Chapter 3 Quiz
Version A
1. Which of the following represents an accurate comparison of the Qin and Han dynasties?:
a) Both the Qin and Han adopted Confucian ideology, but the Qin dynasty was legalist as well and the Han dynasty was not.
b) The Han leaders acknowledged the usefulness of education, while the Qin did not.
c) The Qin continued the process of unification begun by the Han.
d) Nomadic attacks directly contributed to the downfall of both dynasties.
2. Which of the following was NOT an accomplishment of the Chinese during the Qin dynasty?:
a) the standardization of Daoist religious practices
b) the standardization of script (writing)
c) the construction of an enormous tomb for the emperor
d) the building of many roads, bridges, and defensive walls
3. The Roman empire supported itself primarily through:
a) improving agricultural technology in the Italy
b) continually conquering new lands in the Mediterranean region and beyond
c) sustained, high taxes on the richest members of society
d) requiring all conquered lands to pay huge amounts of grain as taxes to the capital
4. Which of the following is NOT a similarity between Rome and Han China?:
a) Both were formed through military conquest and governed through political decentralization
b) Political and economic instability weakened their ability to defend their borders
c) Both standardized administrative structures and spread elements of their culture through their empires
d) Both were being regularly attacked by nomadic groups near the time of their fall
5. These people governed Rome and much of central Italy during some of Rome’s early monarchical period, and contributed much of their culture and military techniques to the Romans:
a) Greeks
b) Celts
c) Phoenicians
d) Etruscans
6. Of the following choices, Roman economic inequalities in the period 200 BCE-1 BCE were most exacerbated (made worse)by:
a) the growth of the latifundia
b) the increased number of gladiatorial games
c) the voting inequalities within the Republican system
d) the location of centers of trade in only the wealthy areas of town
7. Which of the following statements about centralization and decentralization is accurate?
a)while the Mauryan dynasty was decentralized, the Gupta dynasty was a highly centralized “theater state”
b)like the Mauryan dynasty, the Zhou dynasty was a decentralized or feudalistic dynasty
c)like the Mauryan dynasty, the Han dynasty was highly centralized
d)like the Qin dynasty, the Gupta dynasty was highly centralized but also short-lived lasting less than 20 years
8. Which of the following comparisons about Han China and Rome are accurate?
a)while Rome was highly decentralized, Han China was highly centralized
b)while Rome experienced destabilization due to its stratification, Han China did not
c)Rome and Han China both fell largely due to expenses related to maintaining the empire and pressures exerted by “barbarians” (pastoralist nomads)
d)Rome and Han China both fell largely due to civil wars based upon religious differences
9. Which of the following Persian kings created the system of twenty satrapies and built Persepolis?:
a) Darius
b) Xerxes
c) Cambyses
d) Cyrus
10. Persepolis:
a)was a ceremonial center built to project the Persian values of tolerance and inclusion
b)was a new incarnation of the city of Babylon, renamed after the Persians conquered it
c)was an important Greek city that revolted against the Persians, beginning the Persian Wars
d)was a major port of trade on the Arabian peninsula that facilitated trade in the Indian Ocean
11. Spartans needed to constantly maintain their army primarily in order to:
a) keep control over their slave population
b) defeat Minoan and Mycenaean aggressors
c) promote justice throughout Peloponnesus
d) defend all of the Greek city-states from Persia
12. Which of the following is the most correct statement about the Delian League?:
a)It was a group of Greek city-states in which all residents would swear primary allegiance to the god, Delos
b)It was a collection of peoples from different regions of Greece who sought to overthrow Spartan and Messenian rule
c)It was an aggressive alliance of city-states that repeatedly attacked Egypt and Mesopotamia, eventually evolving into the Athenian empire
d)It was the primary vehicle through which an Athenian Empire dominated their neighboring city states
13. Which of the following is the best example of syncretism?:
a) Ashoka, a 2nd century BCE Indian monarch, writing edicts in both Greek and Sanskrit
b) The conquest of Syria by Ramses II
c) The first smelting of iron by the Hittites
d) The Zoroastrian practice of only accepting members who are born into the faith
14. Different city-states developed in Greece because of:
a) a long standing tradition of independence
b) political infighting that led to one group becoming many separate city-states
c) geography, including mountains, (mostly, lack of) rivers and the sea
d) the evolution of different languages in different areas
15. Which of the following areas did Alexander conquer?:
a) Bactria, Russia, and Persia
b) Modern Pakistan (Indus Valley), Ionia and Italy
c) Greece, Modern Pakistan (Indus Valley), and Carthage
d) Egypt, Mesopotamia and Persia
16. In the ancient world, many peoples of Indo-European heritage tended to share which of the following characteristics?
a)A puritanical religion that inhibits any drinking or mind-altering substances
b)An occupationally-based class system
c)Use of Semitic languages
d)Monotheism
17. Assyrian artwork most heavily emphasized:
a)military prowess
b)beautiful cities
c)connection to ancient Sumer
d)trade of agricultural goods
18. Alexandria was a city famed for which of the following?
a)its tremendous military power
b)its fertile river and agriculture
c)its intellectual atmosphere and library
d)its willingness to allow female rulers
The following excerpt is from the Funeral Oration of Pericles. This speech was made by the Athenian leader Pericles at the beginning of his city’s thirty year war against Sparta. The speech is made to honor the soldiers who died fighting against the Spartans in the first year of the war. Read the excerpt then answer the questions which follow.
"Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves. Its administration favors the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if no social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition.
The freedom which we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life. There, far from exercising a jealous surveillance over each other, we do not feel called upon to be angry with our neighbor for doing what he likes, or even to indulge in those injurious looks which cannot fail to be offensive, although they inflict no positive penalty.”
19. In the second paragraph of this excerpt, Pericles seems to be
a)arguing for the need to increase government surveillance of citizens during wartime
b)continuing and expanding his assertion from paragraph one that Athens is a truly open society in which citizens are free to do as they please
c)arguing that Athens is a free society but not for slaves or women
d)limiting the claims he made in the first paragraph by acknowledging that democracy has weaknesses
20. The primary purpose of this speech appears to be
a)convincing the Athenians to consider a different system of government
b)convincing Athenians to be proud of their system of government
c)convincing Athenians to abandoned the war against Sparta
d)convincing Athenians to include slaves and women as citizens