Worked examples
Two examples
Example 1
- Ask what the thing is for. A passport is about traveling between countries.
- Dealing with other countries is something the country does with one voice. That points to the national government in Washington.
- Passports are issued by the U.S. Department of State, part of the national government.
- Do not be misled by where she lives. A New Yorker deals with all three governments, and the place where she lives does not decide which one handles a matter. What the matter is decides it.
Answer: The nation (Washington)
Example 2
- Look for the clue in the question. It asks who writes the rules, not who carries them out.
- Rent stabilization is the system that limits rent increases for nearly a million New York City apartments. State law sets the rules for the system. That is decided in Albany.
- A city board, the Rent Guidelines Board, whose members the mayor appoints, votes each year on how much stabilized rents may rise. That is the city carrying out part of the system.
- So the answer to this question is New York State. If the question had asked who votes each year on the rent increases, the answer would be the city.
Answer: New York State (Albany)
Where this is taught: Civics, Chapter 6: Who handles this · Civics, Chapter 6: Where the city’s power comes from · Civics, Chapter 6: One morning in the Bronx · The Civics Flyover, Question 3
In your Kaplan book: Unit 3, Chapter 3, Lesson 3: Levels and Branches of Government · Map of the Terrain, topic 19: Federalism in practice: Washington, Albany, City Hall
The drill
Ten questions
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.