AP WORLD HISTORY
UNIT 1 PRACTICE TEST
The Global Tapestry, c. 1200 to c. 1450
25 questions — modeled on official AP question styles and stimulus formats.
Give yourself 30 minutes. Answers and explanations begin on a separate page after the questions.
Multiple Choice Questions
Questions 1–3 refer to the following passage.
“The civil service examinations, based on mastery of the Confucian classics, were opened to any male who could afford
the years of study required, regardless of his family's noble or common status. In this way, men of talent from outside the
traditional aristocracy could rise to serve as officials of the state.” — adapted from a modern historian's description of the
Song Dynasty examination system
1. The examination system described in the passage most directly reflects which broader method of state building
used across many regions in the period c. 1200–1450?
A) Using a merit-based bureaucracy to administer a large, complex state
B) Relying exclusively on hereditary nobility to fill administrative posts
C) Using tribute collection from conquered peoples to fund the government
D) Delegating all administrative authority to religious clergy
E) Eliminating the need for a centralized bureaucracy entirely
2. Which of the following best explains a long-term EFFECT of the examination system described in the passage?
A) It prevented any social mobility within Chinese society
B) It allowed the state to recruit talented officials based on merit, strengthening bureaucratic administration and
Neo-Confucian influence
C) It eliminated the influence of Confucian philosophy on government
D) It transferred political power entirely to Buddhist monasteries
E) It caused the collapse of the Song Dynasty's central government
3. The philosophy most closely associated with reinforcing the social and political hierarchy tested in the
examinations described above is:
A) Sufism
B) Neo-Confucianism
C) Theravada Buddhism
D) Zoroastrianism
E) Shinto
Questions 4–6 refer to the following passage.
, “He [Mansa Musa] made his journey to Mecca with a very large following, taking with him quantities of gold. So much
gold did he give away in Cairo that its value fell for years afterward.” — adapted from a 14th-century Arab historian's
account of the ruler of Mali's pilgrimage
4. Mansa Musa's pilgrimage described in the passage is most often used by historians as evidence of:
A) Mali's isolation from the broader Islamic world
B) The wealth generated by Mali's control of trans-Saharan gold and salt trade routes
C) The decline of Islam in West Africa during this period
D) Mali's military conquest of Egypt
E) The absence of any centralized government in West Africa
5. Mansa Musa's pilgrimage most directly illustrates which method that West African rulers used to legitimize and
strengthen their political power?
A) Adopting and publicly displaying Islamic faith and practice to connect with the wider Muslim world
B) Rejecting all foreign religious influence in favor of purely local traditions
C) Establishing a merit-based civil service examination system
D) Forming a tribute empire based on the mit'a labor system
E) Adopting feudal land-grant relationships with regional lords
6. Which of the following was also a wealthy trade-based state in Sub-Saharan Africa during this period, known for its
stone architecture and control of gold trade routes toward the Indian Ocean?
A) The Kingdom of Aksum
B) Great Zimbabwe
C) The Songhai Empire
D) The Kingdom of Kongo
E) The Almoravid Empire
Questions 7–8 refer to the following passage.
“The sultans of Delhi ruled over a population that was overwhelmingly Hindu, ruling through a combination of military
force, taxation of non-Muslims, and, at times, patronage of local elites and religious institutions.” — adapted from a
modern historian's summary of the Delhi Sultanate
7. The Delhi Sultanate's approach to governing a majority-Hindu population, as described in the passage, most closely
parallels the governing challenges faced by which other state in this period?
A) Song China, which governed an ethnically homogeneous Han population
B) The Mongol khanates, which ruled over religiously and ethnically diverse conquered populations
C) The Holy Roman Empire, which was religiously unified under Catholicism
D) The Inca Empire, which had no system of taxation
E) The Kingdom of Ethiopia, which was religiously unified under Christianity
8. Which religious/mystical movement was most significant in spreading Islam among South and Southeast Asian
populations during this period, often through personal, syncretic practice rather than military conquest?
A) Sufism
B) Neo-Confucianism
C) Theravada Buddhism
D) Zen Buddhism
E) Shia jurisprudence exclusively
Questions 9–10 refer to the following passage.
