Global History & Geography I: Early Societies to c. 1750 — Midterm exam worked answers
Student exam paperA course-authored written history assessment. Use two 60-minute blocks for the midterm, three for the final, and one for the optional sample. Marking and revision have a separate parent-plan session.
20 questions · 60 points · suggested 120 minutes
Student instructions
- Use supplied evidence and your timeline; notes and a glossary are permitted.
- Give short reasoned answers; distinguish observations from interpretations.
- Keep worked keys closed until after attempting the paper.
- Equivalent supported explanations and accessible response formats are accepted.
Historical inquiry methods
| Task | Method |
|---|---|
| Context | Identify period, place, institutions, and earlier conditions. |
| Source | Identify maker, date, purpose, form, and limits. |
| Causation | Explain a mechanism; chronology alone is not causation. |
| Comparison | Use stated criteria and comparable evidence. |
Coverage and marks
| Chapter | Questions | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Historical Inquiry & Early Societies | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | 15 |
| Ancient Cities, States & Citizenship | 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 | 15 |
| Belief Systems, Communities & Imperial Rule | 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 | 15 |
| Medieval Societies Across Regions | 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 | 15 |
Parent / teacher marking guide
- A person awards each of the three criteria separately.
- Accept different supported interpretations; exact model wording is unnecessary.
- Use feedback and revision to diagnose gaps. A score does not certify homeschool credit.
Question 1 · 3 points
An excavation finds no surviving writing. Does that establish that its people had no history?
Worked answer
No. Buildings, objects, oral traditions, environmental evidence, and other remains can document activities. Survival and preservation affect the record; absence of writing does not prove absence of knowledge.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 2 · 3 points
A museum label calls a mobile community primitive. What should replace that judgment?
Worked answer
Describe its specific technologies, resource knowledge, institutions, and evidence. Mobility is a strategy shaped by conditions; it does not measure a people’s intelligence or historical worth.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 3 · 3 points
A village grows grain and also fishes. Must it be classified as exclusively farming?
Worked answer
No. Subsistence strategies can be mixed. Compare the amounts, seasons, and evidence before assigning a single label; adopting cultivation need not eliminate other food sources.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 4 · 3 points
A law assigns different penalties to people of different legal status. Is it evidence of equality because it is written?
Worked answer
No. Writing makes a rule recordable; its content may differentiate treatment. Identify the statuses and penalties and distinguish a stated rule from its actual application.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 5 · 3 points
One elite tomb contains expensive goods. Can it show that every Egyptian household was wealthy?
Worked answer
No. The burial represents a selected person with resources. Compare settlement and household evidence and account for preservation before generalizing across the population.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 6 · 3 points
A seal is labeled with a translator’s confident invented royal name. What should a student check?
Worked answer
Check whether the script has an accepted decipherment and whether the reading has a reproducible evidentiary basis. A confident label cannot remove uncertainty in the underlying sign system.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 7 · 3 points
A textbook says all Han officials passed the same competitive examination. What needs correction?
Worked answer
Later examination institutions should not be projected uniformly onto Han selection. Recommendations, education, family resources, and patronage mattered, and institutions changed over time.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 8 · 3 points
A report calls a vote unanimous but omits eligibility. What should be checked?
Worked answer
Identify who could vote, who actually voted, and what unanimous means in the record. Agreement among eligible participants cannot establish agreement among every resident.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 9 · 3 points
A timeline says Rome ended everywhere in 476. What correction is needed?
Worked answer
The date marks a western imperial political transition. Eastern Roman government continued, and many local institutions and practices survived or changed. Specify region and institution instead of claiming universal disappearance.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 10 · 3 points
A textbook says a cultural golden age made every household equally prosperous. What evidence is missing?
Worked answer
Evidence about household resources, work, social status, access to learning, and regional variation is missing. Elite achievements are important but cannot establish equal conditions for all people.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 11 · 3 points
A student is asked to reveal their family religion to complete a comparison. Is that necessary?
Worked answer
No. The student can compare the supplied historical evidence without personal disclosure. Assessment should concern accurate description and reasoning, not religious identity or agreement.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 12 · 3 points
Two traditions use the word karma. Does that prove their beliefs are identical?
Worked answer
No. Compare each tradition’s explanation of action, consequences, liberation, and practice. Shared vocabulary can coexist with substantial doctrinal and institutional differences.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 13 · 3 points
An account blames every member of a present-day religion for an ancient official’s decision. What is wrong?
Worked answer
Responsibility should be assigned to documented actors and institutions in context. Shared religious identity does not establish participation, agreement, or inherited guilt across centuries.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 14 · 3 points
A trading port contains a mosque and non-Muslim institutions. Must one record be mistaken?
Worked answer
No. Religious institutions can coexist in a trading community. Establish dates and local practice rather than assuming one building proves uniform affiliation among every resident.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 15 · 3 points
A ruler permits two religions but restricts one community’s offices. How should the policy be described?
Worked answer
Describe permitted practice together with unequal access to office. Toleration and equality are distinct questions; specify the rule, community, period, and evidence of implementation.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 16 · 3 points
An account calls Byzantium merely a pause between Greece and modern Europe. What does it omit?
Worked answer
It omits centuries of Roman self-identification, changing administration, religious life, economic activity, diplomacy, and exchange. Study the society’s own institutions and chronology instead of treating it as a passive interval.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 17 · 3 points
A town has a university. Does that prove every resident had access to advanced education?
Worked answer
No. Institutional existence differs from access. Examine admissions, costs, language, gender, social status, and attendance before generalizing about the whole population.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 18 · 3 points
A map labels ancient Ghana with today’s Ghana borders. What should be corrected?
Worked answer
The historical state and modern country are not the same territorial entity. Use a dated historical map and present-day names only to help locate sites, with the distinction stated explicitly.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 19 · 3 points
A label calls every East African coastal town an Arab colony because some objects are imported. What is missing?
Worked answer
Local settlement, language, production, political authority, and the objects’ dates and routes are missing. Contact alone does not establish colonization or a uniform population identity.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.
Question 20 · 3 points
A textbook calls Japan unchanged for a thousand years. What evidence could test the claim?
Worked answer
Compare dated court, warrior-government, land, urban, religious, and trade institutions. Political and social arrangements changed; one label or iconic image cannot represent every period.
Identify the relevant context and evidence.
Explain the connection using the supplied information.
Qualify the conclusion with the relevant limitation or distinction.
Marking criteria
- Accurate context or identification.
- Evidence connected to an explained conclusion.
- A correct limitation, distinction, or qualification.