AP World History : Cultural History

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP World History

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Example Questions

Example Question #101 : Philosophies And Ideologies

Which of these statements about the Great Leap Forward is most accurate?

Possible Answers:

Agricultural production improved significantly and China experienced a massive population boost.

Industrial production improved dramatically and China became the largest economy in the world.

Industrial production improved significantly and China experienced massive economic growth.

Industrial production declined heavily and the Chinese economy suffered its worst depression in centuries.

Agricultural production declined and China experienced widespread famine.

Correct answer:

Agricultural production declined and China experienced widespread famine.

Explanation:

The Great Leap Forward was an economic policy of the Communist Party of China under the leadership of Mao Zedong. Although its primary goal was to increase industrial productivity, it ended up leading to a dramatic decline in agricultural production and one of the worst famines in human history.

Example Question #102 : Philosophies And Ideologies

The Red Guards were mobilized to __________ during __________.

Possible Answers:

violently suppress opposition, the Cultural Revolution

defend against Japanese invasion, World War Two

maintain peace, student protests in twenty-first century China

violently suppress opposition, the Chinese Civil War

defend against British and American influence, the nineteenth century

Correct answer:

violently suppress opposition, the Cultural Revolution

Explanation:

The Red Guards were mobilized by Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution to oppress anyone who opposed or disavowed Mao's ideology. The Red Guards were made up of Chinese youth who were directed towards the destruction of Chinese culture and traditions and the suppression of intellectuals and dissidents.

Example Question #103 : Philosophies And Ideologies

The Armenian Genocide was an indirect result of the rise of __________ in the Ottoman Empire.

Possible Answers:

imperialism

nationalism

capitalism

communism

fascism

Correct answer:

nationalism

Explanation:

The Armenian Genocide was an indirect result of the rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire had once been a multinational and prosperous empire which spanned southern Europe, North Africa, and much of the Middle East. Declining power and the growth of nationalism, however, led to the decline of the empire by World War One. The Armenian Genocide was carried out in conditions of heightened nationalism and tension between different ethnicities.

Example Question #251 : Cultural History

The main definitional difference between prehistory and history is ______________.

Possible Answers:

metal working

the availability of written records

monotheistic religions

organized religion

hereditary monarchies

Correct answer:

the availability of written records

Explanation:

Prehistory has no written primary sources. Information about prehistory is only possible from archaeology, whereas history allows us to read what certain members of historical communities wrote about their own lives. This gives us greater perspective on the human story and the evolution of human thought. Metal working, hereditary monarchical political systems, and organized religion, whether monotheistic or otherwise, are important aspects of history, but they are not sufficient to differentiating between history and prehistory.

Example Question #252 : Cultural History

The Indus River Valley civilization was proficient at proto-writing but not true literacy because they ___________________.

Possible Answers:

had no standardized spelling

could not represent abstract concepts beyond ownership

used logograms rather than phonographic letters

wrote only on clay, not paper

wrote only on "Oracle Bones" the bones of animals and tortoise shells

Correct answer:

could not represent abstract concepts beyond ownership

Explanation:

Indus River Valley inscriptions are unintelligible but linguists and historians are aware that they represent proto-writing, rather than literacy, because of the little to no variety in word and sentence structure. Indus River Proto-writing was used to represent ownership over land, houses, and other goods, but could not be used to describe anything else.

Many languages, such as Chinese, use logograms rather than phonographic letters.

The Sumerians had literacy yet wrote on clay tablets rather than paper.

Standardized spelling is a product of the printing press and the industrial revolution.

The ancient Chinese Shang dynasty had a full writing system yet all evidence of this is derived from Oracle Bones used in religious rituals.

Example Question #253 : Cultural History

The Great Pyramid of Giza was constructed so long ago that __________________.

