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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many of the original fourteen large domesticated mammals became widespread across the globe?

2. What slows the spread of domesticated plants?

3. What was one of the biggest population shifts of all time?

4. Which large mammal was found in Australia about the time humans arrived?

5. Which of the following is not one of the fourteen large mammals that have been used in agriculture or war?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Diamond's objective in studying the societies of Polynesia?

2. How are seeds dispersed?

3. Why does Diamond think inventions occur?

4. What are the three basic strategies for writing systems?

5. Fourteen species of large mammals were domesticated. Why weren't other species?

6. What made the spread of Austronesian culture possible?

7. What does Diamond argue determined when a group would adopt food production?

8. Where did writing develop and what was it like?

9. What misconceptions exist about the transition from hunter-gatherers to food producers?

10. How do historical sciences differ from non-historical sciences?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why is the axis of a continent important? Use one continent to show how its axis is either an advantage or a disadvantage.

Essay Topic 2

Why were Europeans able to conquer many of the groups in the Americas? Give specific examples of the advantages that the Europeans had and address why they had these advantages.

Essay Topic 3

Why does Diamond use the Polynesian Islands as a test of his theory? What conclusions does Diamond get from his examination of these societies?

(see the answer keys)

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