UNIT 1 PRACTICE TEST
The Global Tapestry, c. 1200 to c. 1450
25 questions — modeled on official AP question styles and stimulus formats.
Give yourself 30 minutes. Answers and explanations begin on a separate page after the questions.
Multiple Choice Questions
Questions 1–3 refer to the following passage.
“The civil service examinations, based on mastery of the Confucian classics, were opened to any male who could afford
the years of study required, regardless of his family's noble or common status. In this way, men of talent from outside the
traditional aristocracy could rise to serve as officials of the state.” — adapted from a modern historian's description of the
Song Dynasty examination system
1. The examination system described in the passage most directly reflects which broader method of state building
used across many regions in the period c. 1200–1450?
A) Using a merit-based bureaucracy to administer a large, complex state
B) Relying exclusively on hereditary nobility to fill administrative posts
C) Using tribute collection from conquered peoples to fund the government
D) Delegating all administrative authority to religious clergy
E) Eliminating the need for a centralized bureaucracy entirely
2. Which of the following best explains a long-term EFFECT of the examination system described in the passage?
A) It prevented any social mobility within Chinese society
B) It allowed the state to recruit talented officials based on merit, strengthening bureaucratic administration and
Neo-Confucian influence
C) It eliminated the influence of Confucian philosophy on government
D) It transferred political power entirely to Buddhist monasteries
E) It caused the collapse of the Song Dynasty's central government
3. The philosophy most closely associated with reinforcing the social and political hierarchy tested in the
examinations described above is:
A) Sufism
B) Neo-Confucianism
C) Theravada Buddhism
D) Zoroastrianism
E) Shinto
Questions 4–6 refer to the following passage.
, “He [Mansa Musa] made his journey to Mecca with a very large following, taking with him quantities of gold. So much
gold did he give away in Cairo that its value fell for years afterward.” — adapted from a 14th-century Arab historian's
account of the ruler of Mali's pilgrimage
4. Mansa Musa's pilgrimage described in the passage is most often used by historians as evidence of:
A) Mali's isolation from the broader Islamic world
B) The wealth generated by Mali's control of trans-Saharan gold and salt trade routes
C) The decline of Islam in West Africa during this period
D) Mali's military conquest of Egypt
E) The absence of any centralized government in West Africa
5. Mansa Musa's pilgrimage most directly illustrates which method that West African rulers used to legitimize and
strengthen their political power?
A) Adopting and publicly displaying Islamic faith and practice to connect with the wider Muslim world
B) Rejecting all foreign religious influence in favor of purely local traditions
C) Establishing a merit-based civil service examination system
D) Forming a tribute empire based on the mit'a labor system
E) Adopting feudal land-grant relationships with regional lords
6. Which of the following was also a wealthy trade-based state in Sub-Saharan Africa during this period, known for its
stone architecture and control of gold trade routes toward the Indian Ocean?
A) The Kingdom of Aksum
B) Great Zimbabwe
C) The Songhai Empire
D) The Kingdom of Kongo
E) The Almoravid Empire
Questions 7–8 refer to the following passage.
“The sultans of Delhi ruled over a population that was overwhelmingly Hindu, ruling through a combination of military
force, taxation of non-Muslims, and, at times, patronage of local elites and religious institutions.” — adapted from a
modern historian's summary of the Delhi Sultanate
7. The Delhi Sultanate's approach to governing a majority-Hindu population, as described in the passage, most closely
parallels the governing challenges faced by which other state in this period?
A) Song China, which governed an ethnically homogeneous Han population
B) The Mongol khanates, which ruled over religiously and ethnically diverse conquered populations
C) The Holy Roman Empire, which was religiously unified under Catholicism
D) The Inca Empire, which had no system of taxation
E) The Kingdom of Ethiopia, which was religiously unified under Christianity
8. Which religious/mystical movement was most significant in spreading Islam among South and Southeast Asian
populations during this period, often through personal, syncretic practice rather than military conquest?
A) Sufism
B) Neo-Confucianism
C) Theravada Buddhism
D) Zen Buddhism
E) Shia jurisprudence exclusively
Questions 9–10 refer to the following passage.
