SAMPLE ASSESSMENT TASKS

FOR THE REVISED

SECONDARY ONE SYLLABUS

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THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

LIBRARIES

This book was receivedin accordance with the Books

Registration OrdinanceSection

TEACHING THINKING

EFFECTIVE LEARNING

SAMPLE ASSESSMENT TASKS

FOR THE REVISED

SECONDARY ONE SYLLABUS

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Curriculum Development in^titut^Education Department

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History Sample Assessment Tasks for the Revised Secondary One Syllabus

Prepared by

Humanities Unit,

Curriculum Development Institute,

Education Department, Hong Kong.

BOOKS REGISTRATION ORDINANCEChapter !42

No.: HK 4 9 385., H

First Print: 1999

© 1999 Copyright belongs to the Education Department, Hong Kong. Except for teaching and

other non-profit-making purposes, no part of this book should be duplicated without the writtenconsent of the Education Department.

ISBN 962-8103-43-1

PREFACE

Assessment of Thinking Skills andUnderstanding of Historical Concepts

A. Multiple Choice QuestionsMulti-purpose multiple choice questionsA. Life in the Main Centres of Early CivilizationB. life in Ancient Greco-Roman CivilizationC. Life in Medieval Times

B.True or FalseA. Life in the Main Centres of Early CivilizationB. life in Ancient Greco-Roman Civilization

C.Fill in the BlanksA. Life in the Main Centres of Early CivilizationB. life in Ancient Greco-Roman Civilization

D. MatchingA. life in the Main Centres of Early CivilizationB. life in Medieval Times

E. Fact or OpinionA, life in the Main Centres of Early CivilizationB. life in Ancient Greco-Roman Civilization

F. Long QuestionsA. life in the Main Centres of Early CivilizationB. life in Ancient Greco-Roman Civilization

C. life in Medieval Times

G. Design Questions

151620

2328

32

3335

373840

434445

4647

49

50

515566

70

Appendix 73

In June 1998 and April 1999, the Humanities Unit of Curriculum Development Institute

published two series of "Teaching Thinking for Effective Learning in History - Sample Tasks for

the Revised Secondary One Syllabus" to support the implementation of the revised Sl-3 History

Syllabus and the teaching of critical thinking skills in classrooms.

Meanwhile, in the aspect of assessment, which is an important component of the

curriculum, the traditional emphasis on rote learning is no longer appropriate to the new teach-

ing mode. This handbook provides some examples of examination questions which are consid-

ered more effective in assessing students' thinking skills, historical concepts and basic historical

knowledge. It is hoped that the change in the format of assessment will further arouse students'

interest in History and enhance their thinking and creative ability.

Teachers are welcome to send their comments on this work to the following address:

Principal Inspector,

Humanities Unit,

Curriculum Development Institute,

13/F, Wu Chung House,

213 Queen's Road East,

Hong Kong.

May 1999

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Why should questions on thinking skills be included in examinations or tests?

1. Realisation of the spirit of the curriculum

C aims and objectives^!........ * - **

cexaminations andassessment History

SubjectI scope and contentV__ _ j

' * * , » Reaching and learning^ <

The curriculum of this subject generally comprises the above 4 inter-related elements. It

has been clearly stated that the aims and objectives of the curriculum are to enhance students'

critical thinking skills, and corresponding adjustments have already been made to the scope and

content of the curriculum as well as to the mode of teaching and learning. Can the mode of

examination and assessment remain unchanged?

Newobjectives

Reducin:content

StudentsTeachers

Acquisition of knowledge Spare more time to realise Teaching knowledge, skills Memory-based questionsMastery of skills the above objectives by tai- and attitude might hamper the effective-Development of attitudes taring the content and nar- ness of learning

rowing down the scope.

Objective - Content Teaching PAssessrnent

Hence, it is more reasonable to study and to test what has been taught. Since the

development of critical thinking skills and understanding of historical concepts have been in-

cluded in the aims and objectives of the History syllabus, questions related with these topics

should also be included in examinations.

