Practice Test 9 - AP World History

20 questions. Answer them in any order, then submit to see your score and every explanation.

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1. Beginning in the 1970s and accelerating after 1990, some Indigenous communities in Latin America mobilized against large-scale mining and oil projects financed by foreign investment and linked to global commodity demand. Leaders argued that concessions granted by national governments threatened communal land, water, and cultural survival. They pursued court cases, road blockades, and international advocacy networks. Which of the following best situates these actions within resistance to globalization after 1900?
2. In the Pacific, the United States chose an island-hopping strategy: seizing selected islands to build airfields and naval bases while bypassing heavily fortified positions. This approach depended on aircraft carriers, amphibious assaults, and logistics across vast distances. Japan initially expanded rapidly but struggled to replace ships, pilots, and fuel supplies as the war continued. Which factor most directly explains why island-hopping proved effective against Japan by 1944–1945?
3. A French Enlightenment critic argues in the eighteenth century that religious intolerance weakens states by provoking unrest, while another writer insists that a single established church is necessary for obedience. European monarchs respond differently, some tolerating minorities and others enforcing uniformity. Which statement best captures the broader imperial/state issue at stake?
4. In the nineteenth century, industrialization helped spread mass literacy and print culture through cheaper paper, mechanized presses, and expanding school systems in some states. Newspapers and novels circulated widely, and reformers used pamphlets to mobilize publics. Yet censorship persisted in many empires, and access to education remained unequal by class, gender, and region. Which choice best captures a continuity and change in information and education during the Industrial Age?
5. After 1900, environmental reforms emerged as industrial pollution and resource extraction intensified; activists and governments created protected areas and regulations to conserve ecosystems. Which development best reflects this reform response?
6. In the fifteenth century, Iberian mariners increasingly used the magnetic compass, improved cartography, and the lateen sail to travel farther from coastlines and return reliably against prevailing winds. These technologies, combined with state sponsorship, reshaped Afro-Eurasian connections. Which outcome most directly resulted from these navigational innovations?
7. In the 1980s, U.S. President Ronald Reagan increased defense spending and advocated the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), proposing missile-defense technologies. Critics argued it could destabilize deterrence, while supporters claimed it would pressure the USSR economically. Which rationale best explains how SDI was intended to affect the Cold War balance?
8. In the 1500s–1800s, the Asante Empire expanded in West Africa by controlling gold production, creating a centralized bureaucracy, using a standing army, and integrating conquered peoples through tribute and political offices linked to the Asantehene. Which feature most clearly indicates increased centralization?
9. In the 1500s and 1600s, the Columbian Exchange brought new staple crops such as maize and cassava to parts of Africa and Asia. These crops often produced higher yields in poor soils and supported population growth, but expanded cultivation also encouraged clearing new lands and reducing forest cover in some regions. Which statement best captures an environmental consequence of this change?
10. Between 1450 and 1750, the Ottoman Empire and the Mughal Empire were land-based "gunpowder empires" that expanded across diverse religious and linguistic regions. Both relied on cavalry and firearms, collected agrarian taxes, and governed through layered elites. Yet Ottoman sultans ruled from a long-standing Islamic caliphate tradition and controlled key Mediterranean trade routes, while Mughal emperors governed a majority Hindu population in South Asia and often relied on alliances with regional warrior aristocracies. Which comparison best explains a key similarity in how both empires maintained control?
11. During the early Industrial Revolution in Britain, factory owners adopted mechanized spinning and weaving, while Parliament supported enclosure and protected private property. Wages for urban workers remained low, and many families depended on factory employment, including women and children, to survive. Which factor most directly contributed to Britain's ability to industrialize earlier than most regions?
12. In the late nineteenth century, European missionaries in parts of Africa and the Pacific established schools and churches, sometimes condemning local religious practices. Converts occasionally gained literacy and new social networks, but missionary activity also disrupted existing authority structures. Which of the following best explains a major effect of missionary activity on colonized societies?
13. In the 1830s, a British parliamentary debate cites testimony that factory children are beaten for slowing down, work nights during peak demand, and suffer injuries from unguarded machines. Opponents of regulation warn that limits on hours will reduce competitiveness and increase prices. Which policy most directly reflects the reformers' goals?
14. Some interwar governments used currency controls and bilateral trade agreements, setting quotas and negotiating direct exchanges of goods rather than relying on open markets. Which condition most directly encouraged the spread of these arrangements in the 1930s?
15. Why did the lightly armed Dutch fluyt haul more cargo per crew member than rival ships?
16. In the decades after 1870, Japan's Meiji leaders built a conscript army, modernized industry, and sought to revise unequal treaties imposed by Western powers. Japanese officials also pursued overseas expansion, defeating China in 1894–1895 and Russia in 1904–1905, then establishing influence in Korea and Manchuria. Which of the following best explains the most important cause of Japan's imperial expansion in this period?​
17. In the 1950s and 1960s, leaders from newly independent states argued that global trade and finance favored industrialized countries. They promoted a "New International Economic Order," seeking fairer commodity prices, technology transfers, and greater control over multinational corporations. Which of the following best describes the motivation behind these proposals?
18. The Byzantine Empire maintains a professional bureaucracy in Constantinople, uses imperial law codes, and relies on themata (military districts) where soldiers receive land in exchange for defense duties. Which of the following best describes the administrative challenge the themata system was designed to address?
19. In West Africa (c. 1300–1600), gold exports linked Mali and later Songhai to Mediterranean and Islamic markets, with rulers taxing trade through cities like Timbuktu. In the Andes under Spanish rule, silver mining at Potosí relied on coerced labor drafts and flowed into global markets. Which comparison best explains a difference in how states extracted wealth from exchange-related resources?
20. In the 1990s–2000s, manufacturing supply chains increasingly spread across borders: design might occur in the United States, components produced in East Asia, assembly in Mexico or China, and sales worldwide. Firms sought low labor costs, reliable shipping, and favorable trade rules. Which concept best describes this shift in global economic development?

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