Sample Questions: Western Civilization I: Ancient Near East to 1648

The following Western Civilization I sample questions aren't used in actual CLEP exams and aren’t presented here as they will be on the test. Use them to get a sense of question format and difficulty level.

Directions

Each of the questions or incomplete statements below is followed by five suggested answers or completions. Select the one that is best in each case.

Questions

1. Which of the following were Phoenician cities or colonies?
   1. Alexandria and Cairo
   2. Tyre and Carthage
   3. Corinth and Chersonesos
   4. Messina and Rhegium
   5. Syracuse and Naples
2. Which of the following best describes a significant difference between Classical Greece and Achaemenid Persia?
   1. Persian society was Islamic, whereas Greek society was polytheistic.
   2. Persian society was entirely nomadic, whereas Greek society relied on agriculture.
   3. Persia was governed by an absolute monarchy, whereas the Greek city-states allowed popular political participation.
   4. Slavery was pervasive in Persian society, whereas slavery was outlawed in most Greek city-states.
   5. Persian culture developed with little influence from outside its borders, whereas Greek culture was heavily influenced by the Romans.
3. Which of the following best describes a political continuity between Rome during the monarchy and Rome during the Republican period?
   1. The Senate continued to be an important government body.
   2. Plebeians continued to hold all of the offices of tribune.
   3. Two consuls continued to hold the power of imperium.
   4. Praetors continued to serve as governors in conquered provinces.
   5. The Twelve Tables continued to serve as the most important legal codex.
4. Which of the following best explains a change in Greek religious practice during the Hellenistic period?
   1. As Greeks became more familiar with Persian culture, many became Zoroastrians.
   2. Greeks increasingly incorporated foreign cults such as those of Isis and Serapis into their traditional belief system.
   3. Buddhist and Hindu practices spread rapidly across the Mediterranean because of the missionary activities of Greek settlers from India.
   4. Greeks increasingly adopted monotheistic religious beliefs, such as those of the ancient Israelites.
   5. As Roman and Carthaginian power grew, Greeks incorporated Roman and Phoenician religious beliefs while abandoning the traditional Greek pantheon.
5. Which of the following best describes the Roman Principate?
   1. It was a period of dictatorship established by Julius Caesar following his defeat of Pompey.
   2. It was a political arrangement through which Marc Antony and Cleopatra planned to rule Egypt.
   3. It was a system of government established by Sulla in Italy following the Social War that granted Rome’s Italian allies limited autonomy.
   4. It was a period of imperial government begun under Augustus that retained many Republican features and institutions of government.
   5. It was a buffer state created by Marcus Aurelius to protect the empire from Germanic invasions.

Questions 6–8 refer to the passage below.

“This is a charter of favor and protection that I, Jaume by the grace of God king of Aragon, make to six Muslim communities in the region of Valencia following their surrender to my forces.

The Muslims may keep their homes and possessions in all their districts with all of their income and profits and all their farms and plantings.

Christians are not to be sent to settle in Muslim districts without the Muslims’ permission, and Muslims may travel throughout their districts without Christian interference.

Christians may not forbid preaching in the mosques or the conduct of prayer on Fridays. Indeed, Muslims may practice their own religion and teach students the Qur’an and the Hadith.

Muslims may bring their legal cases to their qadi [judge], who will judge according to Islamic law.”

Surrender agreement negotiated between Jaume I of Aragón and various Muslim communities, Spain, 1242 C.E.

6. Which of the following developments in the early thirteenth century most directly contributed to the creation of the surrender agreement?
   1. The Christian defeat of the Ottomans at the Battle of Lepanto
   2. The Christian defeat of the Almohads at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
   3. The defeat of Umayyad armies by the Frankish lord Charles Martel
   4. The Crusader conquest of Jerusalem from the Fatimids
   5. The Mongols’ destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate
7. The passage most directly illustrates which of the following features of Christian conquest in the Iberian Peninsula between the late eleventh and early fourteenth centuries?
   1. Christian conquest was typically consolidated by the large-scale settlement of Christians who received generous financial and legal incentives.
   2. Christian conquest was often facilitated by conflicts between Berber and Arab Muslims.
   3. Christian conquest was often accompanied by the regulation of relations between religious communities.
   4. Christian conquest sometimes led to the arrival of Christian missionaries into non-Christian communities.
   5. Christian conquest frequently led to Christian confiscation of the most fertile farm and pasture lands of the Muslim communities.
8. Which of the following features of Spain under Islamic rule most directly influenced the provisions relating to religious practice and law in the fourth and fifth paragraphs?
   1. The rules imposed upon religious minorities under the dhimma system
   2. The Arabization of the Christian and Jewish populations under Muslim rule
   3. The strict regulation of religious interactions in the marketplace
   4. The close cooperation of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian scholars
   5. The high number of Christian and Jewish officials in the Umayyad bureaucracy
9. The Council of Trent (1545–1563) enacted all of the following in response to the Protestant Reformation EXCEPT
   1. Granting greater powers to the Inquisition
   2. Reaffirming the legitimacy of indulgences
   3. Rejecting the notion that salvation depended on faith alone
   4. Encouraging missionary activity outside of Europe
   5. Requiring the Latin Bible to be translated into vernacular languages
10. Which of the following regions experienced most of the military conflict that took place during the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648)?
    1. Great Britain
    2. Italy
    3. France
    4. Germany and Bohemia
    5. Spain and Portugal

Answers

1) B   2) C   3) A   4) B   5) D   6) B   7) C   8) A   9) E   10) D