photo taken by dominic arizona : azfoto.com

• In the early 15th century, the Spanish took control of the island of Hispaniola for its gold, killing many of the indigenous peoples with disease.

• In the 16th century, Africans were brought to the island as slaves.

• Many French pirates made their homes on the western shores of Hispaniola.

• France eventually gained control over the western portion of the island, and many battles for independence were fought until 1804, when independence was won, and the nation was renamed to Haiti.

• In the 20th century, the United states occupied Haiti in an attempt to help stabilize their government. During this time, Haitian Creole was also accepted as an official language of Haiti, particularly in education.

• Throughout the turbulent years of Haiti’s past, many Haitians have left to try and make a better life for themselves in other parts of the Caribbean and North America.

Today, virtually all Haitians speak Haitian Creole while French is used predominately in business and education. A creole language is one that is made up of many other languages. Haitian Creole is the most stable and widely spoken creole language today. Which of the following answers helps to best explain why this is?

1. Haitian Creole has been accepted as an official creole language.
2. Haiti and its language has been influenced by many different foreign cultures throughout the years.
3. Haitians have spread out across the Caribbean and North America, helping to spread the creole language.
4. All of the above.
5. None of the above.

Creole languages sure are interesting! In fact, if you find yourself down in Florida, you can hear Haitian Creole in some places like Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach. The dialects of the south in general are so varied, and I bet it has something to do with the fact that a lot of immigrants come up from places like Haiti, Cuba, and other Caribbean islands.

Ok, so number one says that Haitian Creole has been accepted as an official creole language. Well that’s right for sure! The fifth bullet says that, “Haitian Creole was accepted as an official language of Haiti.” So it’s answer one, right? But I should probably look over the other answers just to be safe.

Number two also seems right. After all, there were originally the indigenous peoples who lived there, then the Spaniards came, then the Africans, then the French, plus pirates lived there and they’re from all over! Finally, the US occupied Haiti, and Haiti’s not even that far away from the United States, so that’s a lot of cultures and languages effecting one place… Hm, let’s keep going.

Number three is definitely right too. The last bullet says that the Haitians have moved to other parts of the Caribbean and North America, and that would definitely help to spread the language, just like how the British spread themselves around a lot too, and English is spoken just about everywhere I think! Though I don’t know if that’s ’cause of the British necessarily or ’cause everyone watches American TV nowadays… But anyway, that seems pretty darn correct.

So it must be number four, ’cause all the first ones were definitely right. And that means number five is definitely wrong. It’s a good thing I looked over the rest of the answers, or else if I were in a real testing situation, I might have just marked number one as correct, then gotten the question wrong. Always remember to read all the answers first so you don’t get tripped up by these kinds of questions.

Keep studying, and good luck!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit the GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com

Later I read about how the Grand Canyon is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. I’ve never seen most of the others, except the Northern Lights, which I once saw on a long haul up to Whitehorse in the Yukon. It was real pretty. Kinda like bright white, greenish clouds, only at night. And they’d kinda shifted and moved around real fast, like there was a giant fan up in space blowing them around. I can definitely see why the Grand Canyon and the Northern Lights are part of the Seven Natural Wonders. I think I’d like to see all the rest someday, even they are all across the globe, like Mount Everest way over there in Asia.

I started looking up some of the other wonders of the world, and found out that there’s a lot of different lists! One of the most popular is the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. That’s got the Pyramids in it, along with a lot of other neat things. Here’s a practice question about one of them that I thought was pretty hard.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria served as a well known landmark on the island of Pharos for a little over a thousand years. It was roughly 383 – 440 feet tall. Mirrors were used in the daytime to reflect the sunlight, and fires were lit at night to direct sailors to the port of Alexandria. Eventually, earthquakes damaged the lighthouse beyond repair, and it was eventually replaced by a fort. However, even today the lighthouse is considered one of the greatest wonders of the ancient world.

Why is the Lighthouse of Alexandria identified as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World?

