HIST 101 Quiz Questions for MC Midterm Portion

The Four Noble Truths of the Buddha included all the following EXCEPT _____.
A) All suffering is caused by desire.
B) The embrace of desire is the key to reaching a state of contentment.
C) Life is full of suffering.
D) The only way to rise above suffering is to renounce desire.

The Four Noble Truths of the Buddha included all the following EXCEPT _____.
A) All suffering is caused by desire.
B) The embrace of desire is the key to reaching a state of contentment.
C) Life is full of suffering.
D) The only way to rise above suffering is to renounce desire.

B) The embrace of desire is the key to reaching a state of contentment.

The most prominent characteristic that the Roman and Han empires shared was ____.
A) well-staffed imperial bureaucracy
B) monumental public buildings for games and entertainments
C) their lack of interest in incorporating new territories into their control
D) vast sizes in land and population

D) vast sizes in land and population

Which statement is TRUE about the Epic of Gilgamesh?
A) It tells the story of a simple Akkadian farmer.
B) It is largely derived from stories in the Hebrew Bible.
C) It relates the adventures of a lugal (king) of Uruk in ancient Sumer.
D) It tells us more about ancient Persian society than it does about ancient Sumer.

C) It relates the adventures of a lugal (king) of Uruk in ancient Sumer.

The following were related to the Mespotamian civilization EXCEPT____.
A) ziggurats
B) belief in rebirth
C) dividing a hour into 60 minutes and a minute into 60 seconds
D) invention of bronze making

B) belief in rebirth

Which statement is FALSE about Hammurabi?
A) He was an Akkadian king.
B) He was the first ruler, who promoted one god over other gods and luanched wars in the name of this primary god
C) His capital was at Babylon.
D) He created a new vision of empire as a union of people subject to his laws.

A) He was an Akkadian king.

Historians typically divide ancient Egyptian history into ________ to facilitate the discussion of Egyptian politics and culture.
A) intermediate eras
B) predynastic societies
C) pharaohs
D) kingdoms and periods

D) kingdoms and periods

Which comparison between Egypt and Mesopotamian civilizations is NOT true?
A) Both engaged in massive building projects.
B) Both were polytheistic.
C) Both enjoyed significant political and cultural interactions with each other.
D) Both developed their respective writing systems, which helped them expand their influence.

C) Both enjoyed significant political and cultural interactions with each other.

Which is FALSE about ancient Egypt?
A) The Egyptian architect Imhotep developed the first step pyramid.
B) Egyptians invented the lunar calendar.
C) The Pyramid of Khafre was the second largest stone structure which enjoyed the protective presence of Sphinx.
D. Pharaohs' task was to control nature and protect his people from invaders.

B) Egyptians invented the lunar calendar.

Which statement is TRUE about the syllabus?
A) It is a missed exam, not a missed quiz, that requires valid evidence/proof for a make-up.
B) Over the semester, you are allowed four unexcused absences without worrying about academic penalty.
C) There are altogether seven quizzes for this course, each of which is available for you to take between noon and 11:59pm on the assigned date.
D) Four unexcused late arrivals after the class starts five minutes are counted as one unexcused absence.

C) There are altogether seven quizzes for this course, each of which is available for you to take between noon and 11:59pm on the assigned date.

What was the Phoenicians' most important contribution to the Western world ?
A. Dye
B. shipbuilding
C. Alphabet
D. Commerce

C. Alphabet

The penalties in Hammurabi's Law Code ____.
A. were equal for all
B. only applied to slaves
C. were different depending on the class of an individual
D. were different depending on the age of the individual

C. were different depending on the class of an individual

Much of what we know about the Philistines comes from the ____?
A) Persians
B) Greeks
C) Hebrews
D) Egyptians

C) Hebrews

Which of the following statements about the Hebrews is FALSE?
A. The Hebrews originated in Mesopotamia.
B. The Hebrew Babylonian Captivity refers to a time when the Persian king Cyrus captured Jerusalem, deported a lot of Jews there to Babylon and held them in captivity.
C. The Hebrew religion is Judaism and its Bible is called Tanakh.
D. Both Christianity and Islam evolved out of Judaism.

