B2 World Enlightenment Thinkers and Ideas Quiz

Which Enlightenment thinker described life in the state of nature as “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”?

• Rousseau

• Hobbes

• Locke

• Montesquieu

According to Thomas Hobbes, people should give up their rights to:

• The king, chosen by divine right

• A strong ruler to maintain law and order

• A representative assembly

• A military dictatorship

John Locke believed people are born with a mind that is a:

• General will

• Blank slate (“tabula rasa”)

• Set of natural instincts

• Predetermined fate

Locke’s idea of natural rights included:

• Freedom, security, and property

• Life, liberty, and property

• Equality, democracy, and religion

• Speech, press, and religion

Which concept says people agree to form governments for mutual benefit?

• Social contract

• Consent of the governed

• Separation of powers

• Checks and balances

Who famously defended freedom of speech with the quote, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”?

• Rousseau

• Locke

• Montesquieu

• Voltaire

Montesquieu believed that because people are corrupt, government power should:

• Be unlimited

• Always be limited

• Rest only with the monarch

• Come from the people

The principle of separation of powers is meant to:

• Divide government into three branches

• Place full power in one ruler

• Establish religious authority

• Protect kingship

Which system prevents any one branch of government from becoming too powerful?

• Checks and balances

• Consent of the governed

• Divine right

• Popular sovereignty

Popular sovereignty means that government authority comes from:

• The military

• The monarch

• The people

• The aristocracy