AP®︎ World History: Unit 2 Practice Test
Prepare for your quiz, test, or the AP exam with focused practice questions on Unit 2 of AP World History – Networks of Exchange.
Questions List
Unit 2 (All Topics)
Question 1 Topic 2.1Easy
Bills of exchange allowed merchants to
What You’re Being Tested On:
Explore the learning objectives taken directly from the College Board’s AP® World History: Modern Curriculum. Ensure you’re prepared for the exact topics covered on the AP® exam, in-class tests, and quizzes, and gain confidence in your mastery of the material.
Unit 2: Networks of Exchange
This unit explores the growing interconnectedness of Afro-Eurasia through major trade routes such as the Silk Roads, Indian Ocean, and Trans-Saharan networks. It examines the economic, cultural, and environmental effects of increased trade and the role of empires and merchants in facilitating global exchange.
Topic 2.1: The Silk Roads
Thematic Focus: Economic SystemsECN
As societies develop, they affect and are affected by the ways that they produce, exchange, and consume goods and services.
Learning Objective: Unit 2: Learning Objective A
Explain the causes and effects of growth of networks of exchange after 1200.
Historical Developments: KC-3.1.I.A.i
Improved commercial practices led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes—including the Silk Roads—promoting the growth of powerful new trading cities.
Historical Developments: KC-3.1.I.C.i
The growth of interregional trade in luxury goods was encouraged by innovations in previously existing transportation and commercial technologies, including the caravanserai, forms of credit, and the development of money economies.
Historical Developments: KC-3.3.I.B
Demand for luxury goods increased in Afro-Eurasia. Chinese, Persian, and Indian artisans and merchants expanded their production of textiles and porcelains for export; manufacture of iron and steel expanded in China.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
- Kashgar
- Samarkand
- Bills of exchange
- Banking houses
- Use of paper money
Topic 2.2: The Mongol Empire and the Making of the Modern World
Thematic Focus: GovernanceGOV
A variety of internal and external factors contribute to state formation, expansion, and decline. Governments maintain order through a variety of administrative institutions, policies, and procedures, and governments obtain, retain, and exercise power in different ways and for different purposes.
Learning Objective: Unit 2: Learning Objective B
Explain the process of state building and decline in Eurasia over time.
Historical Developments: KC-3.2.I.B.iii
Empires collapsed in different regions of the world and in some areas were replaced by new imperial states, including the Mongol khanates.
Thematic Focus: Economic SystemsECN
As societies develop, they affect and are affected by the ways that they produce, exchange, and consume goods and services.
Learning Objective: Unit 2: Learning Objective C
Explain how the expansion of empires influenced trade and communication over time.
Historical Developments: KC-3.1.I.E.i
The expansion of empires—including the Mongols—facilitated Afro-Eurasian trade and communication as new people were drawn into their conquerors’ economies and trade networks.
Thematic Focus: Cultural Developments and InteractionsCDI
The development of ideas, beliefs, and religions illustrates how groups in society view themselves, and the interactions of societies and their beliefs often have political, social, and cultural implications.
Learning Objective: Unit 2: Learning Objective D
Explain the significance of the Mongol Empire in larger patterns of continuity and change.
Historical Developments: KC-3.2.II.A.ii
Interregional contacts and conflicts between states and empires, including the Mongols, encouraged significant technological and cultural transfers.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
- Transfer of Greco–Islamic medical knowledge to western Europe
- Transfer of numbering systems to Europe
- Adoption of Uyghur script
Topic 2.3: Exchange in the Indian Ocean
Thematic Focus: Economic SystemsECN
As societies develop, they affect and are affected by the ways that they produce, exchange, and consume goods and services.
Learning Objective: Unit 2: Learning Objective E
Explain the causes of the growth of networks of exchange after 1200.
Historical Developments: KC-3.1.I.A.ii
Improved transportation technologies and commercial practices led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes, including the Indian Ocean, promoting the growth of powerful new trading cities.
Historical Developments: KC-3.1.I.C.ii
The growth of interregional trade in luxury goods was encouraged by significant innovations in previously existing transportation and commercial technologies, including the use of the compass, the astrolabe, and larger ship designs.
Historical Developments: KC-3.1.I.A.iii
The Indian Ocean trading network fostered the growth of states.
Thematic Focus: Cultural Developments and InteractionsCDI
The development of ideas, beliefs, and religions illustrates how groups in society view themselves, and the interactions of societies and their beliefs often have political, social, and cultural implications.
Learning Objective: Unit 2: Learning Objective F
Explain the effects of the growth of networks of exchange after 1200.
Historical Developments: KC-3.1.III.B
In key places along important trade routes, merchants set up diasporic communities where they introduced their own cultural traditions into the indigenous cultures and, in turn, indigenous cultures influenced merchant cultures.