B. The Hebrew Babylonian Captivity refers to a time when the Persian king Cyrus captured Jerusalem, deported a lot of Jews there to Babylon and held them in captivity.

The Philistines were believed to have a close affinty with ____.
A) The Mycenaeans
B) The Hebrews
C) The Phoenicians
D) The Minoans

A) The Mycenaeans

Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A) The neo-Assyrian empire brought an end to both the state of Isreal and the state of Juda.
B) The Hebrews originated in Europe and then migrated to the Middle East.
C) It was Chaldeans who brought down the Persian empire.
D) The Greeks called the Phoenicians "purple people" because of the purple dye they made from shellfish.

D) The Greeks called the Phoenicians "purple people" because of the purple dye they made from shellfish.

Which following people were the first to venture from the Mediterranean sea to the Atlantic ocean?
A) The Minoans
B) The Mycenaeans
C) The Phoenicians
D) The Philistines

C) The Phoenicians

The Minoans
A) were warrior people who conquered most of the eastern Mediterranean.
B) wrote tablets in Linear A, which cannot be deciphered.
C) remained isolated economically from the rest of the ancient world.
D) fortified their palaces as a protection from outside attacks.

B) wrote tablets in Linear A, which cannot be deciphered.

What was the first advanced civilization that developed in mainland Greece? And what was the earliest civilization in Europe?
A. Minoan culture; Mycenaean culture
B. Mycenaean culture; Minoan culture
C. Mycenaean culture; Hellenistic culture
D. Minoan culture; Culture of Cyprus

B. Mycenaean culture; Minoan culture

Which statement is TRUE about Hebrew leaders?
A) King David is regarded as the first ruler of the united Hebrew kingdom.
B) Both King David and King Solomn were benevolent rulers and didn't impose heavy taxations on their subjects.
C) The first five books of the Tanakh are called Torah, usually attributed to Moses.
D) Moses was the first Hebrew to whom God revealed himself.

C) The first five books of the Tanakh are called Torah, usually attributed to Moses.

The followers of Zoroastrianism believed in ____.
A. polytheism, animal sacrifice, and magical rituals.
B. a god of light (a good god) who constantly battled a god of darkness (an evil good)
C. public cult worship sponsored by the Persian government.

D. individual guardian angels who protect believers and punish wrongdoers.

B. a god of light (a good god) who constantly battled a god of darkness (an evil good)

Hellenistic culture included all of the following EXCEPT____.
A) philosophical thinking
B) a theater
C) a prohibition on public games of all sorts
D) Koine Greek that became the international language of its day.

C) a prohibition on public games of all sorts

The most important cultural center in the Hellenistic world was ____ ; the complex, busy, and cosmopolitan life of the Hellenistic world led to the popularization of ____.
A) Athens; novel
B) Alexandria; pastoral verse
C) Jerusalem; epic
D) Rome; pastoral verse

B) Alexandria; pastoral verse

Which of the following statements is TRUE about Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle?
A) Plato is the author of the book The Republic and he put forward the Gold Mean theory.
B) Aristotle is Socrates' student, and tutor of Alexander the Great.
C) Socrates' teaching method was featured by dialogue; while Aristotle's was lecturing.
D) Socrates founded the Academy where Plato studied.

C) Socrates' teaching method was featured by dialogue; while Aristotle's was lecturing.

Stoicism and Epicureanism shared the following EXCEPT ____.
A) concern for the welfare of the individual
B) a firm root in the material world
C) response to the new cosmopolitan age by promoting universal values
D) fulfilment of one's social/public obligations

D) fulfilment of one's social/public obligations

What is FALSE about Alexander the Great?
A) Alexander the Great is said to have taken two books with him on his conquest of Persia; one was Homer's Iliad and the other was Xenophon's Anabasis.
B) After his death, he was eventually buried in Macedonia.
C) He emulated Cyrus the Great in his policy of offering mercy to cities that surrendered to him but dealing mercilessly with those that resisted him.
D) In Egypt, he was welcomed as a liberator and named a pharaoh.

