Total Page : 864
Publisher : Research Education Association
Publication Date : 2009 02 09
>> Not up to AP standards
As a teacher of APUSH I buy many review books to have on hand for students to look through and as a source for practice multiple choice questions This book is great on quantity but definitely sub par on quality AP style multiple choice questions are about much more than memorizing facts They require analysis of historical trends knowledge of cause and effect etc They re quite sophisticated The questions provided in this book just don t reach that level Compare these two examples
From the REA book
As a result of the Spanish American War the United States gained possession of Puerto Rico Guam and
A the Philippines
B Cuba
C Bermuda
D the Panama Canal Zone
E Hawaii
A style more typical of real AP questions
The Spanish American war spurred building of the Panama Canal by
A demonstrating the need to shift naval forces quickly from the Atlantic to the Pacific
B demonstrating the ease with which Latin American countries could be overcome by U S military force
C discrediting congressional opponents of the project
D removing the threat that any possible canal could be blockaded by Spanish forces based in Cuba and Puerto Rico
E demonstrating that such tropical diseases as malaria and yellow fever could be controlled
The book does include a CD Rom which might be a nice interface to practicing You can stop in the middle of an exam or practice with the included timer However I found the interface awkward and clunky
So in conclusion don t rely on this book to shape up your m/c question answering skills I agree with the previous poster that the Princeton books are a better choice Barrons is good too
>> Better resources available
I was a first year AP US teacher when I purchased this book and another by the Princeton Review
Both books are intended to be complete resources for reviewing for the AP Exam but the Princeton Review is substantially better in all areas
The selling point I thought in the REA book was the Six full length practice exams it advertises Though these tests are long the questions are simplistic and are little like real AP questions Most only require the student to know a definition The essay questions are acceptable but instead of explaining different approaches to writing the essay and evaluating the sources like the Princeton Review this book simply gives example essays
The biggest failing is the lack of depth about the AP test or proper strategy The first chapter of the Princeton Review goes into great detail about how to prepare and what strategies to use on the AP Test
This book does have lots of questions on US History but I would recommend using free resources like old AP tests over purchasing this book Better yet get yourself the Princeton Review book
>> I was serious and i got a five
Thanks god for this review book 5 Stars for five score points Serious about getting a five is no yellow journalism
P S The girl on the cover is attractive The reason I bought this book
