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quiz

Total questions: 15

Worksheet time: 8mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

   Why did farmers in Mesoamerica move their farms from time to time?

a)

A      As their families grew larger, farmers needed larger farms.

b)

B      Conquering armies confiscated their land and forced them to leave.

c)

C      Heavy rains flooded their fields, forcing them to find new land.

d)

D      The soil would wear out and could no longer support farming.

2.

   What was one factor that may have caused Mayan cities to fall into ruin between 800 and 1000 bce?

a)

A      The Olmec invaded Mayan cities.

b)

B      The Spanish conquered the Maya.

c)

C      Mayan buildings were poorly constructed.

d)

D      Food shortages occurred due to drought.

3.

Which concept did the Maya understand before Europeans did? 

a)

A      architecture

b)

B      calendars

c)

C      hieroglyphics

d)

D      the number zero

4.

How have modern scholars learned much of their information about the Maya?

a)

A      from printed books

b)

B      from oral history

c)

C      from glyphs carved in stone

d)

C      from glyphs carved in stone

5.

  Why did Mayan commoners seek to please priests and nobles?

a)

A      They were afraid of being sacrificed to the gods.

b)

B      They believed priests and nobles could communicate with the gods.

c)

C      They believed priests and nobles were gods in human form.

d)

D      They depended on priests and nobles to supply them with food.

6.

Why did the Aztecs settle in the Valley of Mexico?

a)

A      They wanted to take over abandoned Mayan cities.

b)

B      The area was located near a major river system.

c)

C      The valley had a warmer climate than the Mayan lowlands.

d)

D      Surrounding volcanoes created fertile soil in the valley.

7.

   What are chinampas?

a)

A      artificial islands used for farming

b)

B      crops grown by Aztec farmers

c)

C      birds sacred to the Aztec people

d)

D      walls built to hold back flood waters

8.

   The majority of Aztecs belonged to what social class?

a)

A      nobles

b)

B      commoners

c)

C      slaves

d)

D      priests

9.

  Why did the Aztecs engage in human sacrifice?

A      to punish people who broke the law

B      to keep their chief god strong

C      to determine who would be the next emperor

D      to punish their enemies who also engaged in human sacrifice

a)

A      to punish people who broke the law

b)

B      to keep their chief god strong

c)

C      to determine who would be the next emperor

d)

D      to punish their enemies who also engaged in human sacrifice

10.

The Aztecs build aqueducts in order to

a)

A      please their gods.

b)

B      supply Tenochtitlan with fresh water.

c)

C      move trade goods.

d)

D      connect Tenochtitlan to the lakeshore.

11.

      Why did the Incas build terraces?

a)

A      to improve travel and communication through the empire

b)

B      to allow them to build homes on the sides of mountains

c)

C      to make it easier to climb high mountains

d)

D      to increase the amount of fertile farmland

12.

What was the mita system?

a)

A      a practice of paying taxes through labor

b)

B      a method of record keeping

c)

C      a network of royal messengers

d)

D      a rigid social hierarchy

13.

   The Incas used quipus to 

a)

A      preserve their history.

b)

B      keep records of people and goods.

c)

C      decide when to plant crops.

d)

D      divide work among peasant families.

14.

What is considered the greatest example of Incan engineering?

a)

A      the chinampas

b)

B      the road network

c)

C      the ayllu system

d)

D      the food storehouses

15.

  What event marked the start of the downfall of the Incan Empire?

a)

A      A drought made it impossible to feed all the people of the empire.

b)

B      Two sons of the emperor fought a civil war for control of the empire.

c)

C      Spanish conquerors arrived and took control of the Incan capital.

d)

D      A volcano wiped out the majority of the population in Incan cities.