Come on! Let me teach youShao-lin Quan

Let's begin the test! Let me firsttest your Wu-dang Jian

PowerPoint I

Sir, your class is

fascinating, with IT,

|| workingsheets, and it's

thought-provoking,

but

All the students said:"... but, it's completely something else when it comes to examination.

What you taught never appear in the exam questions Sir, how about something more

realistic? Just help us to memorize the texts will do."

A fair examination means not only fair marking of papers, but also consistency in what

is being tested and the stated aims and objectives of the curriculum. The exam should not

exceed the scope and content of the curriculum too. If the curriculum aims at developing

students' thinking skills, and classroom teaching can also attain this, but examinations test only

their memory, how can such examinations be regarded as fair?

2. Make use of the mode of assessment to change students' mode of learning

If exam questions merely focus ontesting the memory of students, and teachers

while marking the exam papers only take

into account whether students have suc-

ceeded in providing the required information,then students would ...

Learningwithoutunderstanding!

Surface Learning

This is thewriter'sopinion.

This point ofview isungrounded!

If thinking skills and the understand-

ing of historical concepts would be tested inexaminations, then we could make use of

this opportunity to change the mode of learn-

ing of students.If students all shift from surface

learning to deep learning, how great would

be the impact on them? Just think about it.

Deep Learning

3. Rectify students1 or even the public's perception of History

sheer memorization!

' Whv can't we simt>lv test the memory of students?

1. Rote learning is of little use

One will forget what jwas memorized Ishortly after the /examination. J

What's the use of

memorizing without

understanding?

2. Repeating our predecessors' mistakes

The shortcomings of civil serviceexaminations in the Qing Dynasty

Mode of examinations - limited to 8-legged essays,innovation was suppressed.

Scope of examinations -focussing on the classics.It's no use to study in depth.

f If we just test whetherstudents can memorize theinformation given inthe textbooks, are wemaking the same mistakesas our predecessors did?

3- This mode of assessment will simply strangle students' interest in learning

4. Ignoring the aspirations of parents

A groxip of par-ents declaredtheir wish forHong Kong'seducation

We have a wish :May our children have the time

and opportunity to learn how to

think, instead of memorizing

model answers and excessive text-

book knowledge ...

c Is memorization totally useless?

School AOutstanding schol-ars all haveencyclopaedicknowledge and agood memory, Thestandard of ourstudents is high andthey have strongincentive and goodmemory. Why notlet them memorizemore information?

SchoolBAccording to educationalpsychologists, memorization is askill of the lowest order. Thestandard of our students is low,and so is their motivation. It isdifficult to ask them to understandthe questions. It'd be better tolower the examination require-ments and ask them to answer thequestions by memorization.This still gives them some sense ofachievement!

Response 1

The faculty of memory comes from concentration on certain matters.If this concentration is to be prolonged, the impetus usually comes fromthe student's interest. For example, some students can fully memorizetelevision programmes and some students can remember every detail oftheir electronic games. They can do these because they are interested inthese matters. But subjects which only focus on memorization cannotarouse the interest of capable students. In order to maintain the interest ofstudents in a subject, the content of the subject should be challenging aswell as practical. If the students find interest in the subject, they will takethe initiative to study it and in time, will be able to memorize a lot ofrelated knowledge.

Academically low achievers usually lack the motivation rather than theability to learn. If we just ask them to memorize what they have beentaught, this would be equivalent to asking them to achieve the least chal-lenging goal by means of a most boring method. So, how is it possible toenhance their motivation to learn? If we are to stop this vicious circle, wehave to start with enhancing their motivation to learn. If we just ask themto memorize what they have been taught, it might be effective for a whilebut would eventually lead to negative results.

Response 2

Is there any middle course of action?

Since the students have already got used to the old way of assessment, can we ask them

to adapt themselves to another mode of assessment within a short time? Can we increase the

number of questions that assess students' thinking skills and understanding of historical conceptsgradually? How about a '50/50' option?

