AP World History Exam Multiple Choice
When you signed up to take the AP World History class, you signed an imaginary contract. This imaginary contract states that not only will you have to be able to memorize and know AP World History, but you have to be able to analyze the answer choices provided and sort out the least accurate choices from the most accurate. Confused? Great, that's why you're here. Below is an awesome guide to the Multiple Choice section of the AP World History Exam, that if you follow, hopefully at the end of this page you will better understand the Multiple Choice. Let's get started.
Structure
I want to first review the structure of the AP World History Exam. The AP
World History Exam is divided into two sections; multiple choice and free-response essays. Section
I of the test is comprised of 70 multiple-choice questions to be answered in 55
minutes. Section
II of the test begins with a ten-minute reading period (time to review the
documents you must use for the first essay question), followed by a two-hour
period to write three essays. Now that is a lot of history! The
AP World History Exam divides all history into five major periods from
Foundations to the present. Of
course, these five periods cover a huge span of time. On
the Multiple-Choice section of the test, the distribution of questions is as
follows:
In addition to all this history, the AP Board likes to make the test even harder. Remember how you took unit tests, where you took a test about just that one time period? Well the AP World History Exam isn't like that. What the AP Board did is jumble up all the questions so they are out of order. For example, you might be reading one question about Christopher Columbus, and the next question is about World War II.
What does the AP World History Exam Multiple Choice want from me?
First off, awesome question. Secondly, the AP Exam wants a lot from you, as much as the Cookie Monster wants cookies from the cookie jar. So what
is the AP World History Exam Multiple Choice really testing? Well they are testing multiple abilities you should have learned throughout the past year. Here are some of the abilities that the AP World History Exam should be testing you on:
Can you make connections between different societies over different periods of time?
For any given period of history, can you explain who was doing what?
How did what they were doing affect the rest of the world?
What changed about the society during this period of time?
These questions should be kept in mind throughout the AP Exam, for the Multiple Choice section AND the Essay section. To help you do this, keep an eye out for certain recurring themes throughout the different time periods. Specifically, be on the lookout for the following key questions structures:
How did people interact with their environment? Why did they live where they did? How did they get there? What tools, technology, and resources were available to them? How was the landscape changed by humans?
What new ideas, thoughts, and styles came into existence? How did these cultural developments influence people and technology (For example: new religious beliefs or Renaissance thought)?
How did different societies get along - or not get along - within a time period? Who took over who? How did leaders justify their power? Who revolted or was likely to revolt? And were they successful?
How did economic systems develop and what did they depend on in terms of agriculture, trade, labor, industrialization, and the demands of consumers?
Who had power and who did not within a given culture and why? What was the status of women? What racial and ethnic constructions were present?
But note that these are question structures, and actual key words relating to the topic being questioned will be included on the exam. For example: How did paleolithic people interact with their environment, and how was the landscape changed as humans evolved throughout 8000 B.C.E to 600 C.E.?
Can you make connections between different societies over different periods of time?
For any given period of history, can you explain who was doing what?
How did what they were doing affect the rest of the world?
What changed about the society during this period of time?
These questions should be kept in mind throughout the AP Exam, for the Multiple Choice section AND the Essay section. To help you do this, keep an eye out for certain recurring themes throughout the different time periods. Specifically, be on the lookout for the following key questions structures:
How did people interact with their environment? Why did they live where they did? How did they get there? What tools, technology, and resources were available to them? How was the landscape changed by humans?
What new ideas, thoughts, and styles came into existence? How did these cultural developments influence people and technology (For example: new religious beliefs or Renaissance thought)?
How did different societies get along - or not get along - within a time period? Who took over who? How did leaders justify their power? Who revolted or was likely to revolt? And were they successful?
How did economic systems develop and what did they depend on in terms of agriculture, trade, labor, industrialization, and the demands of consumers?
Who had power and who did not within a given culture and why? What was the status of women? What racial and ethnic constructions were present?