Possible Answers:

Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt, lived closer to our time now than when the pyramids were built

to this day human beings are unable to construct such magnificent and massive structures

we have lost the names of the architects who designed them

they were built before human beings had actually settled along the Nile

we don't know why they were built

Correct answer:

Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt, lived closer to our time now than when the pyramids were built

Explanation:

The Great Pyramid of Giza was built in the 2500s B.C.E., whereas Cleopatra was born in 69 B.C.E.

In the 1990s, a hotel and casino company constructed the Luxor Las Vegas, a hotel and casino in the shape of the Egyptian pyramids.

Human history does record some of the architects of the pyramids, such as Imhotep.

Egyptologists are unequivocal in their belief that pyramids were constructed to be tombs.

Humans living along the Nile were the people who built the Pyramid.

Example Question #254 : Cultural History

In ancient Egypt, maces, unlike spears, swords, or bows, were associated with victory in combat, rather than combat itself, __________________.

Possible Answers:

because although maces might look scary, they were actually used to till soil

because most maces found in Egyptian tombs were made from the bones of dead enemies

because maces were purely ceremonial, and never used to commit violence

because maces are used as a writing instrument to draft law, rather than as a weapon

because maces were used primarily at the end of battles to kill prisoners

Correct answer:

because maces were used primarily at the end of battles to kill prisoners

Explanation:

In ancient Egypt, maces, unlike spears, swords, or bows, were associated with victory in combat, rather than combat itself, because maces were used primarily at the end of battles to kill prisoners.

Maces were symbols of power, the pharaohs of Egypt were often portrayed carrying the mace, but they also physical objects used to commit real violence.

Maces are not designed to till soil.

Maces were made from different materials, but never from human bone.

Maces were not used as writing implements. 

Example Question #255 : Cultural History

While Egyptians had been nomadic before agriculture, not living in permanent settlements, the earliest Egyptian villages contained houses constructed of __________________.

Possible Answers:

woven sticks covered in mud

large stone blocks

fine marble

baked mud bricks

cement

Correct answer:

woven sticks covered in mud

Explanation:

The earliest Egyptian settlements were small villages constructed of woven sticks covered in mud.

Within a few centuries, baked mud bricks were an available building material, but would've been inordinately expensive compared to the cheap woven stick and mud.

Large stone blocks were not used as a building material until centuries later.

Cement wasn't used as a building material that long ago.

Fine marble wasn't used in the first Egyptian settlements.

Example Question #256 : Cultural History

In Antiquity, projectile weapons, like arrows and javelins, were useful to military planners, but not often crucial to winning battles, because they ___________________.

Possible Answers:

had limited range

were considered dishonorable

were never fired from horseback

hadn't been invented yet

were fired with low velocity

Correct answer:

were fired with low velocity

Explanation:

In Antiquity, most armies and navies used projectile weapons, but they weren't often decisive in winning battles because low velocity meant low lethality.

Some ancient bows could be fired over many hundreds of feet.

Bows and javelins were standard for most armies, they were not considered dishonorable.

Some ancient armies did use cavalry archers, including the Parthians.

Bows have existed since before the advent of writing at around 3000 BCE, javelins much earlier than that.

Example Question #257 : Cultural History

Archaeological evidence points to metal first being used in Southeast Asia _________________.

Possible Answers:

in the last half of the first millennium BC

only after the French and British colonial powers brought the technology into the region

at the same time as in Greece, Rome, Egypt, the Middle East, and India

only in the modern era

before anywhere else

Correct answer:

in the last half of the first millennium BC

Explanation:

Metal was first used in Southeast Asia in the last half of the first millennium BC; later than many other places, most likely, because the geography inhibits trade, merchants, new techniques, and ideas penetrating the dense jungles of the area.

Greece, Rome, the Middle East, Egypt, and India all used metal before Southeast Asian civilizations, probably because although all disparate and thousands of miles away, they are on the same trade routes, whereas Southeast Asia was insulated by dense jungles.

Southeast Asia developed metallurgy after some other civilizations, but thousands of years before the modern era, and the invasion of British and French colonial powers.

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