Unit 1 Test Review
What time in the past does "prehistoric" refer to?
A. before the Neolithic Age
B. before the invention of writing
C. before the establishment of civilizations
D. before the appearance of Homo sapiens
What important characteristic did "Lucy," the earliest hominid yet found, have?
A. well-developed muscles
B. prehensile tail
C. opposable thumbs
D. very big brain
What did Mary Leakey's discovery of footprints indicate about hominids?
A. They were a species of australopithecine.
B. They supported themselves as hunter-gatherers.
C. They walked upright earlier than had been believed.
D. They lived in a place where they had not been thought to exist.
Which of the following was NOT in wide use during the Neolithic Age?
A. domesticated of animals
B. bronze
C. irrigation
D. fire
Which of the following was NOT a result of the safer, more settled life of agricultural villages?
A. cultural life
B. domestication
C. specialization
D. nomadic lifestyle
What did the discoveries in the Shanidar cave reveal about the Neanderthals?
A. They had developed tools.
B. They had developed religious beliefs.
C. They had developed agriculture.
D. They had developed a written language.
In what well-defined social classes did the people of Ur live?
A. wealthy merchants, priests, goatherds
B. scribes, government officials, weavers
C. rulers and priests, wealthy merchants, artisans
D. priests, rulers, scribes, artists
Historical narratives and epic poetry were a further development of what major characteristic of
civilization?
A. record keeping
B. advanced technology
C. complex institutions
D. advanced cities
Why was the development of government necessary in early cities such as Ur?
A. performance of religious affairs and duties
B. maintenance of order among soaring populations
C. preservation of the caste system
D. all of the above
Which of the following is NOT a function served by the ziggurat?
A. storage for grains, woven fabrics, and gems
B. conducting of religious rituals
C. the location of the city's metalworks
D. hub of the government and storage of records
How do we know that the people of the Indus Valley traded with the Sumerians?
A. The civilization boats were found in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea.
B. Indus seals were found in Sumer and Sumerian items in the Indus Valley.
C. Indus Valley plumbing tools were found in Sumer.
D. Sumerian bronze artifacts were found in the Indus Valley ruins.
Why do we know so little about the Indus Valley civilization?
A. It existed for only a few hundred years.
B. There are few artifacts from the Indus Valley.
C. Its written language has not yet been deciphered.
D. It existed in a part of the world that has been largely ignored.
What did Egyptian and Mesopotamian society have in common?
A. Women could pursue careers and own property.
B. These two early civilizations were run by women.
C. Children of both sexes were educated together.
D. All of the above are true.
How did Sargon of Akkad form the first empire?
A. by conquering the Indian subcontinent
B. by taking control of both northern and southern Mesopotamia
C. by invading Upper and Lower Egypt
D. by attacking central China from the north and the west
Why were Egyptian farmers more fortunate than the farmers of Mesopotamia?
A. The Tigris and Euphrates frequently changed course; the Nile didn't.
B. The Nile flooded at regular intervals; the Tigris and Euphrates flooded irregularly.
C. The Nile flowed north, the Tigris and Euphrates flowed southeast.
D. The Nile flooded more deeply than the Tigris and Euphrates.
What did the pyramids show about the Old Kingdom dynasties of Egypt?
A. The leadership, economy, and government were strong.
B. They had access to a good supply of stone, both limestone and granite.
C. They had well-developed mathematical and engineering skills.
D. All of the above are true.
Which of the following distinguished the cities of the Indus Valley?
A. Cities were constantly at war despite huge defensive structures.
B. Cities were laid down without thinking, forming a jumble of streets.
C. Cities were planned and had their own plumbing and sewage systems.
D. Cities were destroyed by invaders in horse-drawn chariots.
How did feudalism in China fail in the end to fulfill its original purpose?
A. Instead of maintaining Zhou control, it led to independent lords.
B. Instead of protecting the lords, feudalism caused peasants to revolt.
C. Feudalism caused a gap between rich and poor, and this led to unrest.
D. Feudalism failed to maintain order when nomads invaded.
What was a major advantage of the Chinese system of writing?
A. It developed from pictographs and could be read by other peoples.
B. People all over China could read it, even if they spoke other languages.
C. The Chinese written language has changed very little since 200 B.C.
D. All readers needed to know was a small number of pictographs.
How did the Mandate of Heaven affect government in China?