But note that these are question structures, and actual key words relating to the topic being questioned will be included on the exam. For example: How did paleolithic people interact with their environment, and how was the landscape changed as humans evolved throughout 8000 B.C.E to 600 C.E.?
The Imaginary Contract
Remember how I mentioned that imaginary contract above? I want to talk about it a little bit more to help you understand what you need to know for the AP Exam. So you signed up for AP World History, and you signed the imaginary contract. But what is it? Well the imaginary contact is just an imaginary piece of paper stating that you need to be able to know two things in order to pass the AP World History Exam. 1, know the AP World History curriculum (periods, people,vocabulary, wars, movements, etc.) and 2, show that you know world history (aka, analyzing). If you're confused, that's ok, you won't be in a few minutes. I hope that you can accomplish the first requirement, that can be done by simplifying studying and memorizing. But it's the second that really sets apart the students that score a 3, 4, or 5 from students that fail the exam. The second requirement is a skill, or an ability, that you learn throughout the year. Below is an AP World History Exam Multiple Choice question, with two different answering methods. Try to guess which student got a 4 and which student got a 2.
"Signed in 1215 C.E., England's Magna Carta was a document that
(A) increased the wealth of the European nobility
(B) intensified the conflict between the church and state
(C) established England as a monarchy under King Richard
(D) guaranteed individual liberties to all men
(E) contained articles that were the foundation for modern justice"
Student 1:
The Magna Carta—I know it was that charter -England in the 1200s that made the king accountable for his actions so the answer can't be (A) 1 . who was that king? Was it John? I think so. That gets rid of(C). Now, is it more accurate to say the original document guaranteed individual Liberties to all men or that some of the articles became foundations for modern justice. Individual liberties for all men...hmmm...foundations for modern justice. Both sound possible. Was it liberties for ' men? I thought so but maybe not or not all men or not at the time. Did the Magna Carta influence modern justice? I think so but in what way exactly? Could it be described as foundational to modern Justice? Hmmm....
Student 2:
The Magna Carta—that charter in England in the 1200's that made the king accountable for his actions. Cross off (A), cross off(B). The king was... John...yeah, King John. That gets rid of(C). (D)...hmmm...did the Magna Carta guarantee individual liberties to all men? Maybe, not sure so leave it. (E)...did it contain articles that became foundations of modern justice? Could have. Guaranteed for all men or foundations of modern justice? I'm not sure, but I think (D) is too strong—guaranteed/or all men. I'll guess (E). Next question. The printing press was invented by Gutenberg sometime near the Reformation. Cross off (A) and (D)...
As you can see from above, while Student 1 knew all about the Magna Carta, the student couldn't analyze the choices to decide the correct answer. Student 1 did all the work they could, then got stuck trying to make a decision between the two remaining options, and consequently, caused them to start to lag behind Student 2. This is opposite from Student 2, who knew all about the Magna Carta and was able to analyze the question and cross off choices that weren't accurate. Student 2 did all the work they could, considered the remaining options, then took a smart guess and moved on.
The important lesson to learn is that you will most likely not know every question, or the answers will be too similar, or they may all seem correct. But if you analyze each choice you have, you will have a greater chance of getting the question right. And you will most likely pass the AP World Exam. But do not over analyze and become stuck on a question. But NEVER skip a question, because you don't know it. In the past there was a guessing penalty to the AP World History Exam Multiple Choice, but in 2010 this penalty was removed. Even if you are not sure, try to narrow down the choices that are presented to you, and mark the answer that is most right in your opinion before moving on. You never know, it could be the right answer, and if it was wrong, it was better than not choosing an answer, as not guessing would have not even given you the chance to get the point.
