Ted Talks: The Silk Roads

What was the Silk Road?

• A railway line connecting Europe and Asia

• An ancient internet

• A network of multiple trade routes

• A single road made of silk

How long did the Silk Road stretch?

• Less than 500 miles

• Over 5,000 miles

• Exactly 2,500 miles

• Over 1,000 miles

What did the Persian Royal Road accomplish?

• Was the first road to use concrete

• Served as a pilgrimage route for religious followers

• Connected the East and West coasts of the United States

• Reduced travel time for goods and messages significantly

Who was Zhang Qian?

• An ambassador from the Han Dynasty

• The inventor of the magnetic compass

• A Mongolian warlord

• A Roman Emperor

What was one of the impacts of the Silk Road?

• Introduced coffee to Europe

• Caused the extinction of the dodo bird

• Facilitated the spread of religions like Buddhism and Islam

• It led to the invention of the wheel

What technology from China was possibly transmitted to the Western world?

• Paper making

• Crossbow technology

• Gunpowder

• The printing press

What led to the Silk Road's demise?

• The invention of the airplane

• New maritime technologies like the magnetic compass

• A pandemic that spread along the trade routes

• The Great Wall of China blocking the routes

What was the main reason Europeans sought new maritime routes?

• Because of the collapse of the Silk Road

• To reach the riches of East Asia

• To find a faster route to the moon

• To avoid the dangers of land travel

How did Mongolian hoards interact with the Silk Road?

• They avoided it entirely

• They used it to spread their empire

• They actively protected the trade routes

• They were unaware of its existence

What is a modern example of global interconnectedness mentioned in the text?

• Canadian shoppers buying t-shirts made in Bangladesh

• The invention of the internet

• The construction of the International Space Station

• The global spread of the English language