Q1. Early Christian thinkers were attracted to the ideas of Plato because of Plato’s belief that
a. the soul was immortal.
b. government’s effects are negative.
c. the Hebrew prophets were correct.
d. the body was pure.
Q2. The years between 1000 and 1350 are generally known in European history as the
a. Age of Exploration.
b. High Middle Ages.
c. Renaissance.
d. Enlightenment.
Q3. In his writings, Marco Polo describes the legendary Chingis-Khan (Ghengis Khan) as a(n)
a. ignorant man.
b. man of great integrity, wisdom, and valor.
c. man totally dependent on his advisors.
d. tyrant.
Q4. The term applied to scientific, theological, and philosophical learning taught in medieval universities is
a. asceticism.
b. materialism.
c. mysticism.
d. scholasticism.
Q5. The initial expressed purpose of the Crusades was to
a. gain control over trade routes.
b. recover the Holy Land.
c. convert the Muslim world to Christianity.
d. expand European power in the Middle East.
Q6. In the long run, the Crusades proved
a. a great success.
b. a qualified success.
c. an enormous failure.
d. the superiority of European military power.
Q7. By the early thirteenth century the most powerful figure in medieval Europe was
a. the pope.
b. the Holy Roman emperor.
c. Charlemagne.
d. Constantine.
Q8. Artistic growth in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries gave rise to the ______________ style in art and architecture.
a. Romanesque
b. Germanic
c. Gothic
d. neoclassical
Q9. In “Letter from Mongolia,” Friar William of Rubruck describes his attempt to ______________ Mangu, the Great Khan.
a. do battle with
b. win trades routes from
c. explain the Catholic faith to
d. marry the daughter of
Q10. Medieval monarchs sought to subordinate the power of
a. the nobility.
b. merchant elites.
c. cities and towns.
d. Pope.
Q11. The romance was
a. a long narrative poem.
b. a short play.
c. an instrumental musical piece.
d. the dominant literary form in medieval France.
Q12. Which statement best describes Dante’s political philosophy?
a. The pope, as God’s regent, should exercise ultimate political power.
b. Because a free society was necessary to the life of ideas, democracy was the ideal form of government.
c. A strong monarch was necessary to prevent disorder and to limit the power of the Church.
d. The republic, as embodied by Rome, was the ideal form of government.
Q13. The eleventh and twelfth centuries in Europe were characterized by
a. a general humanizing trend in religion.
b. a renewal of a strictly imposed code of religious discipline.
c. a new secular consciousness.
d. all of the above.
Q14. Like many Gothic cathedrals, the cathedral of Notre Dame at Chartres paid homage to
a. Jesus Christ.
b. the Virgin Mary.
c. Pierre Chartres.
d. Saint Denis.
Q15. Courtly literature arose out of what kinds of earlier literature?
a. classical and medieval epic
b. classical works on friendship and biblical works of mystical love
c. classical epic and Muslim religious and secular poetry
d. medieval vernacular fables, romances, and narrative poems
Q16. __________________ music is music sung or played in more than one part.
a. Diphonic
b. Monophonic
c. Mulitphonic
d. Polyphonic
Q17. Dante’s Divine Comedy is best described as a
a. tragedy.
b. spiritual epic.
c. comedy.
d. religious parody.
Q18. The plot of a medieval romance often hinges on a conflict between
a. human and divine love.
b. the knight’s loyalty to his lord and to his lady.
c. the Church and the secular ruler of the state.
d. the lady’s love for her husband and for her lover.
Q19. Writing in England at the end of the Middle Ages, Geoffrey Chaucer composed the narrative poem
a. The Canterbury Tales.
b. The Troubadour Songs.
c. the Divine Comedy.
d. The Salisbury Chronicles.
Q20. The law of Dante’s hell is the law of
a. the jungle.
b. the excluded middle.
c. inverse punishment.
d. symbolic retribution.
Q21. The importance of the Neolithic Revolution to human history lies in the
a. creation of stable food supplies, leading to population growth.
b. development of cities and the specialization of occupations.
c. flowering of art and literature.
d. establishment of a standing army, leading to warfare and the building of empires.
Q22. In the nineteenth century, Europeans considered Africans not “noble savages,” but “______________ savages.”
a. brave
b. evil
c. ignorant
d. primitive
Q23. Contact with Muslim merchants greatly influenced the ancient empire of Ghana with respect to
a. clothing styles.
b. food preparation.
c. marriage customs.
d. techniques of trade and administration.
Q24. African culture tends to view time in a way that stresses the importance of
a. the past. (circularity)
b. the present.
c. the future.
d. punctuality.
Q25. Which statement is the best general description of African societies prior to contact with Europeans?
a. The continent was politically, culturally, and ethnically unified.
b. The major economic system was based on trade with Asia via east Africa.
c. The continent was ethnically diverse and exhibited a wide range of political and economic systems.
d. The entire continent had an economy based on hunting and gathering, although it had a number of diverse political systems.
Q26. In Willem Bosman’s “New and Accurate Description of the Coast of Guinea,” the rulers of Guinea treated the poor
a. with a sense of humor.
b. harshly.
c. charitably.
d. with indifference.
Q27. The two forms of political organization characteristic of African societies have traditionally been identified as
a. stateless societies and state systems.
b. tribal democracies and monarchies.
c. matrilineal and patrilineal.
d. ritualistic and constitutional.
Q28. Between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, more ______________ came to the Americas than did people of other lands.
a. Africans
b. South Asians
c. Europeans
d. East Asians
Q29. The systematic exploration of Africa by Europeans began in the ______________ century.
a. tenth
b. fifteenth
c. seventeenth
d. nineteenth
Q30. In general, African artists valued
a. change rather than tradition.
b. recognition rather than money.
c. tradition rather than uniqueness.
d. women, rather than men.
Q31. African riddles familiarize children with
a. tribal history.
b. the wisdom and style of the elders.
c. hunting traditions.
d. the rules of etiquette.
Q32. The Yoruba reside primarily in southwestern Nigeria and
a. the Congo.
b. the republic of Benin.
c. the Ivory Coast.
d. Liberia.
Q33. Which ancient African language had a written tradition that has not yet been deciphered?
a. Swahili
b. Meroitic
c. Hausa
d. Ge?ez
Q34. A very important feature of African religions is belief in the spiritual vitality of the natural world, known as
a. voodoo.
b. animism.
c. transubstantiation.
d. teleology.
Q35. Hausa is a linguistic term describing the peoples of _______________ who speak Hausa as their first language.
a. South Africa
b. West Africa
c. East Africa
d. North Africa
Q36. In the epic Sundiata, Sogolon Djata crawls on all fours until at the age of seven he stands for the first time with the help of
a. baobab leaves.
b. an iron rod.
c. a bow.
d. a bolt of lightning.
Q37. Yoruba masqueraders, who sing “iwi” poems such as “Children,” serve as
a. fertility symbols.
b. links between the living and the dead.
c. love objects.
Q38. There are more than ______________ African languages, representing four major language families.
a. 100
b. 1,000
c. 2,500
d. 5,000
Q39. The religion of the Hausa of northern and southern Nigeria is
a. tribal.
b. Islam.
c. Christianity.
d. Judaism.
Q40. In the Darasa myth on the origin of death, humans choose death in exchange for
a. wealth.
b. free will.
c. fire.
d. reason.
