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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. What is true about hunting and gathering societies?

2. The arrival of founder crops enabled local populations to become what?

3. What weapons did the Spanish have in their encounter with the Incas?

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

5. How do archeologists date food production?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the ability to use domesticated plants and animals differentiate the Polynesian societies?

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

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

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

5. Why is the axis of a continent important?

6. How did leaders of kleptocracies gain support for their systems?

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

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

9. How is the production of food related to the advantages of guns, germs, and steel?

10. Why did Australia not develop writing or complex societies as early as other groups, according to Diamond?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

What does Diamond believe led to the unequal distribution of wealth and power in the world? Do you agree or disagree with his explanation? Do you think that he is missing any aspects?

Essay Topic 3

How do civilizations and denser populations lead to epidemics? What are epidemics? What effects do they have on societies?

(see the answer keys)

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