AP WORLD HISTORY
UNIT 2 PRACTICE TEST
Networks of Exchange, 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. “Under the unified law and taxation the khans imposed across their vast
territories, a merchant could travel from the Black Sea to China with far greater safety than in previous centuries, as a
single authority replaced the countless tolls and dangers of a fragmented Central Asia.” — adapted from a modern
historian's description of overland Eurasian trade
1. The condition described in this passage is most closely associated with which historical development?
A) The Pax Mongolica, the relative stability across Mongol-controlled territory that facilitated Silk Roads trade
B) The Columbian Exchange
C) The Bantu Migrations
D) The Protestant Reformation
E) The fall of the Western Roman Empire
2. Which of the following was a direct consequence of the increased connectivity described in this passage?
A) The complete cessation of all long-distance trade across Eurasia
B) The easier movement of goods, ideas, technologies, and, notably, diseases (including the Black Death) across a wider
geographic area
C) The total isolation of China from the rest of Eurasia
D) The permanent elimination of overland trade in favor of maritime routes exclusively
E) No meaningful change to patterns of Eurasian exchange
3. Which traveler's famous account of his journey to Mongol-controlled China exemplifies the increased cross-cultural
contact enabled by conditions like those in this passage?
A) Ibn Battuta
B) Marco Polo
C) Zheng He
D) Christopher Columbus
E) Vasco da Gama
4. The Indian Ocean trade network relied heavily on which predictable environmental pattern to enable regular, long-
distance maritime trade?
A) Monsoon winds, which reversed direction seasonally, allowing ships to sail reliably in each direction at different
times of year
B) A constant, unchanging wind direction throughout the entire year
C) The complete absence of any seasonal weather variation
D) Man-made canals connecting all Indian Ocean ports directly
E) Permanent ice cover limiting navigation to summer months only
5. Which of the following best describes the general nature of goods exchanged across the Indian Ocean trade
network during this period?
, A) A wide range of goods including spices, textiles, ceramics, and precious metals, alongside the spread of religious and
cultural ideas
B) Exclusively raw agricultural products, with no manufactured goods of any kind
C) A network limited entirely to the exchange of enslaved people, with no other goods involved
D) A trade network confined only to East Africa, with no connection to Asia
E) A network that excluded any exchange of religious or cultural ideas
6. The spread of Islam along Indian Ocean and trans-Saharan trade routes during this period is best explained by
which of the following?
A) Islam spread exclusively through violent military conquest, with no connection to trade
B) Muslim merchants carried their faith along trade routes, and local rulers and elites in trading hubs often converted,
in part to strengthen commercial and diplomatic ties with the broader Muslim trading world
C) Islam had no meaningful presence in Indian Ocean or trans-Saharan trade networks during this period
D) Islam spread only within the Arabian Peninsula during this period, with no expansion elsewhere
E) Local rulers uniformly rejected Islam despite extensive trade contact with Muslim merchants
7. The trans-Saharan trade network is most closely associated with the exchange of which two commodities, which
gave the network much of its economic significance?
A) Silk and porcelain
B) Gold (from West Africa) and salt (from the Sahara)
C) Spices and tea exclusively
D) Sugar and tobacco
E) Coffee and cotton
8. The West African Mali Empire's wealth and international reputation during this period were most directly derived
from:
A) Its complete isolation from all trans-Saharan trade networks
B) Its control over lucrative trans-Saharan gold and salt trade routes
C) Its exclusive reliance on Indian Ocean maritime trade, with no overland trade connections
D) Its total rejection of any trade relationship with North Africa
E) A purely agricultural, subsistence-based economy with no trade component
9. Mansa Musa's famous pilgrimage to Mecca (1324) is historically significant because it:
A) Marked the first contact ever between West Africa and the rest of the world
B) Dramatically publicized Mali's extraordinary wealth (partly through his lavish gold spending along the route),
drawing increased international attention and trade interest to the empire
C) Resulted in the immediate conversion of all of Europe to Islam
D) Had no economic or diplomatic significance of any kind
E) Ended all trans-Saharan trade permanently
10. Which of the following best describes the role of the Mongol Empire in facilitating exchange across Eurasia during
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries?
A) The Mongols destroyed all existing trade infrastructure, permanently ending Eurasian exchange
B) By unifying vast overland territories under relatively stable administration, the Mongols reduced the number of tolls,
taxes, and local conflicts that had previously hindered long-distance overland trade
C) The Mongol Empire had no connection whatsoever to trade or economic exchange
D) The Mongols restricted trade exclusively to their own ethnic group
E) The Mongol Empire only controlled maritime routes, with no overland territory
11. Which of the following was a significant unintended consequence of the increased connectivity of the Mongol-era
trade networks?