A. The Mandate of Heaven led to long periods of war among families.
B. Religious leaders read oracle bones to select new rulers.
C. It allowed new rulers to justify the overthrow of a declining dynasty.
D. The ruler received a direct mandate from heaven that he should resign.
The Hittites took the following from the Babylonian civilization they conquered:
A. the legal concept of "an eye for an eye."
B. a language for international use.
C. the technology needed to smelt iron.
D. the technology needed to build chariots.
Israel's King Solomon was known for all of the following EXCEPT
A. constructing a great temple.
B. building a trading empire.
C. wisdom.
D. unifying the 12 tribes.
The Indian epic poem the Mahabarata reflects the struggles
A. of two young lovers who wish to break the caste system.
B. that took place in India as the Aryans moved relentlessly south.
C. of blending a belief in Brahman with a belief in mother goddesses.
D. of people trying to resign themselves to the Four Noble Truths.
The Ten Commandments became the basis for
A. the civil and religious laws of Judaism.
B. the idea of the promised land.
C. Moses' belief that Hebrews could escape Egypt.
D. the division of Israel into two separate kingdoms.
Hinduism and Buddhism differ significantly in their beliefs about
A. reincarnation.
B. the caste system.
C. the cycle of history.
D. perfect understanding.
The Phoenicians were known for
A. bull-leaping, painted pottery, and female-led religious ceremonies.
B. the phonetic alphabet, the cultivation of spices, and murex.
C. seafaring, trade, and the invention of the phonetic alphabet.
D. shipbuilding, murex, and chariots.
Minoan artwork from Knossos suggests that
A. Minoan women held a higher rank than most neighboring cultures allowed.
B. bulls were kept in shrines by priestesses and not touched by men.
C. painted pottery was broken ceremonially at each bull-leaping festival.
D. the Mother Earth goddess was less important than the Father Bull god.
A long-term effect of the caste system in India was that
A. dasas could not find work.
B. the Aryans remained dominant.
C. Hinduism increased in popularity.
D. Buddhism decreased in popularity.
The student and teacher in the Upanishads explore
A. how a person can attain a perfect state of understanding.
B. ritual purity and the caste system.
C. the Middle Way and its Noble Eightfold Path.
D. the influence of dasa beliefs on the Vedas.
The language that English, Sanskrit, Persian, and Spanish are all derived from is
A. Hittite.
B. Anatolian.
C. Babylonian.
D. Indo-European.
What was the relationship between Egypt and Nubia during the period of the New Kingdom?
A. constant warfare
B. peaceful cooperation
C. Egypt's dominance of Nubia
D. Egypt's destruction of Nubia
Which city was restored as the center of an empire 1,000 years after being the center of a different
empire?
A. Thebes
B. Napata
C. Nineveh
D. Babylon
To restore social order, harmony, and good government, Confucius believed it was necessary for
society to be organized around what general category?
A. values
B. golden rules
C. relationships
D. social classes
Which of the following is as famous for his extraordinary skills as a government administrator as for
his military conquests?
A. Darius
B. Ramses II
C. Shi Huangdi
D. Nebuchadnezzar
Among the conquerors of the ancient world, what was Cyrus famous for?
A. courage
B. religious beliefs
C. intellectual abilities
D. tolerance of diversity
For which peoples were bridges, ladders, and tunnels important elements in their military
successes?
A. Persians
B. Egyptians
C. Assyrians
D. Chaldeans
What do Daoism and the concept of yin and yang focus on?
A. natural order
B. virtues of good leadership
C. importance of order in society
D. differences between men and women
What was the chief purpose for constructing and using the Royal Road?
A. for more efficient trade
B. for more efficient transportation
C. for more efficient communication
D. for more efficient troop movement
What was the main reason for the Egyptian empire's decline?
A. power struggles among its leaders
B. a failure to master new tools and weaponry
C. isolationism and a failure to engage in trade
D. opposition from new and powerful enemies
What is the name for the kind of government that Shi Huangdi formed, in which the ruler had
unlimited power and used it in an arbitrary manner?
A. empire
B. autocracy
C. dynasty
D. bureaucracy