Social Studies Common Semester Exam

Name Mrs. Alls

  1. The ideas, languages, religion, and customs of a place describe their cultural features.
  2. Name the 5 themes of geography? Location, Place, Region, Movement, and Human Environment Interaction
  3. Studying the consequences of Human/Environment Interaction
  4. helps people describe their community
  5. helps people plan and manage the environment responsibly
  6. helps people determine the ways that their community is unique
  7. helps people compare their community to other communities
  1. The picture to the below is an example of a hemisphere.
  1. When would relative location be most beneficial to use?

Giving directions to a friend

Herodotus said, “The Nile, when it floods, spreads over not only the Delta but parts of what are called Libya and Assyria for two days’ journey in either direction, more or less…..”

  1. Which statement below is based on the information above?
  2. The flooding of the Nile could extend far from the river banks
  3. Herodotus was a famous Egyptian
  4. Egypt developed irrigation systems that were based in the Nile River
  5. Dams were an important part of Egyptian water management
  1. Building a dam to assist with irrigation is an example of Human Environment Interaction
  2. Under the Greek definition of “citizen”, who qualified for citizenship? free native born men who owned land
  1. Many factors shaped the lives of ancient Greeks. Which of the following is an example of how a geographic factor affected them?

a. They got milk and cheese from goats.

b. They lived in isolated villages.

c. They formed a democratic government.

d. They bartered with people from other cultures.

  1. The Age of Pericles was known as a period of creativity and learning.
  1. A key geographic advantage of the river valley was its fertile land.

12. What type of government does the following list describe?

*There is one ruler.

*The ruler usually inherited power.

*The ruler passed on leadership to his son.

monarchy

13. The following passage might have been written by an Athenian soldier around 480

B.C.: “I will stand shoulder to shoulder with the brave men of Greece – Spartans as well as fellow Athenians – and fight to the death, if that is what it takes to stop these murderous invaders (Persians).”

What does this passage tell us?

The Athenians and Spartans would join together to fight a common enemy.

14. Ancient Greeks

*raised sheep rather than cattle

*grew olive trees rather than wheat

*lived in isolated communities rather than in a united country

What factor accounts for the qualities of Greek life listed above?

Greece is mostly mountainous.

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Comparing Governments

Athenian Democracy / American Democracy
Type of Democracy / Direct / Representative
Right To Vote / Only adult males born in Athens / All citizens, male and female
age 18 or over
Laws / Proposed by the council and
approved by a majority in the
assembly. / Approved by both houses of
Congress and signed by the
president.
Citizen Involvement / Citizens with voting rights can
vote for or against any law. / Citizens with voting rights can
vote for or against the officials
who make the laws.

15. Athenians lived in crowded, dirty neighborhoods, while the city was known for its

beautiful buildings. Based on this information, what can you conclude about Athenians’ values?

Athenians believed the city’s public life was more important than their private lives.

16. What is an example of monotheism? Judaism

17. What language did the Israelites speak? Hebrew

18. Why was the Phoenician alphabet so important? It influenced many alphabets to

come in the future.

19. Why did King David want to build a temple in Jerusalem? He wanted a permanent

place for their sacred religious items.

20. Why did Judas Maccabeus lead the Maccabees in defeat of Antiochus and the

Greeks?  He wanted to cleanse the temple of Greek gods and goddesses.

21. Why were boys much more important in Jewish families than the girls? They carried

on the family name.

22. What was the most significant difference between Judaism and other ancient

religions? The Jews believed in one God.

23. The Sumerian writing system was called cuneiform.

24. Why did people live in larger communities during the Neolithic Age than in earlier

times? They could grow enough food to support more people.

25. Mesopotamia’s climate was hot and dry.

26. What was not the result of people developing specialized skills?

a. improving the quality of what they made

b. making things beautiful rather than making this useful

c. moving more often in search of food

d. trading with other people for different things

27. What key geographical advantage did the ancient river valleys have? Fertile land

28. What is modern day Mesopotamia? Iraq

29. The monotheistic beliefs of Abraham became the foundation of what religion?

Judaism

30. Written laws such as the Ten Commandments and the Code of Hammurabi are both

what types of sources? primary

31. What is the written math symbol of the Indus River Valley that still plays a vital role

in our society today? zero

32. What do the Chinese call the Haung He River because it drowned people and

destroyed homes? Yellow River

33. River valleys provided rich soil for crops as well as protection from invaders.