UNIT 2 PRACTICE TEST
Networks of Exchange, 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. “Under the unified law and taxation the khans imposed across their vast
territories, a merchant could travel from the Black Sea to China with far greater safety than in previous centuries, as a
single authority replaced the countless tolls and dangers of a fragmented Central Asia.” — adapted from a modern
historian's description of overland Eurasian trade
1. The condition described in this passage is most closely associated with which historical development?
A) The Pax Mongolica, the relative stability across Mongol-controlled territory that facilitated Silk Roads trade
B) The Columbian Exchange
C) The Bantu Migrations
D) The Protestant Reformation
E) The fall of the Western Roman Empire
2. Which of the following was a direct consequence of the increased connectivity described in this passage?
A) The complete cessation of all long-distance trade across Eurasia
B) The easier movement of goods, ideas, technologies, and, notably, diseases (including the Black Death) across a wider
geographic area
C) The total isolation of China from the rest of Eurasia
D) The permanent elimination of overland trade in favor of maritime routes exclusively
E) No meaningful change to patterns of Eurasian exchange
3. Which traveler's famous account of his journey to Mongol-controlled China exemplifies the increased cross-cultural
contact enabled by conditions like those in this passage?
A) Ibn Battuta
B) Marco Polo
C) Zheng He
D) Christopher Columbus
E) Vasco da Gama
4. The Indian Ocean trade network relied heavily on which predictable environmental pattern to enable regular, long-
distance maritime trade?
A) Monsoon winds, which reversed direction seasonally, allowing ships to sail reliably in each direction at different
times of year
B) A constant, unchanging wind direction throughout the entire year
C) The complete absence of any seasonal weather variation
D) Man-made canals connecting all Indian Ocean ports directly
E) Permanent ice cover limiting navigation to summer months only
5. Which of the following best describes the general nature of goods exchanged across the Indian Ocean trade
network during this period?
, A) A wide range of goods including spices, textiles, ceramics, and precious metals, alongside the spread of religious and
cultural ideas
B) Exclusively raw agricultural products, with no manufactured goods of any kind
C) A network limited entirely to the exchange of enslaved people, with no other goods involved
D) A trade network confined only to East Africa, with no connection to Asia
E) A network that excluded any exchange of religious or cultural ideas
6. The spread of Islam along Indian Ocean and trans-Saharan trade routes during this period is best explained by
which of the following?
A) Islam spread exclusively through violent military conquest, with no connection to trade
B) Muslim merchants carried their faith along trade routes, and local rulers and elites in trading hubs often converted,
in part to strengthen commercial and diplomatic ties with the broader Muslim trading world
C) Islam had no meaningful presence in Indian Ocean or trans-Saharan trade networks during this period
D) Islam spread only within the Arabian Peninsula during this period, with no expansion elsewhere
E) Local rulers uniformly rejected Islam despite extensive trade contact with Muslim merchants
7. The trans-Saharan trade network is most closely associated with the exchange of which two commodities, which
gave the network much of its economic significance?
A) Silk and porcelain
B) Gold (from West Africa) and salt (from the Sahara)
C) Spices and tea exclusively
D) Sugar and tobacco
E) Coffee and cotton
8. The West African Mali Empire's wealth and international reputation during this period were most directly derived
from:
A) Its complete isolation from all trans-Saharan trade networks
B) Its control over lucrative trans-Saharan gold and salt trade routes
C) Its exclusive reliance on Indian Ocean maritime trade, with no overland trade connections
D) Its total rejection of any trade relationship with North Africa
E) A purely agricultural, subsistence-based economy with no trade component
9. Mansa Musa's famous pilgrimage to Mecca (1324) is historically significant because it:
A) Marked the first contact ever between West Africa and the rest of the world
B) Dramatically publicized Mali's extraordinary wealth (partly through his lavish gold spending along the route),
drawing increased international attention and trade interest to the empire
C) Resulted in the immediate conversion of all of Europe to Islam
D) Had no economic or diplomatic significance of any kind
E) Ended all trans-Saharan trade permanently
10. Which of the following best describes the role of the Mongol Empire in facilitating exchange across Eurasia during
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries?
A) The Mongols destroyed all existing trade infrastructure, permanently ending Eurasian exchange
B) By unifying vast overland territories under relatively stable administration, the Mongols reduced the number of tolls,
taxes, and local conflicts that had previously hindered long-distance overland trade
C) The Mongol Empire had no connection whatsoever to trade or economic exchange
D) The Mongols restricted trade exclusively to their own ethnic group
E) The Mongol Empire only controlled maritime routes, with no overland territory
11. Which of the following was a significant unintended consequence of the increased connectivity of the Mongol-era
trade networks?