Eh, half of thequestions require

memorization? Do I wantto score high marks in theexamination? OK, let me

memorize them!

This way of learning is notvery meaningful to studentswho are capable andconfident.

No improvement will be madeby students who lack confi-dence or are reluctant tochange.

No reform can be achieved in one step. Nevertheless, a step-by-step approach does notwork sometimes.

Tsing Ma Bridge Let's do thingssteadily andbuild half of thebridge first1

If we want to encourage students to adopt deep learning by changing the mode of examination,

this change must be powerful enough. It'd have little effect if we only go halfway in the reformprocess.

-FJ^,^ Three Precautionary Measures to be Taken in Setting Questions

1. sBeware of "shams"

1. Source A...2. Source B...3. Source C...Head the abovesources careMly andstate the reasons forXXX.

Paper A1 Analyze thereasons for XXX

Multiple choices1 Which of the

, following is ther consequence of XXX?

" A . MAAB. -BBBB*C. CCCCD. DDDD

A pseudo-synthetical question

A pseudo-analytical questionA pseudo cause

and effect questionI haven't

studied themthoroughly.

information pro-vided is irrelevant to

answer. I still

already memo-rized the relevanttext, so I can just

memorization

In general, if students are able to give the answer by memorizing the text, then it is clear that

memorizing ability, rather than thinking skills, is required in answering the question.

2. Beware of Total Failure

Some teachers indicated that they had once set questions testing thinking skills only,

and all students failed. Therefore, when it came to the final examination, only questions testing

students' memory were set, or it might give rise to queries from school heads and protest fromparents,

To avoid the above situation, teachers may adopt the following measures :

a. Give advance notice - this can reduce students' stress in memorizing the

text (but not necessarily reduce the stress in examination), and will moti-

vate students to adopt the "Deep learning mode". When students are well

prepared, they can naturally pass the examination smoothly.

b. Practice makes perfect - if students are unable to adapt to the new mode

of examination or still have doubts, teachers can use the sample tasks

provided in this booklet for mock tests, When students become used to

such mode of examination, the possibility of total failure will be reduced.

c. Good practices should persist - try to obtain endorsement from colleagues,

parents, school head and students, then persist in adopting the new mode.

3. Beware of Over-correctionAssessment in the subject of History does not emphasize testing students' spelling skills.

Thus, even if students make spelling mistakes, as long as they can communicate effectively, their

answers should not be totally rejected. However, people generally expect that students who

have completed basic education would not misspell important historical terms and should have

some basic knowledge of the development of world history and its chronological order.

You've studied history.!Have you any ideawhat Marxism andCommunism are?

'Mark's sum? Is it a theoryabout Mark Six? "Com-mune needs some"? Is ita kind of communityservice? v Jf

Conclusion

It is difficult to define which is the basic historical knowledge that students must acquire

and which are trivial details that they need not memorize. This booklet has compiled a list of

sample questions which can be used to assess students' thinking skills, understanding of histori-

cal concepts and basic historical knowledge, but not their knowledge of trivial historical details.

Teachers are welcome to use them and to make any necessary modifications and give us some

feedback afterwards.

It is hoped that the above suggested change in the mode of assessment can motivate

students to adopt the deep learning mode. This will help to enhance their interest in learning

and hence, promote their critical thinking skills and creativity, and will eventually benefit our

society and country.

A. Multiple Choice Questions

Foreword

What are thepurposes ofexaminations?

f Force us to study. J ( Influence the way we study.

As a means to drive stu-dents to learn.

To influence the way stu-dents learn, e.g. superficial/deep learning.

But examina-tions can also...

Evaluate the results of stu-dents' learning.

Evaluate the effectivenessof teaching.

\

But, do you knowthat examinationscan also be a partof teaching?

To teach byexaminations?

|I

that reallywork?

Oh! He meansthat we don't work hard

regularly. We never read anythingexcept the exam papers. So, hehas to teach us through exam

papers.

