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1. How do most historians currently regard the
different myths concerning the origin of the
world and of human beings?
A. They are to be totally discounted as worthless fabrications
B. They are unverifiable but nonetheless important
commentaries on how societies have viewed human origins
C. Contrary to what had been previously supposed, much of the content of these myths have been found to be historically verifiable
D. They all tend to see human beings as an insignificant afterthought
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CORRECT ANSWER: B
A. Though historians once totally dismissed these myths, most have come to believe that myth and history are closely related
C. These are folk traditions based on popular belief and, as such, cannot be Verified
D. The Biblical Book of Genesis, for one, places humans
2. Which of the following expresses the truest
statement about the Darwinist Evolutionary
theory?
A. There exists a basic underlying moral purpose behind the process of natural selection
B. The development of complex forms of animal life did not presuppose that humans should be included in the evolutionary chain
C. Differing environments often determine how members of the same species might develop and change
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CORRECT ANSWER: C
A. Darwin left moral and ethical designs completely out of his theory
B. Darwin linked human beings as the end product of evolution
E. In On the Origin of Species, Darwin acknowledged
3. How are the Neanderthal presently considered by
scientists and historians?
A. As being the “missing link” B. As being muscular and stupid
C. As being deformed and hideous in appearance D. As being quite adept at tool making and
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CORRECT ANSWER: D
A. Scientists now believe that there is no single “missing link”
B. Reconstructions of physical appearance based on bones might be Inaccurate
4. Why is homo erectus now widely considered to
have been a “worldwide wanderer”?
A. because of similarities in remains unearthed in widely differing locations
B. only because of discoveries of human fossils in the Olduvai Gorge
C. because of great differences between Java Man and Beijing Man
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CORRECT ANSWER: A
B. even though these are the oldest human fossils, they would not, in and of themselves prove the dispersion of homo erectus on a global scale
C. Java Man and Beijing Man are, on the contrary, almost identical
5. How do the “Noah’s Ark” and Candelabra”
Theories differ most radically in their
interpretations of human origins
A. The “Candelabra” Theory denies that homo erectus
originated in Africa
B. The “Noah’s Ark Theory believes that a primeval flood destroyed human being in all regions
except Africa
C. The “Candelabra” Theory suggests that even though
homo erectus originated in Africa, that homo sapiens
developed independently in Asia and Europe
D. The “Candelabra” Theory puts forward the idea that
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CORRECT ANSWER: C
A. This theory does believe the original home of homo
erectus to be in Africa
B. The term “Noah’s Ark” does not refer to the Bibilical Flood in this instance but to the fact that this theory proposes a more recent human origin in Africa
D. This theory claims “multiregional” origins for
6. What do recent comparative studies in animal and
human DNA suggest about human origins?
A. That human, chimpanzees and gorillas shared a common ancestry up to 5-7 million years ago B. Humans evolved simultaneously from Africa &
Europe 5-7 million years ago
C. Humans are genetically 87% the same as chimpanzees
D. No evidence was deduced for common ape-human ancestry
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CORRECT ANSWER = A
B. Only Africa figured in the findings C. They are 97% similar
7. What conclusion does the author reach
concerning “Scientific Revolution”?
A. History is governed by an unchanging paradigm
B. Darwin’s Theory and the Genesis account share
nothing in common
C. New fossil discoveries have upset the old paradigm D. Historians and paleoanthropologists share in the
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CORRECT ANSWER = D
A. The historical record is never complete
B. They share belief in the creation of a cosmos before the advent of humans
C. They seem to fit in to the expected evolutionary timeframe
8. What seems to have differentiated Homo sapiens
sapiens from other humans?
A. Ability to make stone tools B. Capacity to exist in nature C. Bipedalism
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CORRECT ANSWER = D
A. This occurred long before Homo sapiens sapiens
emerged c. 100,000 B.P.
B. This had always been the case for early humans C. Bipedalism appeared at least as early as
9. What is the generally accepted conclusion
relating to early Global migration?
A. That it was chaotic and had no apparent purpose B. It was influenced by climactic changes
C. Global wars drove vast numbers across Continents D. Universally warm climate put humans off wandering
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CORRECT ANSWER = B
A. People seem to have made decisions to respond to specific opportunities
C. There is no evidence for this
D. An Ice Age prevailed over much of the Northern hemisphere
10. What do we know as a scientific certainty
concerning the origin of human language?
A. That it originated biologically almost at once B. That it evolved culturally over time
C. It originated only when humans began migrating D. None of the above
© 2006 Pearson Education, Inc.
CORECT ANSWER = D
A., B., & C. Evidence for language is invisible in the archaeological record, and therefore no evidence exists for these ideas.
11. All of these elements appear to be characteristic
of cave art except for:
A. Indicating that the caves served as inter-group meeting grounds
B. Location of paintings away from the mouth of the cave
C. Being strictly representational rather than abstract D. The paintings providing links to ancient spirits
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CORRECT ANSWER = C
A. The paintings are composed in different styles by different groups
B. The paintings are located mainly in the inner recesses D. Inner-cave location of the paintings may indicate this
12. In greater likelihood, how might Polynesia have
been populated?
A. Land bridges
B. By the Chinese at a very early point in history C. Only c. 1000 B.C.E., by New Guineans in canoes D. They had always been populated
© 2006 Pearson Education, Inc.
CORRECT ANSWER = C
A. There were no land bridges with which to connect
B. There is no evidence that the Chinese ever attempted this
13. In what period does the human-devised harpoon
occur?
A. Mousterian B. Aurignacian C. Solutrean D. Magdalenian
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CORRECT ANSWER = D
A. Scrapers occur in this specific era
B. More sophisticated scrapers were made then C. Needles occur in the Solutrean period
14. What incentive might human being have had for
abandoning a nomadic life in favor of
permanently settling in specific areas?
A. All of the following
B. Desire for a permanent food source
C. Population pressures reducing scope for travel
D. Discovery that agriculture could produce more food than hunting/gathering
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