Hi. I'm taking AP U.S. History II and using the American Pageant textbook.
However, I have a problem.
I understand the text perfectly well, but my teacher's tests consist of AP-style multiple-choice questions that are extraordinarily specific and therefore very difficult to answer. The questions seem to come out of the American Pageant directly, almost word for word. I'm 100% sure, however, that my teacher doesn't come up with these questions on his own.
Last year my History teacher gave out the questions (without the answer choices) in advance, so that our class could prepare for them. We were allowed to write notes and any answers we could find in the book on the question sheet and use it while taking the test. This made the AP questions much easier, but still a challenge because many of the questions are deliberately misleading and tricky.
This year, however, my teacher doesn't give us the questions in advance. His tests consist of short answers that he's come up with himself and then usually about 20 of the difficult AP style multiple-choice questions. This year I'm struggling on his tests. I understand the concepts very well and participate a great deal in class... but the manner by which these questions are presented is ridiculous!
So recently I've decided to try to find these questions online prior to the test. I've noticed that my teacher(s) don't make up these questions by themselves, as I've been able to find many of them online. Usually after I get a test back, I write down a question word for word on another piece of paper before my teacher recollects them. I then go home and google search the question in quotes. Usually I find the questions, often in another teacher's test that they've hosted online. Rarely do the tests indicate which answers are correct.
All I want to be able to do is to review these questions before the test and make sure I have a sound understanding and an upper hand. I refuse to continue to miss out on points because I didn't memorize the title of an author's book, for example. Or I didn't recognize the way an answer was worded.
What I want to know is where my History teacher for this year and the one from last year gets these questions from! There must be a source.
A few days ago I discovered the American Pageant Guidebook With Answers on Amazon. I know that this book contains the T/F, multiple-choice, cause and effect questions that I've seen on some of my teacher's past tests. (The same questions you can find online in those ACE Practice tests.)
But my question is... DOES THE GUIDEBOOK ALSO CONTAIN THE DIFFICULT AND "MYSTERIOUS" AP MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS THAT MY TEACHER USES AND SO DO MANY OTHER TEACHERS I'VE FOUND ONLINE?
I'd like to know before I spend $50 on the book. If all it contains are the relatively easy T/F and multiple-choice questions also found online as part of the ACE Practice Tests, then I'd rather not spend the money.
If the AP questions are not in it, does anyone have any advice on where to find them?
Thank you.