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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why was literacy important for the Spanish?
(a) They were able to read the King's demands.
(b) It gave them more knowledge about the situation.
(c) It increased their faith in God.
(d) It allowed them to sail to the Americas.

2. The arrival of founder crops enabled local populations to become what?
(a) Nomadic
(b) Sedentary
(c) Obese
(d) Rich

3. The arrival of humans on many of the continents coincided with what?
(a) The development of ocean going crafts
(b) The development of stone tools
(c) The mass extinction of large mammals
(d) The disappearance of human ancestors

4. Strawberries are adapted to have seeds spread by what animals?
(a) Birds
(b) Crocodiles
(c) Horses
(d) Cats

5. Which large mammal was found in Australia about the time humans arrived?
(a) Lions
(b) Wholly mammoth
(c) Giant kangaroo
(d) Saber tooth tigers

Short Answer Questions

1. What crop was domesticated in Ethiopia before spreading around the globe?

2. Why did it take people longer to cultivate fruit tress?

3. What infectious disease played a role in the European conquest of the Americas?

4. Wild almonds are what?

5. Who killed and enslaved the Moriori in the Chatham Islands?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the four different types of societies that Diamond discusses?

2. How did humans choose which plants to begin domesticating?

3. How is climate used as an explanation for the uneven distribution of wealth and power?

4. Why do some scholars argue that Europeans expanded and conquered others but China did not?

5. Why does Diamond argue that wealth and power are distributed unevenly across the globe?

6. What happened in the encounter between the Incas and the Spanish?

7. What is one new piece of information that has come to light since Diamond's work was first published?

8. Why did infectious diseases give some groups an advantage over others?

9. Why does an early colonization date not ensure a head start, according to Diamond?

10. What is surprising about where food production developed early?

(see the answer keys)

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