Of the People: Volume I: To 1877 with Sources, 5th E McGerr
Test Bank
to accompany
Of the People, Fifth Edition
McGerr • Townsend • Dunak • Summers • Lewis
Chapter 1: Worlds in Motion, 1450-1550
Multiple Choice Questions
1. La Malinche was
a. the name of Cortes's primary ship.
b. a woman who used her linguistic and cultural knowledge to help Columbus.
c. Moctezuma's confidant and advisor.
d. A woman who used her linguistic and cultural knowledge to help Cortés.
Answer: d
2. How did La Malinche contribute to Hernando Cortés's conquest of the Aztec empire?
a. She betrayed her own mother, the ruler of the Chontal Maya.
b. She was held hostage until her people gave him more gold.
c. She interpreted Spanish and Nathuatl languages so he could speak with native people.
d. She revealed the fastest route to their capital at Tenochtitlán.
Answer: c
3. Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest Americans arrived on the continent
a. by 12,000 BCE.
b. in large groups of hunters and gatherers.
c. in one small group that had been banished from Siberia.
d. no earlier than 9000 BCE.
Answer: a
4. Which of the following appears to have been the most important reason for the extinction
of the woolly mammoth?
a. Overhunting
b. European diseases
c. Climactic shifts
d. A massive earthquake
Answer: c
5. Why did the combination of corn and beans prove so crucial to the diet of early
Americans?
, a. Corn remedied the digestive issues that beans created.
b. Beans neutralized an otherwise toxic compound in archaic forms of corn.
c. The beans added amino acid to the corn, making the combination as nutritious as meat.
d. Corn and beans grew under different conditions and in separate places, making harvests
more reliable.
Answer: c
6. Why have scholars called Mesoamerica the “Cradle of the Americas”?
a. The native people population originated in this region.
b. The region was the first to embrace a monotheistic religion.
c. The region hosted the first technologically advanced civilizations.
d. This was the only region in which Native Americans survived the Ice Age.
Answer: c
7. Scholars know a good deal about the Maya and Aztec because
a. Maya and Aztec writers recorded their own events.
b. Maya and Aztec writers used pictographic writing and the Spaniards' Roman alphabet to
record their histories.
c. remains, other than writing, have supplemented scholarly research.
d. All of the above
Answer: d
8. From Maya and Aztec writings and other cultural indications, we can conclude that
a. they had a long history of war with each other.
b. Maya and Aztec people lived in a complex political world complete with alliances with
different groups.
c. the Maya especially lived in isolated, rural communities.
d. Aztec cities were ruled by dictatorial chiefs who did not give their subjects any voice in
decision making.
Answer: b
9. Why did most Anasazi return to hunting and gathering practices at times?
a. They lacked the skills of Mesoamerican corn cultivators
b. They could grow corn, but without beans this proved an insufficient diet
c. They could grow corn, but without beans this proved an insufficient diet
d. The poor soil of the Southwest only produced three or four crops before it was depleted
Answer: c
10. Among other things, the Mississippian people were known for
a. building mounds, some for ceremonial purposes and some as burial sites.
b. discovering how to extract gold and silver from ore.
c. living in tipis that could be moved easily.
d. surviving on roots and nuts.
Test Bank
to accompany
Of the People, Fifth Edition
McGerr • Townsend • Dunak • Summers • Lewis
Chapter 1: Worlds in Motion, 1450-1550
Multiple Choice Questions
1. La Malinche was
a. the name of Cortes's primary ship.
b. a woman who used her linguistic and cultural knowledge to help Columbus.
c. Moctezuma's confidant and advisor.
d. A woman who used her linguistic and cultural knowledge to help Cortés.
Answer: d
2. How did La Malinche contribute to Hernando Cortés's conquest of the Aztec empire?
a. She betrayed her own mother, the ruler of the Chontal Maya.
b. She was held hostage until her people gave him more gold.
c. She interpreted Spanish and Nathuatl languages so he could speak with native people.
d. She revealed the fastest route to their capital at Tenochtitlán.
Answer: c
3. Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest Americans arrived on the continent
a. by 12,000 BCE.
b. in large groups of hunters and gatherers.
c. in one small group that had been banished from Siberia.
d. no earlier than 9000 BCE.
Answer: a
4. Which of the following appears to have been the most important reason for the extinction
of the woolly mammoth?
a. Overhunting
b. European diseases
c. Climactic shifts
d. A massive earthquake
Answer: c
5. Why did the combination of corn and beans prove so crucial to the diet of early
Americans?
, a. Corn remedied the digestive issues that beans created.
b. Beans neutralized an otherwise toxic compound in archaic forms of corn.
c. The beans added amino acid to the corn, making the combination as nutritious as meat.
d. Corn and beans grew under different conditions and in separate places, making harvests
more reliable.
Answer: c
6. Why have scholars called Mesoamerica the “Cradle of the Americas”?
a. The native people population originated in this region.
b. The region was the first to embrace a monotheistic religion.
c. The region hosted the first technologically advanced civilizations.
d. This was the only region in which Native Americans survived the Ice Age.
Answer: c
7. Scholars know a good deal about the Maya and Aztec because
a. Maya and Aztec writers recorded their own events.
b. Maya and Aztec writers used pictographic writing and the Spaniards' Roman alphabet to
record their histories.
c. remains, other than writing, have supplemented scholarly research.
d. All of the above
Answer: d
8. From Maya and Aztec writings and other cultural indications, we can conclude that
a. they had a long history of war with each other.
b. Maya and Aztec people lived in a complex political world complete with alliances with
different groups.
c. the Maya especially lived in isolated, rural communities.
d. Aztec cities were ruled by dictatorial chiefs who did not give their subjects any voice in
decision making.
Answer: b
9. Why did most Anasazi return to hunting and gathering practices at times?
a. They lacked the skills of Mesoamerican corn cultivators
b. They could grow corn, but without beans this proved an insufficient diet
c. They could grow corn, but without beans this proved an insufficient diet
d. The poor soil of the Southwest only produced three or four crops before it was depleted
Answer: c
10. Among other things, the Mississippian people were known for
a. building mounds, some for ceremonial purposes and some as burial sites.
b. discovering how to extract gold and silver from ore.
c. living in tipis that could be moved easily.
d. surviving on roots and nuts.
