness of the Chinese army
• D. an individual standing up to oppression
• E. that students can be aggressive fighters

Which statement is best supported by the excerpt below?
". . . the environmental crisis we now confront is quantitatively and qualitatively different from anything before, simply because so many people have been inflicting damage on the world's ecosystem during the present century that the system as a whole-not simply its various parts-may be in danger."
Excerpted from Paul Kennedy, Preparing for the Twenty-First Century (New York: Random House, 1993), 96.

• A. Problems in Earth's environment began during the 20th century.
• B. The quality of Earth's ecosystems is improving.
• C. Some parts of Earth's environment are damaged while some parts are improving.
• D. Today's environmental problems have been the same throughout history.
• E. Ecological problems in one region of the world affect the entire world.