AP World History Exam Study Guide Question
and Answer 2023.
Civilization Correct Answer: An ambiguous term often used to denote more
complex societies but sometimes used by anthropologists to describe any group of
people sharing a set of cultural traits.
Foragers Correct Answer: People support themselves by hunting wild animals and
gathering wild edible plants and insects.
Cuneiform Correct Answer: A system of writing in which wedge-shaped symbols
represented words or syllables. It originated in Mesopotamia and was used initially
for Sumerian and Akkadian but later was adapted to represent other languages of
western Asia. Because so many symbols had to be learned, literacy was confined to
a relatively small group of administrators and scribes.
History Correct Answer: The study of past events and changes in the development,
transmission, and transformation of cultural practices.
City-state Correct Answer: A small independent state consisting of an urban center
and the surrounding agricultural territory. A characteristic political form in early
Mesopotamia, classical Greece, Phoenicia, and early Italy.
Culture
Correct Answer: Socially transmitted patterns of action and expression. Material
_____ refers to physical objects, such as dwellings, clothing, tools, and crafts.
_____ also includes arts, beliefs, knowledge, and technology.
Agricultural Revolution/Neolithic Revolution-When? Correct Answer: The change
from food gathering to food production that occurred between 8000 and 2000
,B.C.E., independently in various parts of the world. This also includes the
domestication of plants and animals.
Paleolithic Correct Answer: The period of the Stone Age associated with the
evolution of humans. It predates the Neolithic period.
Neolithic Correct Answer: The period of the Stone Age associated with the ancient
Agricultural Revolution (s). It follows the Paleolithic period.
Mohenjo-Darro Correct Answer: Largest of the cities of the Indus Valley
civilization. It was centrally located in the extensive floodplain of the Indus River
in contemporary Pakistan. Little is known about the political institutions of Indus
Valley communities, but the large scale of construction at Mohenjo-Daro, the
orderly grid for streets, and the standardization of building materials are evidence
of central planning.
Name the 4 river valleys where civilization began. Correct Answer: 1)
Mesopotamia, 2) Egypt, 3) Pakistan, 4) northern China
What are the characteristics of civilization? Correct Answer: 1) Cities that serve as
administrative centers, 2) a political system based on control of defined territory, 3)
specialization, 4) status based on wealth, 5) monumental buildings, 6) a writing
system, 7) long distance trade, and 8) major advancements in science and art.
Loess Correct Answer: A fine, light silt deposited by wind and water. It constitutes
the fertile soil of the Yellow River Valley in northern China. Because _____ soil is
not compacted, it can be worked with a simple digging stick, but it leaves the
region vulnerable to devastating earthquakes.
, Daoism Correct Answer: Chinese school of thought, originating in the Warring
States Period with Laozi. Daoism offered an alternative to the Confucian emphasis
on hierarchy and duty. Daoists believe that the world is always changing and is
devoid of absolute morality or meaning. They accept the world as they find it,
avoid futile struggles, and deviate as little as possible from the Dao, or "path" of
nature.
Legalism Correct Answer: An authoritarian political philosophy that came to be
called ____. These thinkers believe human nature is essentially wicked and that
people behave in an orderly fashion only if compelled by strict laws and harsh
punishments.
Confucius Correct Answer: Western name for the Chinese philosopher Konzi (551-
479 B.C.E.). His doctrine of duty and public service had a great influence on
subsequent Chinese thought and served as a code of conduct for government
officials.
Mandate of Heaven Correct Answer: Chinese religious and political ideology
developed by the Zhou, according to which it was the prerogative of Heaven, the
chief deity, to grant power to the rule of China and to take away that power if the
ruler failed to conduct himself justly and in the best interests of his subjects.
Shang Correct Answer: The dominant people in the earliest Chinese dynasty for
which we have written records (ca. 1750-1045 B.C.E.). Ancestor worship,
divination by means of oracle bones, and the use of bronze vessels for ritual
purposes were major elements of _____ culture.
Hittites Correct Answer: A people from central Anatolia who established an empire
in Anatolia and Syria in the late Bronze Age. With wealth from the trade in metals
and military power based on chariot forces, the _____ vied with New Kingdom
Egypt for control of Syria-Palestine before falling to unidentified attackers ca.
