(B) focuses on the commercial activities of elite classes
(C) has less impact on global history than the study of land masses
(D) coordinates with an emphasis on societies as well as civilizations4 . An example of diffusion rather than independent invention is the
(A) Sumerian use of the wheel
(B) Mayan concept of zero as a place holder
(C) origin of the Greek alphabet
(D) cultivation of the banana in Southeast Asia
5 . Periodization in the Advanced Placement World History course
(A) begins with the rise of river valley civilizations in Period 1
(B) assists students in comparing societies and trends within periods
(C) is irrelevant to the content of document-based questions
(D) limits the study of continuities between historical periods
Answers and Explanations
1 . C The seventeenth century witnessed intense rivalry among Europeans and Muslims for trade
dominance, especially in spices, in the Indian Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean (A) was the scene of
interactions among Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans, whereas the Arctic Ocean (B)
saw limited trade among various Inuit peoples. The Pacific Ocean (D) saw limited contacts
between Europeans and Pacific Islanders as well as interactions among the Spanish, Chinese,
Filipinos, and Indians of South America through the voyages of the Manila galleons.
2 . C Latin America embraces the political regions of Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America,
with the unifying force a common heritage stemming from speakers of Romance languages.
Mexico, for example, belongs politically to North America and culturally to Latin America. South
Asia (A), North America (B), and Southeast Asia (D) are regions with commonly defined political
boundaries.
3 . D The study of oceans embraces societies such as Polynesian islanders and Malay peoples in
addition to accounts of civilizations. The Indian and Pacific Oceans as well as the Atlantic (A)
involve accounts of rich cultural interactions including various social classes (B). Interactions
across the ocean waters are no less vital to global history than those across land masses (C).
4 . C The Greek alphabet originated with the Phoenicians who, through trade, transmitted its
knowledge to the Greeks. The Sumerians invented the wheel (A). The Mayans originated the
concept of the place holder in the Western Hemisphere (B). Southeast Asia was an area of
independent cultivation of the banana (D).
5 . B The organization of the Advanced Placement World History course by periods facilitates
comparing societies and trends in those periods. Period 1 begins with the rise of global
agriculture (A). Periodization assists students in analyzing the time periods addressed in
document-based questions and organizing the study of continuities between time periods (C, D).