East Meets West I

Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
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  1. “Arabic” numerals actually came from what Asian source?
    1. China
    2. Tibet
    3. Japan
    4. Indonesia
    5. India
  2. Was the flow of learning as a result of the Crusades mostly to Europe, mostly to the Middle East, or about equal in both directions?
    1. Mostly to the Middle East
    2. Mostly to Europe
    3. About equal in both directions
  3. This Venetian trader left us perhaps the most famous account of Asia in the 13th century.
    1. Guido Sarducci
    2. Giordano Bruno
    3. Benvenuto Cellini
    4. Marco Polo
    5. Allesandro Picardo
  4. The Mongol attack on Europe stopped abruptly in 1242 when the ruling Khan:
    1. Died
    2. Abdicated
    3. Was overthrown
    4. Was warned to stop in a dream
    5. Was Captured
  5. A border incident with this empire helped change the Mongol empire from a short-lived confederacy into a global power:
    1. Rome
    2. China
    3. India
    4. Russia
    5. Persia
  6. The Mongol chieftain Temuchin became better known to history as:
    1. Tamerlane
    2. Marco Polo
    3. Genghis Khan
    4. Ivan the Terrible
    5. Caligula
  7. Which of the following is not one of the key tenets of Islam?
    1. The Creed
    2. Thou shalt not steal
    3. Five Daily Prayers
    4. Pilgrimage to Mecca
    5. Fasting During Ramadan
  8. The objective of conquering the Holy Land was initially (choose from most, middle or least) important of the objectives in launching the Crusades:
    1. Most
    2. Middle
    3. Least
  9. The key tenets of Islam are frequently summarized as the:
    1. Five Pillars
    2. Four Precepts
    3. Seven Virtues
    4. Ten Commandments
    5. Six Proverbs
  10. The collection of Mohammed's teachings written down shortly after his death:
    1. Iliad
    2. Almagest
    3. Bible
    4. Aeneid
    5. Koran
  11. The split between Sunnites and Shiites was largely caused by
    1. Disagreement over what country to invade next
    2. Disagreement over whether to add more books to the Koran
    3. Controversy over taxation
    4. Controversy over the rights of women
    5. Disagreement over who would succeed as leader
  12. Which is not true of Shiites?
    1. Tend to have more complex hierarchy than Sunnites
    2. Are the most numerous major group in Islam
    3. More conservative about mixing traditions with the Koran
    4. Tend to venerate shrines more than Sunnites
    5. Mostly live in Iran
  13. Which is not true of Sunnites?
    1. Tend to have less complex hierarchy than Shiites
    2. Are the most numerous major group in Islam
    3. Less likely to venerate shrines than Sunnites
    4. More conservative about mixing traditions with the Koran
    5. Mostly live outside Iran
  14. Although it's not directly in contact with the birthplace of Islam, Islam was introduced here by traders and today this is the most poipulous Islamic nation
    1. Indonesia
    2. Bangladesh
    3. Pakistan
    4. Kazakhstan
    5. Morocco
  15. Which characteristic of modern armies was not a part of Mongol warfare?
    1. Rapid movement
    2. Long-distance communication
    3. Adroit use of intelligence
    4. Coordination of armies over large areas
    5. Extensive supply system
  16. The Mongols finally met their match when they failed to subdue this island nation:
    1. Borneo
    2. Ceylon
    3. Japan
    4. Britain
    5. Indonesia
  17. The Mongol invasion of an island nation was foiled twice by a typhoon. The memory of this seeming miracle was invoked in the Twentieth Century under the name:
    1. Hara-Kiri
    2. Kamikaze
    3. Shinto
    4. Jihad
    5. Moo Goo Gai Pan
  18. Which of the following were ways the Crusaders managed to lose?
    1. Allying themselves with destabilizing forces
    2. Alienating potential allies
    3. Overestimating their strength
    4. Internal rivalries and treachery
    5. All the above
  19. The importance of the Mongols to Western history is:
    1. They brought Europe into direct contact with China
    2. They ended the threat from Islam
    3. They caused so much destruction that progress ended for decades
    4. Their plunder enriched Europe
    5. They prevented Russia from conquering Europe
  20. Technical terms like almanac, alcohol, and alkali begin with al- because they originated in this language:
    1. Sanskrit
    2. Chinese
    3. Celtic
    4. Latin
    5. Arabic
  21. Why did the Crusaders attack Egypt twice?
    1. They hoped to swap an important port for Jerusalem
    2. They were lost
    3. They hoped to invade the Holy Land via an unexpected route
    4. They planned to destroy Islam by capturing Arabia
    5. It was a diversion before the main attack
  22. Why did the Crusader invasions of Egypt fail after initial successes?
    1. A plague killed many of their soldiers
    2. Reinforcements arrived to help the Moslems
    3. A storm sank most of their ships
