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Africa Civilization Test

Total questions: 30

Worksheet time: 15mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Use the map to answer the following question: Which letter on the map indicates the Sahara?

a)

W

b)

X

c)

Y

d)

Z

2.

Use the map to answer the following question: Which letter on the map indicates the Sahel?

a)

W

b)

X

c)

Y

d)

Z

3.

Which letter on the map indicates the Rainforest?

a)

W

b)

X

c)

Y

d)

Z

4.

Which letter on the map indicates Savannah?

a)

W

b)

X

c)

Y

d)

Z

5.

The region of open grasslands where most grazing of cattle and other livestock takes place is the

a)

Rain Forest

b)

Sahara

c)

Savannah

d)

Sahel

6.

The wealth of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai was based on

a)

Raiding other tribes

b)

The gold and salt trade

c)

Trade in ostriches and elephant tusks

d)

Making iron tools and weapons

7.

Griots contributed to West African societies by

a)

Fighting battles

b)

Collecting taxes

c)

Preserving oral history

d)

Trading with the Berbers

8.

How did Ghana use metal and iron to become such a powerful state?

a)

Improved farming tools

b)

better/stronger weapons

c)

Increase food supply

d)

All of the above

9.

Which of the following is not a West Africa tradition?

a)

Dancing

b)

Wooden Masks

c)

Kente Fabrics

d)

Silk

10.

Which of the following is not a reason why salt was a very important trade item?

a)

Salt was used to preserve food

b)

Salt was used to make bland food tasty

c)

People need salt in their diet

d)

Salt is used to make explosives

11.

Which Kingdom was the first to issue gold coins?

a)

Kush

b)

Songhai

c)

Axum

d)

Egypt

12.

Why did people come to Timbuktu?

a)

Vacation on the beach

b)

To trade, worship, and study

c)

Pilgrimage to Africa's sacred land

d)

To see humans and wildlife live in harmony

13.

What area separates the desert from the savanna?

a)

Sahel

b)

Savannah

c)

Rainforest

d)

Sahara

14.

What two rivers became important in West Africa for trade and travel?

a)

Niger and Senegal

b)

Nile and Congo

c)

Niger and Congo

d)

Senegal and Nile

15.

What is the definition of tradition?

a)

The passing down of religion from one generation to another

b)

The passing down of family names from one generation to another

c)

The passing down of information from one generation to another

d)

The passing down of artifacts from one generation to another

16.

In the 700s, what helped trade across the Sahara Desert?

a)

Invention of fast moving boats

b)

Arrival of the first motive vehicle

c)

Arrival of Camels

d)

Climate change caused the desert to cool off

17.

Which two kingdoms are known for pyramids?

a)

Egypt and Kush

b)

Egypt and Mali

c)

Songhai and Kush

d)

Ghana and Mali

18.
  1. How did Ghana raise money to pay government officials?

a)
  1. by mining salt

b)
  1. by selling gold

c)

by taxing goods

d)
  1. by buying camels

19.
  1. Based on Ghana’s matrilineal system, who would rule next after the present king dies?

a)
  1. Sister

b)

Nephew

c)

Daughter

d)

Son

20.
  1. Why do historians not know the location of the gold mines of Wangara?

a)

The written records were lost.

b)
  1. Arab traders agreed not to tell.

c)
  1. Oral traditions name two places.

d)
  1. The miners kept the site a secret.

21.
  1. People who lived in the southern forests had to trade to get which essential product?

a)

salt

b)

gold

c)

leather

d)

iron

22.

Which of these factors caused the resources of Ghana to decline?

a)

decrease in the population able to produce food

b)

raids that captured Ghanaian people to be enslaved

c)

heavy rains that carried away the fertile topsoil

d)

iron furnaces for which people cut trees for fuel

23.

Which of these is the best example of an oral tradition?

a)
  1.  a great-grandmother's photo album

b)
  1. a grandfather playing a game with his grandchildren

c)
  1. a grandmother's diary found at the base of ancient ruins

d)

a grandfather telling a story about his childhood

24.
  1. Stories about Sundjata tell about

a)

the king who founded Mali's empire.

b)

the hajj by the great ruler Mansa Musa.

c)
  1. the trade caravans across the Sahara.

d)
  1. the tasks and importance of griots.

25.
  1. How did traditional West African folktales come to the Americas?

a)

Traders sold them.

b)

Enslaved people brought them.

c)
  1. Explorers discovered them.

d)

Missionaries wrote them down.

26.
  1. Which of these musical styles was most influenced by West African call-and-response songs?

a)

blues

b)

opera

c)

country

d)

classical

27.
  1. Masks were often worn by

a)
  1. visitors to the king's palace.

b)

dancers in ritual ceremonies.

c)
  1. weavers making special textiles.

d)
  1. traders conducting secret business.

28.
  1. How do West Africans make kente cloth, the most famous West African textile?

a)

by appliqué with bits of fabric

b)

by weaving a single huge cloth

c)

by sewing narrow strips together

d)
  1. by stamping patterns onto squares

29.
  1. Sculptures from the ancient Nok culture were formed from

a)

terra-cotta.

b)
  1. gold plate.

c)
  1. iron and brass.

d)
  1. rare wood.

30.
  1. The Benin empire (in what is now Nigeria) became particularly well-known for which art form?

a)

printed textiles

b)

brass sculptures

c)
  1. coiled-fiber baskets

d)
  1. wood-and-leather drums