,../iffH:4i<>f^mm

Examinations serve multiple purposes. Here we are to explore how to help students *!|i

familiarize with important historical concepts through specially designed examination questions.

What are the special purposes?

A few dozens of multiple choice questions are designed to encourage students to getfamiliarized with important historical concepts, so that they are better equipped for more

difficult questions in senior forms.

Quite some History exam papers of the senior forms have these problems.

The examination question asks why a cer-

tain event happened. Students write down

everything about the course of develop-

ment and its influence.

The examination question asks students to write

down their views and give reasonable explanation,

But students write down only the whole story of the

historical event.

These multiple choice questions are mainly for assessing students' understanding of

History concepts. We explicitly highlight the History concepts to be assessed so that students'

attention is drawn and thus facilitate them to choose the correct answer from the four options.

In the design of these examination questions, we make an effort not to assess stu-

dents on the tedious details in history so as to discourage rote-learning, We hope students

would firstly understand the questions and then pick the correct option which corresponds to

the stated historical concepts. One question is analysed below for illustration purpose.

Why did the Pharaohs of Egypt build Pyramids?

A. They built Pyramids as their tombs.

B. The Pyramid is the greatest building

constructed by mankind.

C. The Egyptians built Pyramids with .

huge stones

D. The Egyptians used the Pyramids as

temples to worship Zeus.

cause & effect

This is a reason.

This is the result, not a reason.

This is the process, not a reason.

This can be taken as a reason. But

this is historically untrue.

Through this type of questions, students are trained to grasp the historical concepts

of "Cause and Effect", "Evidence", "Interpretation" and "Evaluation". Understanding these con-

cepts would contribute to students' logical thinking and lay a foundation for further studies in

History.

Ah1 But this is only a tesSon language analysis.How can this be a historyexamination?

Language analysis is the foundation oflogical thinking. Senior form students oftengive an answer irrelevant to the question.One of the reasons is weak languageanalytical ability Furthermore, thedevelopment of analytical power is one ofthe aims and objectives of learning History.¥

Hey! But those who have analyticalability but no knowledge in historycan also give the correct answer.This type of questions in fact havenothing to do with knowledge in

There are four choices in each multiple choice &question. Only two are logical. And in these 1two, only one is historically correct. There is50% probability of giving the wrong answer ifone has only the analytical ability but not theknowledge in history. Furthermore, multiplechoice questions constitute only one part of the

paper.

Note : Answer for each of the followingmultiple choice question is A. Teach-ers who want to adopt these ques-tions are reminded to rearrange theorder of the options.

Life in the Main Centres of Early Civilization

For questions 1 to 4, select the option that can provide the best evidence to thestatement given.

1. The Sumenans lived on agriculture.A Archaeologists discovered farming tools there.B Soil along the River Tigris and Euphrates was fertile.C. The hair decoration and jewelry of the noble women were

found in the city of Ur.D The temple was the most important building.

2 Ancient Babylon had laws.A. Archaeologists discovered a stone pillar engraved with the

"Code of Hammurabi".B. Not every one was equal under the laws of Babylon.C. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" was the basic principle

of this set of laws.D. The "Code of Hammurabi" was engraved in cuneiform on the stone pillars.

3. The ancient Egyptians believed in a future life and in thatthe soul could have eternal life.

Mummy

Sphinx D The gold maskof PharaohTutankhamun

4. The Dravidians might have experienced massive massacre.A. Most of the skeletons the archaeologists discovered in Mohenjo-daro

and Harappa were those of women and children. And the skullsshowed axing wounds.

B. The civilization of the River Indus fell abruptly.C. The Aryans in the north of these cities were stronger than the

Dravidians and were better fighters.D. Until now we are unable to comprehend the language of the Dravidians.

5. Why did Pharaohs of Egypt built pyramids?A They built pyramids to keep out tomb robbers.B. Pyramids were the largest monuments built by humankind.C. They built pyramids made of very large stone blocks.D. Pyramids were used as temples to worship Zeus.

