Name: Class: Date: Eastern Hemisphere Unit 1 Pretest The following assessment is a pretest to help you identify the lessons you need to concentrate on as we go through the curriculum for Unit 1: An Introduction to Social studies. While this exam will be graded, it will not be counted as a test in the grade book. Part I The Language of History Read the following questions or statements and all of the possible responses. Select the response which best answers the question or completes the statement to answer. If you can only guess at the correct answer, please respond with "IDK." 1. "In 1415 CE, the English and the French clashed at the Battle of Agincourt. In the statement above, 1415 CE is the same date as AD 1415. 2. "In AD 1066, Duke William II of Normandy beat King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings to become the ruler of England." In the statement above, the "AD" stands for the English phrase, "After Death." It means that this event happened 1,066 years after the death of Christ. 3. "In AD 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the city of Pompeii." In this sentence, the "AD" stands for which of the following phrases? a. Anno Domini b. After Death c. Age of Diocletian d. Año de Dios
4. "As a result, the Assyrian Empire began to rise in modern-day Iraq c. 1350 BC." In this sentence, the "c." means that. a. the Assyrian Empire began to rise exactly on that date b. the Assyrian Empire began to rise before that date c. the Assyrian Empire began to rise around that date d. the Assyrian Empire began after that date 5. George Washington died of a throat infection on December 14, 1799. Therefore, he died in the century. a. sixteenth b. seventeenth c. eighteenth d. nineteenth 6. When the loan processor put the stack of files in order, he put them in date order with the older files on top and the newer files on the bottom of the pile. a. cryptological b. codicological c. chronological d. cytological 7. "Around 1100 CE, the Bantu peoples began building a city with thick stone walls called Zimbabwe in southern Africa." In the statement above, the "CE" stands for either the Common Era or the Christian Era. 8. "The First Americans crossed over from Siberia to North America on the Bering Land Bridge c. 28,000 BC." In this sentence, the "c." stands for the Latin word. a. centrum b. circa c. centum d. civis
9. A period of time which is 1,000 years long is called a. a. decade b. century c. millennium d. lustrum 10. A period of time which is 100 years long is called a. a. decade b. century c. millennium d. lustrum 11. A period of time which is 10 years long is called a. a. decade b. century c. millennium d. lustrum Part II Calendar Systems around the World Directions: Read the following statements or questions and all of the possible responses. Select the response which best completes the statement or answers the question. If you can only guess at the correct answer, please respond with "IDK." 12. Which of the following calendars uses both the movements of the sun across the daytime sky throughout the year and the phases of the moon to track the passage of time? a. lunar calendar b. solar calendar c. lunisolar calendar d. bipolar calendar
13. A tiered timeline compares two or more simultaneous streams of events side by side. 14. Which of the following calendars uses the phases of the moon to track the passage of time? a. lunar calendar b. solar calendar c. lunisolar calendar d. bipolar calendar 15. The time it takes the earth to travel once around the sun is called the year. a. seasonal b. tropical c. theriacal d. somatic 16. Which of the following calendars counts its years in 60-year cycles rather than from a single point in time? f. IDK 17. Which of the following calendars counts its years from the year that Muhammad fled from Mecca to Medina? f. IDK
18. "The two fighters entered the ring simultaneously, enjoying the roar of applause from the crowd." In the sentence above, "simultaneously" most likely means. a. one right after the other b. at the same time c. noisily d. silently 19. Which of the following calendars counts its years from the year that its users believe the universe was created (about 5,800 years ago)? f. IDK 20. Which of the following calendars counts its years from the beginning of the Saka Era? f. IDK 21. Which of the following calendars counts its years from the year that Christ was born? 22. "According to the Chinese scholar, Liu Xin, the Shang Dynasty ruled over China from 3,800 to 3,100 years ago." According to the Gregorian calendar, which of the following date ranges did the Shang rule over China? a. 3100 BC to 3800 BC b. 3600 BCE to 2900 CE c. 1800 BC to 1100 BC d. 1100 BCE to 1800 CE
23. The ancient Egyptians began building the pyramids around 5,000 BP duringthe reign of King Djoser. In this sentence, what does "BP" stand for? a. Before Ptolemy b. Before the Present c. Before Printing d. IDK 24. Which of the following events came first in history? a. 326 BC - Alexander the Great fights the Indian king Porus at the Battle of Hydaspes. b. 9 CE - The German chieftain Arminius slaughters three Roman legions at the Battle of Teutoberger Wald. c. 701 BCE - An Assyrian army under King Sennacherib assaulted the town of Lachish in Israel. d. AD 312 - Two Roman armies under Constantine and Emperor Maxentius clash at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. 25. Which of the following men invented the way we count the years in the Western calendar? a. Dionysius Exiguus b. Pope Gregory XIII c. Julius Caesar d. Caesar Augustus 26. While most of the world uses the Gregorian or Western calendar for business purposes today, many cultures still use their ancient calendars for religious purposes as well.
Part III The Haves and Have Nots On a separate sheet of paper, write an essay to the writing prompts which follow. Be sure to use good grammar and spelling as you write. If you cannot write a good response to the prompt, please write "IDK" in on your paper. 27. Explain why some parts of the world are very wealthy, while other parts of the world are very poor. Part IV The Subject of Social Studies On a separate sheet of paper, write short responses to the writing prompts that follow. Be sure to use correct spelling and grammar in your answers. If you cannot write a good response to the prompt, please write "IDK" in the space provided. 28. Identify the four subjects that we study in social studies. 29. Choose one of the subjects that we study in social studies. Write a short answer about what this subject teaches us and why it is important for us to study it. Part V Timeline Construction 30. Create a timeline from the reading which follows. Your finished timeline should have ten events. Caesar Augustus Octavian was born in Rome in 63 BC. He was the grandnephew of none other than Julius Caesar, the dictator of Rome. Having no sons of his own, Julius Caesar was very fond of the boy. Before the dictator's assassination in 44 BC, he adopted the boy and named Octavian his heir. This entitled him to rule the state of Rome. But Caesar's death threw Rome into chaos. Other powerful men like Marcus Antonius and Marcus Lepidus wanted to rule Rome, too. Octavian knew he could not beat them on the field of battle. So, he decided to share power with these men. In 43 BC, they joined with Octavian to rule Rome. At once, they began hunting down and killing those who stood against them. This led to a civil war that ended only when their last enemy, Sextus Popeius, was hunted down and killed in 36 BCE. Octavian forced Lepidus from power soon thereafter.
Allied to Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, Marcus Antonius threatened Octavian's power. Octavian responded by crushing the Egyptian fleet at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. The couple, seeing that all was lost, killed themselves the following year. This gave Octavian uncontested control of all Roman lands, and none dared oppose him. In 27 BC, the cowed Roman Senate gave Octavian the title, "Augustus," which means "the holy one." The Senate also gave him the title of imperitor, which means "emperor" in Latin. History would come to known him as Caesar Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. For the rest of his life, Rome thrived under his rule. He supported the arts and building projects all around the city of Rome. In the waning days of his life, he boasted that he found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble. He also supported many poets, including Ovid. In AD 8, however, Caesar Augustus had this man banished from the city of Rome for his immoral behavior. In the waning years of his reign, Augustus hoped to avoid the civil war that had torn Rome apart with the reign of Julius Caesar. In AD 4, he named his stepson, Tiberius, his heir. Tiberius took the throne when Augustus died in Nola, Italy in AD 14. No one opposed his right to rule.