B) After his death, he was eventually buried in Macedonia.

Between which two sides did the Peloponnesian War break out?
A) Athens vs. the Persian empire
B) allied Greek city states vs. the Roman empire
C) Sparta vs. Macedon
D) the Athens-led league vs. the Sparta-led league

D) the Athens-led league vs. the Sparta-led league

Which of the following statements is FALSE about Sparta?
A) The Spartans rejected commerce and trade because they thought those activities distracted them from military training.
B) In Sparta, the Spartans were much outnumbered by the Helots (the state slaves).
C) The Spartans were innovative in military training and agricultural production.
D) Sparta had a system of dual kingship.

C) The Spartans were innovative in military training and agricultural production.

Which statement is FALSE about neo-Assrians, Persians, and the Greeks?
A) The two fundamental tenets of Neo-Assyrian political and military ideology were launching wars and exacting tribute throught wars.
B) An official who administered a province in the Persian Empire was called a satrap.
C) Archimedes was the first person to put forward the heliocentric theory that the earth and planets revolve around the sun.
D) The Greeks became literate again during the ninth century b.c.e. by adopting the Phoenician alphabet.

C) Archimedes was the first person to put forward the heliocentric theory that the earth and planets revolve around the sun.

Which of the following statements is FALSE about Herotodus?
A) He was upheld as the father of history.
B) He wrote the book The Histories, which focuses on the Persian War.
C) He travelled widely and gathered evidence from diverse sources in order to present his narrative in a more objective way.
D) He emphasized the divine intervention as a driving force of human society's historial development.

D) He emphasized the divine intervention as a driving force of human society's historial development.

Under Constantine, Christianity ____.
A) was made illegal and adherents were punished.
B) formally divided from Judaism
C) became one of many tolerated religions in the Empire.
D) became less focused in its teaching

C) became one of many tolerated religions in the Empire.

Which of the following statements is FALSE about the Roman and Han empires?
A) Both worshiped ancestors and promoted trade.
B) It was the Silk Road that brought them together.
C) The Roman empire was superior to Han China in terms of sea lanes and water transportation.
D) Both had cheese and salad as their food staples.

D) Both had cheese and salad as their food staples.

Pax Romana refers to the ____.
A. long period in which there were no major wars within the Roman Empire.
B. efficient Roman post office and package transport services.
C. peace brought to the Roman Empire with the coming of Christianity.
D. ironic "peace of the dead" secured by Roman massacres of Britons and Jews.

A. long period in which there were no major wars within the Roman Empire.

The following commodities traded through the Silk Road came from the Mediterranean region EXCEPT ____.
A) grape wine
B) indigo
C) olive oil
D) glassware

B) indigo

Julius Caesar did the folllowing EXCEPT ____.
A) revising the Roman calendar
B) adding such territories encompassing today's France, Belgium, and western Germany to the Roman empire
C) suppressing the slave rebellion headed by Spartacus
D) winning out in the first triumvirate

C) suppressing the slave rebellion headed by Spartacus

Who defined the church-state relationship by holding that the ruler of a state should be subject to the moral authority of the church? Who put forward the doctrine of original sin, which exerted a great influence on Christianity?
A) Ambrose; Augustine
B) Jerome; Ambrose
C) Ambrose; Jerome
D) Augustine; Ambrose

A) Ambrose; Augustine

Which of the following statements is TRUE about Rome?
A) The Punic War broke out between Rome and Greek Allies.
B) Mos maiorum, central to the Roman identity, means the absolute power a father held over family members.
C) The Roman republic was headed by two tribunes elected by all citizens.
D) Octavian was the first emperor of the Roman empire, although he adopted the title "Augustus" rather than "emperor."

D) Octavian was the first emperor of the Roman empire, although he adopted the title "Augustus" rather than "emperor."

Buddhism and Christianity share the following EXCEPT ____.
A) Both have scriptures for their followers and places for their worship.
B) Both have branches.
C) Both believe in original sin.
D) Both originated in Asia.

C) Both believe in original sin.