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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. Harari states that money is based on what two universal principles?
(a) Trust and sovereignty.
(b) Convertibility and trust.
(c) Negotiability and convertibility.
(d) Sovereignty and intrinsic value.

2. What does Harari NOT list among the "premodern traditions of knowledge" he discusses?
(a) Confucianism.
(b) Scientology.
(c) Christianity.
(d) Buddhism.

3. Around what year did the first money appear in the world?
(a) 4000 BC.
(b) 2000 BC.
(c) 500 AD.
(d) 3000 BC.

4. What causes a particular science to be designated as an exact science?
(a) Its focus on biology.
(b) Its focus on the laws of physics.
(c) Its body of proofs and laws.
(d) Its use of mathematical tools.

5. The Aztec Empire at its pinnacle was much smaller than what modern-day nation?
(a) Greece.
(b) New Zealand.
(c) Peru.
(d) Mexico.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what year was The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy published?

2. In the year 1500, there were about how many Homo sapiens in the world?

3. When stating that "modern science differs from all previous traditions of knowledge in three major ways" (250), Harari states that one quality of modern science is its acquisition of what?

4. The people of what country invented gunpowder?

5. Most scholars of culture have concluded that every culture's "typical beliefs, norms, and values" (163) are what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the author's view of the existence of an authentic, pure, and untouched culture?

2. What evidence does Harari provide for his assertion that "the practices of empire-builders were entangled with those of scientists"? (296)

3. What does Harari say is the key to understanding a particular culture?

4. After Harari describes the rise of Europe as a locus of power in the world, what caveat does he make?

5. Discuss Harari's treatment of the phenomenon of imperialism.

6. How does Yuval Noah Harari define culture and what does he assert about its mutability?

7. How does Harari link the state of the modern economy to his view that quality of life is not guaranteed or predetermined to improve as time passes?

8. What is the definition of the term "memetics" (242) and how do most scholars in the humanities feel about it?

9. What does Harari see as the significance of the First Millennium BC?

10. What connections does Harari draw among capitalism, modern science, and the emergence of European imperialism?

(see the answer keys)

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