Topic 4 AP Exam Practice
Multiple-Choice Questions
Questions 1 to 3 refer to the passage below.
“The Inka [Inca] ruled the greatest empire on earth. Bigger than Ming Dynasty China, bigger than Ivan the Great’s expanding Russia, bigger than Songhay [Songhai] in the Sahel or powerful Great Zimbabwe in the East Africa tablelands, bigger than the cresting Ottoman Empire, bigger than the Triple Alliance (as the Aztec Empire is more precisely known), bigger by far than any European state, the Inka dominion extended over a staggering thirty-two degrees of latitude—as if a single power held sway from St. Petersburg to Cairo. The empire encompassed every imaginable type of terrain, from the rainforest of upper Amazonia to the deserts of the Peruvian coast and the twenty-thousand-foot peaks of the Andes in between. ‘If imperial potential is judged in terms of environmental adaptability,’ wrote the Oxford historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, ‘the Inka [Inca] were the most impressive empire builders of their day.’ ”
Charles Mann, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas
Before Columbus, 2005
1. Why were the Inca able to achieve the accomplishment described in the passage?
- (A) They divided their empire into four provinces so it would be easier to govern.
- (B) They demanded heavy tribute from conquered groups living on the edges of their empire.
- (C) They routinely sent armies through the empire to collect tribute.
- (D) They forced conquered people to adopt the language of the Inca.
2. The Carpa Nan demonstrates the main point expressed by the writer in the excerpt because it
- (A) made living in the rainforest possible
- (B) provided a common system of written communication
- (C) provided irrigation for terraced farmlands
- (D) connected the parts of the empire
3. When the author of the passage describes the Incan civilization as the “greatest empire on earth,” he means that it
- (A) constructed great buildings and other structures
- (B) conquered other empires, including the Aztecs
- (C) adapted successfully to diverse environments
- (D) were the wealthiest civilization in the world in 1491
Short-Answer Questions
1. Use the passage below to answer all parts of the question that follows.
“Unluckily, the accounts of Spanish authors concerning Maya mythology do not agree with the representations of the gods delineated [described precisely] in the codices. That the three codices have a mythology in common is certain. Again, great difficulty is found in comparing the deities of the codices with those represented by the carved and stucco bas-reliefs of the Maya region. It will thus be seen that very considerable difficulties beset the student in this mythological sphere. So few data have yet been collected regarding the Maya mythology that to dogmatize [represent as absolute truth] upon any subject connected with it would indeed be rash [impulsive]. But much has been accomplished in the past few decades, and evidence is slowly but surely accumulating from which sound conclusions can be drawn.”
Lewis Spence, The Myths of Mexico and Peru, 1913
2. Answer all parts of the question that follows.