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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. The idea that there is a sharp divide between nomadic hunter-gatherers and sedentary food producers is what?

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

3. Plants like olives, figs and dates were domesticated around what time?

4. Where did the Maori live?

5. Why were early crops chosen by farmers?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is the axis of a continent important?

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

3. Why does Diamond believe that China was once more diverse than it is now?

4. What advantages did the Fertile Crescent have in domesticating plants?

5. Why was writing an advantage to the groups that had it?

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

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

8. Why does Diamond believe that a shift in climate is not the best explanation for the mass extinctions of animals?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How did food production affect societies? What advantages did societies that had food production gain over societies that didn't?

Essay Topic 2

What effect does population growth have on societies? What advantages did societies gain as their population grew?

Essay Topic 3

Choose one society on which to focus. Does this society have an advantage over others in terms of guns, germs, and steel? Explain why the society either had an advantage or why it was disadvantaged in relation to other groups.

(see the answer keys)

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