Free FSOT Exam Flashcards

Checks and balances — each branch (legislative, executive, judicial) has tools to limit the others, e.g., presidential veto, congressional override, judicial review. Separation of powers divides duties; checks and balances lets each branch police the others.

The division of governing power between the national government and the states. Under the 10th Amendment, powers not delegated to the federal government (and not prohibited to states) are reserved to the states or the people.

Judicial review, established in Marbury v. Madison (1803), lets federal courts strike down laws or executive actions that conflict with the Constitution — a power not explicitly stated in Article III but inferred by the Court itself.

The Senate alone ratifies treaties (two-thirds vote) and confirms presidential appointments (simple majority), including Cabinet officials, federal judges, and ambassadors — the House has no formal role in either process.

The Declaration of Independence (1776) proclaimed separation from Britain; the U.S. Constitution (drafted 1787, ratified 1788) established the current federal government structure, replacing the weaker Articles of Confederation (1781-1789).

A 1948 U.S. program that provided over $13 billion in economic aid to rebuild Western Europe after WWII, aiming to stabilize economies and curb the spread of communism — a cornerstone of early Cold War foreign policy.

Announced in 1947, it pledged U.S. support to any nation resisting communist aggression (initially Greece and Turkey), marking the start of the U.S. Cold War containment strategy that shaped decades of American foreign policy.

The Civil War (1861-1865) ended with the Confederacy's surrender at Appomattox in April 1865. The 13th (abolished slavery, 1865), 14th (citizenship and equal protection, 1868), and 15th (voting rights regardless of race, 1870) Amendments followed as the Reconstruction Amendments.

Fiscal policy (taxing and spending) is controlled by Congress and the President through the federal budget. Monetary policy (interest rates and money supply) is controlled by the Federal Reserve, an independent central bank.

The total market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. It is the primary gauge of a national economy's size and growth rate.

A trade deficit occurs when a country imports more than it exports (a net outflow of money); a trade surplus occurs when exports exceed imports (a net inflow). The U.S. has run persistent trade deficits for decades.

A tax imposed on imported goods, raising their price to protect domestic industries or generate government revenue — often a tool of trade policy and a frequent subject of diplomatic negotiation.

The United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China — the P5. Any one of them can block a substantive Security Council resolution with a single veto, regardless of how the other members vote.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization — a 1949 collective-defense alliance where an armed attack on one member is treated as an attack on all (Article 5). It links the U.S. and Canada with European allies.

The IMF focuses on short-term monetary stability and emergency balance-of-payments loans; the World Bank focuses on long-term development financing for infrastructure and poverty-reduction projects.

The President negotiates and signs it, then the Senate must ratify it by a two-thirds vote. Executive agreements, by contrast, don't require Senate ratification but also carry less permanence.

The mean (average) is pulled by outliers; the median (middle value) is not. For skewed data like income distribution, the median usually gives a more representative 'typical' value than the mean.

(New Value − Original Value) ÷ Original Value × 100. A negative result indicates a decrease; always divide by the ORIGINAL value, not the new one — a common error.

A measure of how spread out data points are from the mean. A small standard deviation means data cluster tightly around the average; a large one means more variability.

Probability = 0.25 (or 1/4); as a percentage, 25%. Probability is always expressed as a value between 0 (impossible) and 1 (certain).

'Is' is correct — the verb agrees with the subject 'list' (singular), not the nearby noun 'items' in the prepositional phrase. Prepositional phrases never contain the true subject.

Items joined in a series or comparison must share the same grammatical form. Faulty: 'She likes hiking, to swim, and reading.' Correct: 'She likes hiking, swimming, and reading' — all gerunds.

A descriptive phrase with no clear noun to modify, creating an unintended meaning. Faulty: 'Walking to the embassy, the rain began to fall.' Fix: 'Walking to the embassy, I felt the rain begin to fall.'

A pronoun must match its antecedent in number. Faulty in formal writing: 'Each officer must submit their report by Friday' traditionally requires 'his or her,' though many current style guides now accept singular 'they.'

Stay in one tense unless the timeline genuinely shifts. Faulty: 'She arrives at the embassy and greeted the ambassador.' Fix: keep both verbs in the same tense — 'arrived...greeted' or 'arrives...greets.'