"Signed in 1215 C.E., England's Magna Carta was a document that
(A) increased the wealth of the European nobility
(B) intensified the conflict between the church and state
(C) established England as a monarchy under King Richard
(D) guaranteed individual liberties to all men
(E) contained articles that were the foundation for modern justice"
Student 1:
The Magna Carta—I know it was that charter -England in the 1200s that made the king accountable for his actions so the answer can't be (A) 1 . who was that king? Was it John? I think so. That gets rid of(C). Now, is it more accurate to say the original document guaranteed individual Liberties to all men or that some of the articles became foundations for modern justice. Individual liberties for all men...hmmm...foundations for modern justice. Both sound possible. Was it liberties for ' men? I thought so but maybe not or not all men or not at the time. Did the Magna Carta influence modern justice? I think so but in what way exactly? Could it be described as foundational to modern Justice? Hmmm....
Student 2:
The Magna Carta—that charter in England in the 1200's that made the king accountable for his actions. Cross off (A), cross off(B). The king was... John...yeah, King John. That gets rid of(C). (D)...hmmm...did the Magna Carta guarantee individual liberties to all men? Maybe, not sure so leave it. (E)...did it contain articles that became foundations of modern justice? Could have. Guaranteed for all men or foundations of modern justice? I'm not sure, but I think (D) is too strong—guaranteed/or all men. I'll guess (E). Next question. The printing press was invented by Gutenberg sometime near the Reformation. Cross off (A) and (D)...
As you can see from above, while Student 1 knew all about the Magna Carta, the student couldn't analyze the choices to decide the correct answer. Student 1 did all the work they could, then got stuck trying to make a decision between the two remaining options, and consequently, caused them to start to lag behind Student 2. This is opposite from Student 2, who knew all about the Magna Carta and was able to analyze the question and cross off choices that weren't accurate. Student 2 did all the work they could, considered the remaining options, then took a smart guess and moved on.
The important lesson to learn is that you will most likely not know every question, or the answers will be too similar, or they may all seem correct. But if you analyze each choice you have, you will have a greater chance of getting the question right. And you will most likely pass the AP World Exam. But do not over analyze and become stuck on a question. But NEVER skip a question, because you don't know it. In the past there was a guessing penalty to the AP World History Exam Multiple Choice, but in 2010 this penalty was removed. Even if you are not sure, try to narrow down the choices that are presented to you, and mark the answer that is most right in your opinion before moving on. You never know, it could be the right answer, and if it was wrong, it was better than not choosing an answer, as not guessing would have not even given you the chance to get the point.
Process of Elimination (POE)
What you saw each student do above in the AP World History Exam Multiple Choice example was POE. No, not Principles of Engineering! What the students did was use an ability they learned called the Process of Elimination. You must remember when taking the AP Exam that four out of the five answer choices you can choose from are wrong. And even if they all seem similar, I can guarantee that there are hints in each one pointing out why it's wrong or right. So how do you do this? First, use POE to rule out answers that you know are wrong. For example, if the question is asking about World War II generals, and Christopher Columbus is an option, you should be able to rule him out as wrong. Now you have four answers to choose from. Keep doing this until you can't anymore with the answers that you have left, you should be able to eliminate an average of three. The second step is to search your brain as quickly as possible for which answer seems right. If you can't choose one after the second step, move onto the third and final step, making a smart educated guess.
Below is a PDF of a PowerPoint that includes more examples and basically everything I talked about above. I also recommend buying the book, "Cracking the AP World History Exam, 2013 Edition" by The Princeton Review, as it contains information like above done in a very professional and understandable level, with about ten times more information than I mentioned.
Below is a PDF of a PowerPoint that includes more examples and basically everything I talked about above. I also recommend buying the book, "Cracking the AP World History Exam, 2013 Edition" by The Princeton Review, as it contains information like above done in a very professional and understandable level, with about ten times more information than I mentioned.
apworldhistoryexammultiplechoice.pdf | |
File Size: | 104 kb |
File Type: |
Good Luck!
The truth of the matter is that I could tell you everything I know and you could read all the guidebooks you want, but practice makes perfect, seriously. By taking AP World History Practice Exams out there on the internet or in books, by following guides like this one, reading guides, taking unit tests, and learning all of your AP World History in class, you should have no trouble passing the AP World History Exam. But it all comes back to how motivated you are and how much practice you do. So good luck, and practice!