Semester Test

Over many centuries, the ______________ divided Indian society into groups based on a person’s birth, wealth, or occupation. Though varnas were not based on birth, eventually they merged with birth-based jatis. At one time, some 3,000 separate ___________ existed in India.

• Brahmin system, Brahmins
• caste system, castes
• jatis system, jatis
• varnas system, varnas

What is a large group of islands called?

• archipelago
• peninsula
• plateau
• tsunami

According to the domino theory, if one country fell to communism, other countries nearby would follow like falling dominoes.

• True
• False

Mansa Musa, the ruler of Mali, took a hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca. He took around 60,000 people, mostly servants and slaves. He gave out huge amounts of gold (more than $100 million today). What was not a result from this journey?

• It attracted the attention of the Muslim world and of Europe
• His spending made people eager to find the source of such wealth.
• He ruined Mali's trading power with other kingdoms.
• Within 200 years, European explorers would arrive on the shores of western Africa.

Much of the mainland has a ___________________ climate. The islands and the Malay Peninsula mainly have a __________________ climate.

• highland, humid subtropical
• humid subtropical, highland
• humid tropical, tropical savanna
• tropical savanna, humid tropical

South of the Sahara Desert is the semiarid Sahel. The Sahel has enough vegetation to support hardy grazing animals. However, the Sahel is becoming more like the Sahara. What is this process called? What is a reason for it happening, considering the picture below?

• Desertification is the spread of jungle-like conditions. Animals put back nitrogen into the soil, allowing plants to grow. With more plants spreading, the desert is slowly removed.
• Desertification is the abandonment of agricultural livestock. Animals are left unattended. Without proper care, the animals cannot survive.
• Desertification is the spread of desert-like conditions. Animal overgrazing removes plants. Without the plants to anchor the soil, the wind spreads the soil continually.
• Desertification is the use of agricultural livestock to remove desert conditions. Animals provide methane back into the ground, allowing natural fertilizer to grow plants at a rapid rate.

North Korean companies are among the world’s leading manufacturers of cars, electronic motors, video games and consoles, and video recording equipment.

• True
• False

During World War II, the Americans dropped devastating atomic bombs on two Japanese cities, _______________________________.

• Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Hiroshima and Tokyo
• Solomon Islands and Tokyo
• Tokyo and Nagasaki

Where does China receive the most rainfall?

• Northeast China
• Northwest China
• Southeast China
• Southwest China

Many Aborigines believe that playing the _______________ is one way to recall the mysteries of the “______________.” This Aboriginal philosophy encompasses the beginning of time, the present, and the distant future.

• Bullroarer, Dreamscape
• Clapsticks, Dream state
• Didgeridoo, Dreamtime
• Gum Leaf, Dreaming