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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is Russia's connection with the European Union?
(a) Russia is not being considered for admission to the European Union.
(b) Russia is likely to be accepted into the European Union.
(c) Russia was invited, but has refused to join, the European Union.
(d) Russia was once, but no longer is, part of the European Union.

2. Who became the leader of China after Mao died?
(a) Lin Sen.
(b) Deng Xiaoping.
(c) Hua Guofeng.
(d) Zhou Enlai.

3. What group provides al Qaeda with most of its soldiers?
(a) Conservative Muslim cleric-teachers.
(b) Disenchanted Afghan young people.
(c) Muslims who have lived in Western countries.
(d) Former students of the madrassas.

4. Why did many observers argue that Turkey should be allowed to join the European Union?
(a) Because Turkey will become an economic superpower in the next century.
(b) Because Turkey is geographically part of Europe and Asia.
(c) Because Europe's influence would discourage terrorist activity in Turkey.
(d) Because it would improve understanding between the Christian and Muslim worlds.

5. What was the USSR?
(a) The Asian version of the European Union.
(b) One of the world's two superpowers during the Cold War.
(c) The group that fought for Afghan independence during the 1980s.
(d) An exclave of Russia located along its northern border.

6. Why does de Blij feel that it is appropriate to end Why Geography Matters with a chapter on Africa?
(a) Because the world owes a debt to Africa from the time of the slave trade.
(b) Because sub-Saharan Africa has been so geographically isolated.
(c) Because African countries are becoming important economic powers.
(d) Because humanity first evolved in Africa.

7. How does de Blij characterize sub-Saharan Africa?
(a) As the world's politically corrupt region.
(b) As the world's most geographically challenged region.
(c) As the world's neediest region.
(d) As the world's most dangerous region.

8. How did the slave trade between 1700 and 1810 affect Africa?
(a) The social order collapsed because one sixth of the population was gone.
(b) African governments became much more corrupt.
(c) The slave trade brought Africa into the global economy.
(d) Europeans brought diseases to Africa that killed off even more people.

9. How long has the European unification movement been underway?
(a) Since the end of World War I.
(b) Since the break-up of the former Soviet Union.
(c) Since the U.S. initiated the Marshall Plan in 1948.
(d) Since the League of Nations was formed.

10. What was Russia like during the early years after the collapse of the Soviet Union?
(a) Chaotic.
(b) Unified.
(c) Peaceful.
(d) Orderly.

11. Why did the U.S. support the anti-Soviet rebels in Afghanistan?
(a) Because it did not want Afghanistan to become a Communist country.
(b) Because it supported the religious views of the Taliban.
(c) Because it was interested in drilling for oil in the Caspian Sea region.
(d) Because it hoped to set up a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.

12. According to de Blij, what is geographically contentious about Europe?
(a) Its offshore mineral rights.
(b) Its shared currency.
(c) Its eastern border.
(d) Its cultural rivalries.

13. What is Afghanistan like today?
(a) It lacks most modern amenities.
(b) It is a modern Islamic country.
(c) It has a thriving agriculturally-based economy.
(d) It has become a satellite of Communist Russia.

14. From which direction are terrorists most likely to enter the U.S., according to de Blij?
(a) The east.
(b) The west.
(c) The north.
(d) The south.

15. How far did the Muslim world once reach?
(a) From Saudia Arabia to Iran.
(b) From Palestine to India.
(c) From Turkey to Kazakhstan.
(d) From Spain to western China.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the world's largest country in terms of territory?

2. In which of the following countries are Muslims and Christians at war with each other?

3. How did China change after Mao's death?

4. What other country supported the mujahideen in Afghanistan?

5. What does de Blij say is the difference between terrorist acts committed by the Corsicans, the Basques, the Tamils, and the Chechens, and terrorist acts committed by al Qaeda?

(see the answer keys)

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