Topic 1 AP Exam Practice
Multiple-Choice Questions
Questions 1 to 3 refer to the passage below.
“The road you travel from Tana to Cathay [China] is perfectly safe, whether by day or by night, according to what the merchants say who have used it. . . . Cathay is a province which contained a multitude of cities and towns. Among others there is one in particular, that is to say the capital city, to which is great resort of merchants, and in which there is a vast amount of trade; and this city is called Cambalec. And the said city hath a circuit of one hundred miles, and is all full of people and houses and of dwellers in the said city.”
Francesco Pegolotti, The Merchant’s Handbook, c. 1471
1. Which statement about China and trade does this passage best support?
- (A) Trade between Europe and Cathay was greatly enhanced by the security established by the Mongol and Ming Empires.
- (B) Merchants rarely traveled between Tana and Cathay because the road was very dangerous.
- (C) Cambalec was an important trading hub, but it was not a large city.
- (D) The author felt the risks of trade with China outweighed the rewards.
2. Which development was the turning point that led to the expansion of trade between Asia and Europe?
- (A) The formation of the Silk Roads by Marco Polo allowed goods from Asia to be imported into Europe for the first time.
- (B) The conquests by Mongols, which led to improved trade routes and reduced trading costs.
- (C) The invention of silk cloth during the early Mongol rule allowed the Mongols to trade for pottery, wool, and other European goods.
- (D) The invention of paper money by Venetian bankers helped to facilitate trade between Europe and Asia.
3. Which objects or ideas was the author most likely writing about that represented continuity or change in Chinese trade?
- (A) Silver, gems, and gold went from Europe to China; wool, horses, and the ideas of Islam went from China to Europe
- (B) Silk, paper, and Christianity went from Europe to China; gunpowder, silver, and Buddhism went from China to Europe
- (C) Silver, gems, and gold went from Europe to China; silk, paper, and gunpowder went from China to Europe
- (D) Paper and Christianity went from Europe to China; silk, gunpowder, horses, and wool went from China to Europe
Short-Answer Questions
1. Use the passage below to answer all parts of the question that follows.
“Throughout the city there are fine roadways with open spaces well laid out: and round these are seen many great buildings and houses, each with its main doorway facing the square. Such are the caravanserais [inns]: and within are constructed separate apartments and shops with offices that are planned for various uses. Leaving these caravanserais you pass into the market streets where goods of all kinds are sold: such as silk stuffs and cotton cloths, crapes [crepes, a type of silk or wool fabric], taffetas [a fine silk fabric], raw silk and jewelry: for in these shops wares of every kind may be found. There is indeed an immense concourse of merchants and merchandise here . . . . Now the dress the women wear in the streets is that they go covered in a white sheet, and they wear over their faces a black mask of horse-hair, and thus they are concealed completely so that none may know them. Throughout Tabriz [a city in what is now northwestern Iran] many fine buildings may be seen, the Mosques more especially these being most beautifully adorned with tiles in blue and gold. . . .”
Excerpt from Ruy González de Clavijo’s account of his Silk Roads travels as an ambassador to Tamerlane by King Henry III in Spain between 1402 and 1406
2. Answer all parts of the question that follows.