    4. They started fighting among themselves
    5. The Crusaders got overconfident and tried to conquer all of Egypt
  23. The Fourth Crusade never reached the Holy Land at all because
    1. It was lost at sea
    2. The Mongols attacked the Crusaders en route
    3. Fighting broke out between the western and eastern Christian armies
    4. The armies deserted because of lack of pay
    5. Plague killed a large fraction of the officers
  24. Which is true of the Koran?
    1. It is longer than the Bible
    2. It has several historical books
    3. Its chapters are arranged chronologically
    4. Its chapters generally have no unifying themes
    5. Its chapters are all pretty much the same length
  25. The chapters in the Koran are traditionally identified by:
    1. Some unusual word or phrase in the chapter
    2. Date
    3. Number
    4. An important historical event in the chapter
    5. The main subject of the chapter
  26. Ramadan is:
    1. The Islamic doctrine of holy war
    2. The name of Mohammed's successor
    3. The custom of giving alms to the poor
    4. The tax imposed on non-Moslems
    5. The sacred month of fasting
  27. A Christian sect called the Nestorians:
    1. Led a revolt against the Byzantine Empire
    2. Converted en masse to Islam
    3. Resisted the Arabs fiercely
    4. Were active scientific observers
    5. Diffused classical knowledge into Persia
  28. The Persian city of JundiShapur was important as:
    1. A battle where the Persians were defeated
    2. The birthplace of St. Augustine
    3. The capital of the Persian Empire
    4. The place where the Moslems defeated the Byzantines
    5. A place where classical learning was concentrated
  29. David Lindberg describes the "marginality thesis" as:
    1. The idea that frontier societies tend to invade settled civilizations
    2. The idea that Greek science never really penetrated deeply into Islamic thinking
    3. The idea that religion is a comparatively weak stimulus to conduct
    4. The idea that societies tend to be most innovative in frontier areas
    5. The idea that non-Moslems were marginalized in Islamic society
  30. David Lindberg notes that Islamic schools differed from their Western counterparts chiefly in:
    1. Putting more emphasis on science
    2. Not having a well-defined curriculum
    3. Putting more emphasis on languages
    4. Not emphasizing theology
    5. Being open to all citizens
  31. The event that utterly demolished any prospect of reuniting the Roman and Greek churches was:
    1. The Byzantine attack on Rome
    2. The Pope ordering the assassination of the Greek Ortodox Patriarch
    3. The Crusader sack of Constantinople
    4. The Greek Orthodox Patriarch ordering the assassination of the Pope
    5. The Moslem conquest of Constantinople
  32. The Mongol destruction of Baghdad happened
    1. Before the Crusades
    2. During the earlier Crusades
    3. After the Crusades
    4. During the later Crusades
    5. Before the rise of Islam
  33. Some Muslim authorities consider this a sixth pillar of Islam:
    1. Going on missionary expeditions
    2. Learning
    3. Marriage
    4. Abstaining from alcohol
    5. Jihad
  34. The last (Eighth) Crusade never reached the Holy Land at all because:
    1. The king's brother had interests in obstructing it
    2. A Moslem fleet sank the Crusader fleet
    3. The Crusader fleet sank in a storm
    4. The Arabs agreed to a truce
    5. A plague broke out among the Crusaders
  35. The destruction of Baghdad was a staggering blow to Islamic culture because:
    1. The Caliph was killed
    2. The last great center of Islamic learning was destroyed
    3. The canal system that irrigated Iraq was destroyed
    4. The unifying influence of the Caliph was eliminated
    5. All the above
  36. What environmental factor may have limited Mongol conquests?
    1. They could not stand heat
    2. They could not stand cold
    3. They feared the sea
    4. They could not cross barren country
    5. Their style of warfare was best suited to open country
  37. What did the Mongols do in China that differed from their practice elsewhere?
    1. Failed to learn the language
    2. Imposed their own religion
    3. Forced the ppulation to speak Mongolian
    4. Relied on foreigners for sensitive missions
    5. Left the ruling dynasty intact
  38. Which was not a route by which Islam tried to penetrate Europe?
    1. Spain
    2. Sicily
    3. The Balkans
    4. Russia

  39. This country fought a 700-year war to expel Arab invaders
    1. Spain
    2. Bulgaria
    3. Greece
    4. Italy
    5. Poland
  40. What role did Italian cities play in the Crusades?
    1. Supplied most of the men
    2. Supplied the best generals
    3. Advanced money
    4. Built ships
    5. Banking, accounting, and sold supplies

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Created January 3, 1997; Last Update 05 October 2006

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