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The Age of Exploration

Total questions: 14

Worksheet time: 7mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Why did European merchants want to locate a new sea route to Asia? Select all that apply.

a)

It would be more direct and thereby reduce costs.

b)

traders would not have to travel overland through the Middle East

c)

It would provide more jobs for sailors.

d)

They would be able to get goods they were unable to obtain any other way.

2.

What information did the astrolabe provide for explorers?

a)

their current speed

b)

their current latitude

c)

how many miles they had traveled

d)

the direction in which they were traveling

3.

How did European mapmakers create more accurate maps during the Renaissance? Select all that apply.

a)

They now understood the size and location of North America.

b)

They were able to study ancient Greek and medieval Arabian maps.

c)

They were able to use printing presses to reproduce their maps.

d)

They learned for the first time that the world was round.

4.

Where did Columbus land on his first voyage?

a)

on an island in the Caribbean Sea

b)

in what is now the Carolinas

c)

off the coast of Newfoundland

d)

in the northwestern part of South America

5.

How did Prince Henry of Portugal encourage Europeans to explore the world?

a)

He paid for many voyages of exploration.

b)

He developed a new type of compass.

c)

He led an expedition to South America.

d)

He designed a new faster sailing ship.

6.

The expedition of which explorer was the first to circumnavigate, or travel completely around, the world.

a)

Cortes

b)

Champlain

c)

Joliet

d)

Magellan

7.

The country of ____________ led the way in the 1400s in exploring new trade routes to Asia.

a)

Portugal

b)

France

c)

England

d)

Spain

8.

Columbus believed that he had been exploring the coast of ____________ instead of the Americas.

a)

Asia

b)

Africa

c)

Europe

d)

Antarctica

9.

The Treaty of Tordesillas, which was signed in 1494, divided ___________________ between Spain and Portugal.

a)

South America

b)

Asia

c)

Europe

d)

Australia

10.

What was the name of the Englishman who explored the North American coasts of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia in search of a waterway to Asia in 1497?

a)

John Cabot

b)

Jacques Cartier

c)

Chirstopher Columbus

d)

Giovanni da Verrazano

11.

The rise of stronger kingdoms in Europe encouraged worldwide exploration.

a)

True

b)

False

12.

Who was the first European sailor to sail to Asia?

a)

Bartolomeu Dias

b)

Prince Henry of Protugal

c)

Christopher Columbus

d)

Vasco da Gama

13.

Ferdinand Magellan intended to sail around ______ and find another route to Asia.

a)

Africa

b)

India

c)

South America

d)

North America

14.

France and England did not establish colonies until the early 1600s because of religious conflicts and ______ in their own countries.

a)

civil wars

b)

deadly disease

c)

weak navies

d)

foreign invaders