Historical Developments: KC-3.2.II.A.iii
Interregional contacts and conflicts between states and empires encouraged significant technological and cultural transfers, including during Chinese maritime activity led by Ming Admiral Zheng He.
Thematic Focus: Humans and the EnvironmentsENV
The environment shapes human societies, and as populations grow and change, these populations in turn shape their environments.
Learning Objective: Unit 2: Learning Objective G
Explain the role of environmental factors in the development of networks of exchange in the period from c. 1200 to c. 1450.
Historical Developments: KC-3.1.II.A.i
The expansion and intensification of long-distance trade routes often depended on environmental knowledge, including advanced knowledge of the monsoon winds.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
- City-states of the Swahili Coast
- Gujarat
- Sultanate of Malacca
- Arab and Persian communities in East Africa
- Chinese merchant communities in Southeast Asia
- Malay communities in the Indian Ocean basin
Topic 2.4: Trans-Saharan Trade Routes
Thematic Focus: Technology and InnovationTEC
Human adaptation and innovation have resulted in increased efficiency, comfort, and security, and technological advances have shaped human development and interactions with both intended and unintended consequences.
Learning Objective: Unit 2: Learning Objective H
Explain the causes and effects of the growth of trans-Saharan trade.
Historical Developments: KC-3.1.II.A.ii
The growth of interregional trade was encouraged by innovations in existing transportation technologies.
Historical Developments: KC-3.1.I.A.iv
Improved transportation technologies and commercial practices led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes, including the trans-Saharan trade network.
Thematic Focus: GovernanceGOV
A variety of internal and external factors contribute to state formation, expansion, and decline. Governments maintain order through a variety of administrative institutions, policies, and procedures, and governments obtain, retain, and exercise power in different ways and for different purposes.
Learning Objective: Unit 2: Learning Objective I
Explain how the expansion of empires influenced trade and communication over time.
Historical Developments: KC-3.1.I.E.ii
The expansion of empires—including Mali in West Africa–facilitated Afro-Eurasian trade and communication as new people were drawn into the economies and trade networks.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
- Camel saddle
- Caravans
Topic 2.5: Cultural Consequences of Connectivity
Thematic Focus: Cultural Developments and InteractionsCDI
The development of ideas, beliefs, and religions illustrates how groups in society view themselves, and the interactions of societies and their beliefs often have political, social, and cultural implications.
Learning Objective: Unit 2: Learning Objective J
Explain the intellectual and cultural effects of the various networks of exchange in Afro-Eurasia from c. 1200 to c. 1450.
Historical Developments: KC-3.1.III.D
Increased cross-cultural interactions resulted in the diffusion of literary, artistic, and cultural traditions, as well as scientific and technological innovations.
Historical Developments: KC-3.3.II
The fate of cities varied greatly, with periods of significant decline and periods of increased urbanization, buoyed by rising productivity and expanding trade networks.
Historical Developments: KC-3.1.III.C
As exchange networks intensified, an increasing number of travelers within Afro-Eurasia wrote about their travels.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
- The influence of Buddhism in East Asia
- The spread of Hinduism and Buddhism into Southeast Asia
- The spread of Islam in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia
- Gunpowder from China
- Paper from China
- Ibn Battuta
- Margery Kempe
- Marco Polo
Topic 2.6: Environmental Consequences of Connectivity
Thematic Focus: Humans and the EnvironmentsENV
The environment shapes human societies, and as populations grow and change, these populations in turn shape their environments.
Learning Objective: Unit 2: Learning Objective K
Explain the environmental effects of the various networks of exchange in Afro-Eurasia from c. 1200 to c. 1450.
Historical Developments: KC-3.1.IV
There was continued diffusion of crops and pathogens, with epidemic diseases, including the bubonic plague, along trade routes.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
- Bananas in Africa
- New rice varieties in East Asia
- Spread of citrus in the Mediterranean
Topic 2.7: Comparison of Economic Exchange
Learning Objective: Unit 2: Learning Objective L
Explain the similarities and differences among the various networks of exchange in the period from c. 1200 to c. 1450.
Review: KC-3.1
A deepening and widening of networks of human interaction within and across regions contributed to cultural, technological, and biological diffusion within and between various societies.
Review: KC-3.1.I.A.i
Improved commercial practices led to an increased volume of trade and expanded the geographical range of existing trade routes—including the Silk Roads—promoting the growth of powerful new trading cities.
Review: KC-3.1.I.C.i
The growth of interregional trade in luxury goods was encouraged by innovations in previously existing transportation and commercial technologies, including the caravanserai, forms of credit, and the development of money economies.
Review: KC-3.3
Changes in trade networks resulted from and stimulated increasing productive capacity, with important implications for social and gender structures and environmental processes.
Review: KC-3.3.I.B
Demand for luxury goods increased in Afro-Eurasia. Chinese, Persian, and Indian artisans and merchants expanded their production of textiles and porcelains for export; manufacture of iron and steel expanded in China.
