Introduction to Civics Eight - VBMS

1. Introduction to Civics Eight - VBMS Summer School Session, 2013

2. Civics Eight Test taking Practice Released Items, Fall 2011

3. D. Government Agencies The Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Food and Drug Administration are all agencies of the Federal Government.

4. C. The Time She could have spent studying “Opportunity cost” refers to what you miss out on while you are pursuing other goals. You can’t work after school and study; therefore, when you choose to work a job, the opportunity cost is study time. Everybody needs to study hard to succeed in high school.

5. A. Independent voters help decide elections Most registered voters choose to vote for either the Republican or the Democratic Party. But in many states, voters don’t register by their party. In Virginia, most voters are independents, meaning that individuals without any political affiliation must be courted for our votes!

6. C. Raise Money for candidates who support the same views Political Action Committees are able to raise enormous sums of money and use it to promote candidates who they agree with on the major issues in the election. Each year, PACs become more influential in determining the winning candidates in elections.

7. D. Circuit Court The Circuit Court in Virginia will hear serious cases, including civil cases involving large sums o money, or, more importantly, serious crimes called felonies. The General District Court would handle traffic violations or lesser offenses called misdemeanors.

8. A. A City Council Member is found guilty of speeding. In the United States we respect the rule of law. This means that no one – from the President of the United States to the lowliest member of the School Board to a member of the US military – is immune from the law. This is not the case in a nation like Russia, for example, where Vladimir Putin rules arbitrarily.

9. B. The Executive Branch of the National Government The President of the United States appoints judges to the United States Court of Appeals. The judges are subject to approval from the Congress. In this sense, both branches of government hold a check upon the Judiciary. Judges are appointed for life during good conduct, so it is important to make wise choices in who sits on the bench.

10. Vocabulary Matching Activity for Unit One Part I. A Brief Survey of Democracy in World History

11. 1. The Declaration of Independence

12. 2. The Roman Republic

13. 3. Athens

14. 4. The Magna Carta

15. 5. The mayflower Compact

16. 6. The English Bill of Rights

17. 7. The Articles of Confederation

18. 8. The Albany Plan of Union

19. 9. The Virginia Declaration of Rights “All men are by nature equally free and independent…” "whenever any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform, alter or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal."

20. 10. The Virginia Statute of religious Freedom “Be it enacted by General Assembly that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of Religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities. - Thomas Jefferson

21. 11. The Charters of the Virginia Company of London

22. 12. The United States Constitution