6. Pharaohs stopped building pyramids after around 1700 BC becauseA. pyramids could not keep out tomb robbers.B. pharoahs began to build tombs deep in the ground.C. workers arranged hidden rooms and secret passages inside the

pyramids.D Egypt was conquered by Greece and accepted Greek culture.

7. We know that the ancient Egyptians believed in many gods becauseA. we found pictures and writings about the gods from tomb walls

and papyrus.B. they cared very much about their lives after death.C. many drawings of the gods had a human body but an animal head.D.all peoples in ancient time believed in many gods.

8. Choose the option that provides the best explanation to the statementgiven. "Pharaohs in ancient Egypt were all-powerful."A. They could order as many as 1 million Egyptians to build

tombs for them.B. They could live veiy luxurious lives.C. 'Pharaoh' means 'great house1, the place where Egyptian rulers livedD.They were able to extend the Egyptian Empire to as far as India.

9. Egyptian priests turned dead bodies into mummies. This shows thatA. they believe in life after death.B. priests were even more powerful than pharaohs.C. human being can be divided in two parts: the body and the soul.D. Egyptians did not want their dead bodies cut open. So they

wrapped dead bodies with long pieces of cloth.

10. The Egyptians were the greatest builders of anicent time. Which option belowprovides the best evidence for this?A. They were able to build pyramids, underground tombs and great

temples,B. Their belief in the next world drove them to build great buildings

as tombs or places of worship.C. They used a lot of workers to build large buildings.D.They were able to build great ziggurats, temples and well planned cities.

Interpretation/nation.

11 Archaeologists found a lot of household utencils andmodels in the tombs. This tells us thatA. the Egyptians believed in a second life which

still required all sorts of supplies.B there were great differences among different

classes in ancient Egypt.C. the Egyptians were the greatest builders of ancient times.D. many Egyptians were so poor that they had to live in the tombs.

12. Great buildings, beautiful models and ornaments, colourful wallpictures etc. were discovered in Egypt. These indicate thatI. there were a lot of builders and craftsmen in ancient Egypt.II. farmers could produce enough food to support the builders

and craftsmenIII the pharaohs1 rule in ancient Egypt was very cruel.IV.the pharaohs had to conquer many places to get enough money

for these projects.A. I and II only B. II and III onlyC. I, II and III only C. I, II and IV only

13 The government of ancient Egypt was very efficient (capable).What evidence can support this?A. It could organise thousands of workers to build

pyramids for the pharaohs.B. The pharaohs were worshipped as the sons of

the god-sun.C. The pharaohs were the richest people in ancient Egypt.D. A very good network of roads linked all parts of Egypt together.

14. The River Nile was a blessing to ancient Egypt becauseI. its annual floods made the Egyptian land fertile.II. it provided the Egyptians with the main source of food and

means of transportation.IILit made the building of pyramids easier.IV.the trade along the Nile provided the pharaohs with the

main tax income.A. I and II only B. II and III onlyC. I, II and III only C. I, II and IV only

nterpretation/Explanation

Interpretation/Explanation

Life in Ancient Greco-Roman Civilization

1. The Greek city-states were very different from one another. This was becauseA. the Greek Peninsula was very mountainous and it was difficult to

travel from one town to another.B. they had different laws and governments.C. they often fought against each other.D. there was no common language or common culture among

the Greeks.

2 As a result of the Persian Wars,A. the Persian army dared not continue to invade Greece.B. Greek culture reached its 'Golden Age.1

C. the Greeks held Olympic Games every four years to honour Zeus.D the Greek city-states were united by Athens.

3. "The Spartans cared only about wars." Which option below providesevidence to support this statement?A. All Spartan men were soldiers for most of their lives.B. The Spartans did not build beautiful buildings.

They also cared Isittle about art,C. The Athenians cared very much about buildings,

writings and other artistic things.D. All Spartans, men and women, had to live in

army camps and fight in the war.