Two independent clauses joined only by a comma, with no conjunction. Faulty: 'The meeting ran long, we missed lunch.' Fix: add a conjunction ('...long, so we missed lunch'), use a semicolon, or split into two sentences.

A semicolon joins two closely related independent clauses without a conjunction. Unlike a comma, it needs no 'and,' 'but,' or similar word — each side must be a complete sentence on its own.

Both apostrophes are correct — they show possession ('the staff belonging to the ambassador,' 'the findings belonging to the report'). A common trap is using an apostrophe for a plain plural, which is always wrong.

A list, explanation, or elaboration that follows a complete independent clause. Faulty: 'The requirements are: citizenship, age, and clearance.' Fix: 'The requirements are the following: citizenship, age, and clearance.'

Periods and commas go INSIDE the closing quotation mark (e.g., 'the report,' she said.). Colons and semicolons go outside. This is a frequently tested mechanics rule.

The main idea is the overarching point the whole passage supports; supporting details are specific facts, examples, or data that back it up. If removing a sentence doesn't change the passage's core argument, it's a supporting detail, not the main idea.

Look at word choice (connotation), sentence structure, and selective emphasis. Formal, hedged language ('may,' 'suggests') signals caution; vivid, absolute language ('clearly,' 'disastrous') signals a stronger stance.

Informative passages present balanced facts without pushing a conclusion; persuasive passages build toward a specific claim, often using loaded language, one-sided evidence, or a call to action.

Look for contrast words ('however,' 'unlike') that signal an opposite meaning, or restatement/example clues that define the term indirectly. Don't rely on outside knowledge — the passage itself usually supplies enough signal.

Denotation is a word's literal dictionary meaning; connotation is its implied emotional shade. 'Frugal' and 'stingy' share a denotation (careful with money) but 'stingy' carries a negative connotation — precision questions test which word fits the passage's tone.

A writer's choice of words and level of formality. Diplomatic or technical writing calls for formal diction; casual diction ('gonna,' 'stuff') would be flagged as inappropriate in most FSOT passages.

A fixed expression whose meaning isn't literal from its individual words (e.g., 'once in a blue moon'). English Usage questions may ask you to identify or correct a misused idiom.

The word that most precisely matches the sentence's specific shade of meaning and register — exact fit beats a 'close enough' synonym. Precision, not just correctness, is what's being tested.

A valid inference must follow logically from the stated premises — it's a 'must be true' conclusion, not just a plausible guess. If the conclusion requires information not given, it's speculation, not inference.

Drawing a conclusion broader or stronger than the evidence supports. Example: one study showing a correlation doesn't justify concluding a universal cause-and-effect rule that applies in every case.

Many wrong answers are merely consistent with the passage (not contradicted by it) but aren't actually supported by it. The correct inference must be directly grounded in stated facts, not just avoid contradiction.

An unstated premise the argument needs to be true for its conclusion to hold. It's the gap-filler between the stated evidence and the conclusion — without it, the logical chain breaks.

Reverse (negate) the candidate assumption. If negating it makes the argument's conclusion fall apart, it's a necessary assumption. If the argument still holds up fine, that choice wasn't required.

A necessary assumption is REQUIRED for the argument to work (without it, the argument fails) but may not be enough on its own. A sufficient assumption, if true, GUARANTEES the conclusion follows, even though the argument might work without it too.

An argument that uses its conclusion as its own support, essentially restating the premise as if it were proof. Example: 'This policy is fair because it treats everyone equally, which is what fairness means' — proves nothing new.

Presenting only two options when more actually exist. Example: 'Either we increase the budget or the mission fails' ignores other alternatives like reallocating existing resources.

Two events occurring together (or one following another) doesn't prove one caused the other — a third factor or coincidence could explain both. Test writers frequently offer a causal answer choice that's only supported by correlation.

The answer choice most directly and completely backed by the passage's actual evidence — not the most interesting, extreme, or generally true statement. Scope must match the evidence exactly.

Absolute/extreme language is rarely supportable by limited passage evidence. A correct answer's scope typically matches the qualified, limited claims actually made in the passage.

One clear counterexample is enough to disprove a universal claim ('all X are Y'), even if the claim holds true in most cases. This is why absolute claims are fragile and heavily tested on the FSOT.