1. It was one of the tallest buildings of its time.

2. It utilized revolutionary technology.

3. It was a dependable beacon.

4. It attracted many tourists.

5. It was the only building in its time built on an island.

The question includes a picture, so I can see how the lighthouse worked from this. It’s tall, and right on the water with an open area at the top where the light shines out. The question says that the Lighthouse of Alexandria existed as a landmark to show everyone where the port of Alexandria was. So, immediately I can tell that two of the answers are probably correct about the lighthouse itself: it was a dependable beacon, and probably very tall. But I should look at each answer and see if it works with the question.

Number one says it was one of the tallest buildings of its time. Well, it doesn’t say this exactly in the text, but it does make a point of saying how tall it is. So there’s a link to the text, at least. And think about this: The lighthouse IS one of the seven wonders, so you know it has to stand out somehow, and this lighthouse was around 400 feet tall! For an ancient building, that’s pretty darn tall.

Number two says that it had some pretty great technology. This could be it! I mean, I don’t really know when mirrors were invented, and maybe using fire as a beacon was new? It’s hard to tell which makes more sense, that the lighthouse was really tall, or that it used new technology. But if I start thinking about other things that get attention for being a “wonder” like the Grand Canyon, or the pyramids, or the Great Wall of China, these are all things that are really big. So, I can use this pattern to assume that the lighthouse was named a “wonder” for the same reason: because it was big.

As for it being a dependable beacon, I bet it probably was! But would that make it a wonder? There were thousands of things that were probably dependable back then. Every lighthouse had to be dependable, or it wouldn’t be a very good lighthouse. That just doesn’t seem like a good reason to make something one of only seven wonders in all the world. And the same goes for number 5. There’s thousands of islands in the world too, with plenty of buildings on them, so it’s unlikely that either of these a reasons to make it a wonder. Also, the text doesn’t really make a big deal about the island, or about how it was a beacon. It mostly talks in detail about exactly how tall it was, and how it used fire and mirrors to attract attention.

Four seems sort of correct, because it probably did attract a lot of tourists, but it did so BECAUSE it was amazing. The tourists didn’t MAKE it one of the Seven Wonders. Also, the text doesn’t say anything at all about tourists, so this probably isn’t right. I think I’d have to go with #1. You’ve got to use the information you know about other things in the world that stand out. They’re usually almost exactly the same as other things just like them, like the Great Wall of China is just a wall when you come down to it. And The Grand Canyon is just a hole. It’s the size of them that makes them amazing, so I can guess that the same was true for the Lighthouse of Alexandria. But I’m kinda sad that it fell down. In fact, just about all the Seven Ancient Wonders fell or burned down eventually, except for the pyramids, so I’ll never get to see them. I guess I’d better get moving on visiting all the natural wonders before they fall down or fill up or get condos built on top of them!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit the GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

Here’s a practice question about restated information:

On June 22, 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union with three million soldiers, mainly German. Hitler thought the war with Soviet Russia would end in six months or less. It lasted for four years, getting worse and worse. On the Russian front, where Hitler’s German tyranny fought Stalin’s Russian tyranny, the German army lost. Russia’s win over the Germans changed the course of World War II and helped the Allies–England, Russia, and the U.S.–win the war. From 20 million to 27 million Russian people, both soldiers and civilians, lost their lives.

Which of the following statements is true based on the above paragraph?

A) Three million Soviet soldiers fought the Germans.
B) The war between the Soviet Union and Germany was over in less than six months.c
C) Stalin and Hitler were friends, even though their countries fought each other.
D) Russia’s victory over Germany did not have far-reaching consequences.
E) Over 20 million Russians were killed in the war with Germany.

So, what’s your answer? To answer this question, you need to look for which idea is stated in the passage. A lot of the time, you’ll find some of the words from the passage are repeated. The passage mentions 3 million solderis, six months, and Stalin and Hitler. But the only statement that means the same thing as something in the reading is the last one: “Over 20 million Russians were killed in the war with Germany.” That means the same thing as: “From 20 million to 27 million Russian people, both soldiers and civilians, lost their lives.”

“From 20 million to 27 million” and “Over 20 milion” get the same idea across. So do “Russians” and “Russian people.” Both sentences also say the Russian people died. “Lost their lives” means the same as “were killed.” And, even though this sentence doesn’t say they were killed in the war with Germany, that’s the context. That’s what it means in the paragraph. So, the answer is E.

If you can recognize the same idea said in a different way, you’ll have a valuable skill for the GED test!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.