Worked examples
Two examples
Example 1
New York has two members in it, and so does Vermont, a state with far fewer people.House or Senate?
- Ask: how are the seats given out? Here a big state and a small state have the same number.
- In the House, seats follow population, so New York, with about 20 million people, has 26 representatives, and Vermont has one.
- In the Senate, every state has two members, whatever its size. That was the small states’ side of the Great Compromise.
- Two members for each state, large or small: the Senate.
Answer: The Senate
Example 2
A woman is elected to it by the voters of one district in Queens.House or Senate?
- Ask: whom does a member represent? Here it is the voters of one district, one part of the state.
- A member of the House represents one congressional district. Each district has about the same number of people, roughly 760,000.
- A senator represents the whole state, and every voter in New York votes for New York’s senators.
- One district: the House of Representatives.
Answer: The House of Representatives
Where this is taught: Civics, Chapter 5: The House and the Senate, side by side · Civics, Chapter 5: Congress, the House and the Senate · Civics, Chapter 5: New York’s seats in the House
In your Kaplan book: Unit 3, Chapter 3, Lesson 3: Levels and Branches of Government · Map of the Terrain, topic 16: Congress, and how a bill becomes law
The drill
Ten questions
How many:
Tap your answer to each one. A few questions ask you to choose words from a drop-down instead, the way the GED test does. Then press Check my answers at the bottom.Circle your answer to each one; where there are brackets, circle the choice that fits. The answer key, with the reasoning, is on the last page.