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5 min read•july 11, 2024
Akhilesh Shivaramakrishnan
Akhilesh Shivaramakrishnan
Hey, AP® Gov students! This blog's all about making you an expert on the multiple-choice section of the exam! When you're finished reading, we hope you'll be ready to ace the exam 🎉
Let's go over a few general details about the multiple-choice section:
A view of the White House, the home of the President of the United States. Image Courtesy of Pixabay
College Board has 5 "practices" (skills) that it uses to assess students on the exam. 4 of those practices apply to the multiple-choice section. Here they are:
Now, keeping those skills in mind, College Board has designed 4 types of multiple-choice questions that you'll encounter on the AP exam. Each of the different types assesses a different skill.
You might have to know some of the required SCOTUS cases for the multiple-choice section! Image Courtesy of Pixabay
Here are some tips for each of the different types of questions!
💡 Do you want a more in-depth guide that will help you do amazing on the multiple-choice section? Check out this AP US Government Multiple Choice resource we've put together!
Sample quantitative analysis questions, courtesy of College Board CED for AP US Government & Politics.
Answers to Quantitative Analysis Sample Questions
C) chose freedom of speech as most crucial to their own liberty. This is clear because out of all of the civil liberties presented, freedom of speech had the highest percentages for both groups. 💬
A) The results presented in the graph confirm this answer choice, as the right to own guns is where gun owners and non-gun owners are split the most.
Sample text based analysis questions, courtesy of College Board CED for AP US Government & Politics.
Answers to Text Based Analysis Sample Questions
C) This best captures the author's argument regarding the forms of democracy; see the last line of the first paragraph. 🏛
C) Interest groups only represent a small fraction of the minority according to this document, as seen in the last line. This goes with answer choice C, where one group's interests are overrepresented.
Sample visual analysis questions, courtesy of College Board CED for AP US Government & Politics.
Answers to Visual Analysis Sample Questions
C) Members of Congress receive political contributions from many special interest groups. This is represented by the various companies on the senators' jumpsuits. 💰
D) Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (2010). This case dealt with campaign finance and therefore goes with this cartoon. 💵
Sample standalone MC questions, courtesy of College Board CED for AP US Government & Politics.
Answers to Standalone Sample Questions
C) trustee model. The legislator is acting on what they believe is in the best interest of the constituents, NOT what the constituents want. Therefore, this is the trustee model of representation. 🤔
B) This is the correct interpretation of the 2 documents. Federalist 10 discussed factions in this manner, and Brutus 1 argued against a strong federal government. 🔟
That's a wrap on our multiple-choice tips! We have a huge bank of resources available for all AP subjects at Fiveable. Good luck on your AP exam 🎉🎉
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