SOCIAL STUDIES

Semester I Final Exam Study Guide

Part I: SS7G5.a Locate on a world and regional political-physical map: Euphrates River, Jordan River, Tigris River, Suez Canal, Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, and Gaza Strip.

SS7G5.b Locate on a world and regional political-physical map the nations of Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.

Part II:

  1. What generalization can be made about the relationship between GDP and literacy?
  2. Why is Iran sometimes called a theocratic republic?
  3. What best describes the government of Saudi Arabia?
  4. What are the Five Pillars (of Islam)?
  5. Why do most economies in the world today operate somewhere in between a market economy and a command economy?
  6. What is economic specialization?
  7. Which branch of government is responsible for making and carrying out laws ina parliamentary system of governments?
  8. Who take the financial risk in starting a new business in a market economy?
  9. In a presidential system of government, how is a president chosen?
  10. Why is it important for nations to have a system to convert from one currency to another?
  11. How has Israel made up for its lack of natural resources?
  12. What is the economy of Saudi Arabia is based on?
  13. Israel has made heavy investments in capital goods in what areas of its economy?
  14. What bodies of water are connected by the Strait of Hormuz?
  15. Why is the Suez Canal so important to international shipping?
  16. Why are technologies like desalination and drip irrigation not more widely used to reduce water shortages in SWA?
  17. What country is found at 31N, 34E?
  18. Who is the common figure in the origins of Judaism, Christianity and Islam?
  19. What is the difference between an ethnic group and a religious group?
  20. Describe the religion of Arabs?
  21. What best describes the climate of SWA?
  22. What physical feature are the largest cities in SWA located on or near?
  23. What is “anti-Semitism”?
  24. What problems did new boundaries cause when new countries where created at the end of the Ottoman Empire?
  25. Why did countries in the United Nations feel it was right to create the state of Israel in 1948?
  26. What was the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war?
  27. Why did the United Nations form a coalition to stop Iraq from taking over the country of Kuwait in 1990?
  28. What led the United States to bomb and invade the country of Afghanistan in 2001?
  29. Why did the United States go to war against Iraq in 2003?
  30. Why has Iraq had difficulty forming a new government since the fall of Saddam Hussein?

Good luck…Study hard and you will do well...Have a fabulous Holiday/Winter Break!!!