1200 B.C.E.
and Answer 2023.
Civilization Correct Answer: An ambiguous term often used to denote more
complex societies but sometimes used by anthropologists to describe any group of
people sharing a set of cultural traits.
Foragers Correct Answer: People support themselves by hunting wild animals and
gathering wild edible plants and insects.
Cuneiform Correct Answer: A system of writing in which wedge-shaped symbols
represented words or syllables. It originated in Mesopotamia and was used initially
for Sumerian and Akkadian but later was adapted to represent other languages of
western Asia. Because so many symbols had to be learned, literacy was confined to
a relatively small group of administrators and scribes.
History Correct Answer: The study of past events and changes in the development,
transmission, and transformation of cultural practices.
City-state Correct Answer: A small independent state consisting of an urban center
and the surrounding agricultural territory. A characteristic political form in early
Mesopotamia, classical Greece, Phoenicia, and early Italy.
Culture
Correct Answer: Socially transmitted patterns of action and expression. Material
_____ refers to physical objects, such as dwellings, clothing, tools, and crafts.
_____ also includes arts, beliefs, knowledge, and technology.
Agricultural Revolution/Neolithic Revolution-When? Correct Answer: The change
from food gathering to food production that occurred between 8000 and 2000
,B.C.E., independently in various parts of the world. This also includes the
domestication of plants and animals.
Paleolithic Correct Answer: The period of the Stone Age associated with the
evolution of humans. It predates the Neolithic period.
Neolithic Correct Answer: The period of the Stone Age associated with the ancient
Agricultural Revolution (s). It follows the Paleolithic period.
Mohenjo-Darro Correct Answer: Largest of the cities of the Indus Valley
civilization. It was centrally located in the extensive floodplain of the Indus River
in contemporary Pakistan. Little is known about the political institutions of Indus
Valley communities, but the large scale of construction at Mohenjo-Daro, the
orderly grid for streets, and the standardization of building materials are evidence
of central planning.
Name the 4 river valleys where civilization began. Correct Answer: 1)
Mesopotamia, 2) Egypt, 3) Pakistan, 4) northern China
What are the characteristics of civilization? Correct Answer: 1) Cities that serve as
administrative centers, 2) a political system based on control of defined territory, 3)
specialization, 4) status based on wealth, 5) monumental buildings, 6) a writing
system, 7) long distance trade, and 8) major advancements in science and art.
Loess Correct Answer: A fine, light silt deposited by wind and water. It constitutes
the fertile soil of the Yellow River Valley in northern China. Because _____ soil is
not compacted, it can be worked with a simple digging stick, but it leaves the
region vulnerable to devastating earthquakes.
, Daoism Correct Answer: Chinese school of thought, originating in the Warring
States Period with Laozi. Daoism offered an alternative to the Confucian emphasis
on hierarchy and duty. Daoists believe that the world is always changing and is
devoid of absolute morality or meaning. They accept the world as they find it,
avoid futile struggles, and deviate as little as possible from the Dao, or "path" of
nature.
Legalism Correct Answer: An authoritarian political philosophy that came to be
called ____. These thinkers believe human nature is essentially wicked and that
people behave in an orderly fashion only if compelled by strict laws and harsh
punishments.
Confucius Correct Answer: Western name for the Chinese philosopher Konzi (551-
479 B.C.E.). His doctrine of duty and public service had a great influence on
subsequent Chinese thought and served as a code of conduct for government
officials.
Mandate of Heaven Correct Answer: Chinese religious and political ideology
developed by the Zhou, according to which it was the prerogative of Heaven, the
chief deity, to grant power to the rule of China and to take away that power if the
ruler failed to conduct himself justly and in the best interests of his subjects.
Shang Correct Answer: The dominant people in the earliest Chinese dynasty for
which we have written records (ca. 1750-1045 B.C.E.). Ancestor worship,
divination by means of oracle bones, and the use of bronze vessels for ritual
purposes were major elements of _____ culture.
Hittites Correct Answer: A people from central Anatolia who established an empire
in Anatolia and Syria in the late Bronze Age. With wealth from the trade in metals
and military power based on chariot forces, the _____ vied with New Kingdom
Egypt for control of Syria-Palestine before falling to unidentified attackers ca.
1200 B.C.E.
