The Collision of Cultures
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. The origins of the majority of human existence in North America began
A. with migrations from Eurasia over the Bering Strait.
B. with the explorations of Christopher Columbus.
C. as a result of the development of the wheel.
D. long after the last ice age ended.
E. from the southern tip of South America.
Answer: A
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2. Scholars estimate that human migration into the Americas over the Bering Strait
occurred approximately
A. 2,000 years ago.
B. 5,000 years ago.
C. 9,000 years ago.
D. 11,000 years ago.
E. 18,000 years ago.
Answer: D
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,3. The first truly complex society in the Americas was that of the
A. Mayas.
B. Aztecs.
C. Incas.
D. Pueblos.
E. Olmec.
Answer: E
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4. The early South American civilizations of Incas, Mayas, and Aztecs all shared the
following characteristics EXCEPT
A. the use of wheeled vehicles.
B. economies primarily based on agriculture.
C. substantial cities.
D. complex political systems.
E. elaborate religious and cultural systems.
Answer: A
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5. The pre-Columbian American peoples in the Pacific Northwest
A. did not have permanent settlements.
B. developed political systems as sophisticated as those of the Mayas and Aztecs.
C. fished salmon as their principal occupation.
D. were the most peaceful of pre-Columbian societies.
E. were known as the Inuit.
,Answer: C
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6. The pre-Columbian North American peoples in the Southwest
A. were primarily hunters of small game.
B. built large irrigation systems for farming.
C. lived in small, nomadic tribes.
D. created an economy exclusively based on trade.
E. primarily pursued moose and caribou for sustenance.
Answer: B
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7. In the Great Plains region, most pre-Columbian societies
A. engaged in sedentary farming.
B. lived in small nomadic tribes.
C. hunted buffalo for survival.
D. used horses.
E. developed a harsh religion that required human sacrifice.
Answer: A
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8. Prior to European contact, the eastern third of what is today the United States
A. was politically controlled by the Cahokia Indians.
B. contained no permanent settlements.
C. had the most abundant food resources of any region of the continent.
D. was populated by tribes that engaged in hunting and gathering but did not yet farm.
, E. remained for the most part uninhabited.
Answer: C
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9. Cahokia was a large trading center located near what present-day city?
A. St. Louis
B. Memphis
C. New Orleans
D. Baton Rouge
E. Detroit
Answer: A
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10. The agricultural practices of pre-Columbian tribes in the Northeast were characterized
by
A. extensive irrigation systems.
B. the development of metal-tipped plows.
C. a sacred respect for trees that kept people from cutting them down.
D. a rapid exploitation of the land.
E. an emphasis on tobacco cultivation.
Answer: D
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11. Many pre-Columbian tribes east of the Mississippi River were loosely linked by
A. the shared use of a series of forts.
B. common linguistic roots.