4. Democracy was practised in Athens. Which option below providesevidence to support this statement?A. All citizens could vote in the Assembly to make government

decisions.B. Sparta was ruled by a few kings and judges.C. The Athenians were the first to practise democracy

and many countries now also have democraticgovernment.

D. All citizens could elect leaders who would run the government for them.

5. The Greeks exported manufactured goods to the colonies and imported foodand raw materials from them. In this wayA. much wealth was produced so that the Greeks could develop

art, science and technology and build many fine buildingsB. sports became an important part of the Greek everyday life.C. Greek colonies were able to copy the Greek way of life.D. Greece was influenced by many cultures of other lands.

6 In the Greek Olympic Games, sportsmen did not wear any clothes. ManyGreek statues are also nude figures. This shows thatA. the Greeks believed that human bodies were beautiful , B^

'Interpretation/Explanation

B most Greeks did not wear any clothes at allC. Greek culture was superior to all other cultures at that time.D. in the Greek philosophy the 'body1 was more superior to the 'spirit.

7 The Greeks were famous for their buildings. Many of these buildings can still beseen today. This shows thatA. the design and materials for these buildings were both good.B. most Greeks lived in simple houses.C. the Greek philosophers also cared about practical matters.D Greece was free from wars and earthquakes.

8 Alexander was called 'the Great1 becauseA. he was a great soldier, founder and ruler of a great empire.B he lived a very long life.C. people after the Middle Ages were very fond of Greek culture.D. he created and kept for a long time the largest empire in Europe.

9. The Greek states won most of the wars against Persia. What can weconclude from this?A. The Greeks had better armies and navies They also had

better ways of fighting.B Persia gave up her plans of invading Greece.C. Alexander the Great was able to conquer the Persian Empire in a few years.D. The Greek culture was more superior. The Greeks applied their science and

technology in military affairs.

10. Citizens in ancient Athens made up only around 15% of her total population.Women and children, slaves and foreigners all had no right to vote orbe elected. This tells us thatA. democracy in Athens had limitation. ^RT J [Interpretati°n/^B. absolute kings and nobles ruled Athens. ^L^m <£ Explanation

C. the Spartan government was better than the Athenian's^D. Athens was weakened when the slaves rose to demand their citizen rights.

11. The Greeks were very religious. Which option below does not agree with thissaying?A. The Greek priests did not have political powerB. Sport games were held to honour the gods.C. Many Greek legends were about gods and goddesses.D. A lot of temples were built for the worship of the gods.

interpretation/Explanation

iterpretation/Explanation

12. "Democracy in Athens had limitations". Which option below provides evidenceto support this statement?A. Only citizens of Athens had the right to vote. They made up only

15% of the population there.B. Other Greek states did not practise democracyC. There were kings in Athens.D. Slaves in Athens could not be elected as officials, but they could overthrow

them with their votes.

13. After the Punic Wars, or the wars between Rome and Carthage, no one wasstrong enough to stop the Roman expansion. This means that...A. Before the Punic Wars, the only strong rival of Rome left was Carthage.B. Carthage expanded rapidly after the Punic Wars.C. There was a period of Pax Romana, or the Roman Peace, after AD 100.D. Rome met no further resistance and she expanded her territories as far as the

border of India.

14. Julius Caesar was murdered by some members of the Senate, someof whom were his close friends. Why?A. They were afraid that Julius Caesar would overthrow the republic

and make himself emperor.B. After the death of Caesar, Octavian and Mark Anthony divided his empire

between them.C. Julius Caesar defeated the army of the Senate and became the most powerful

ruler of Rome.D. Julius Caesar was a cruel and wicked emperor. Members of the Senate killed

him in order to save the people of Rome.

15. The story about the she-wolf, the two baby twins and the founding of Rome canonly be a legend becauseA. though it tells us about the origin of the Romans, many parts of the

story were found to be untrue.B. the Romans believed that the gods helped the baby-twins to survive,C. Rome was not built in one day.D. a she-wolf would not raise human babies.

16. The Roman laws were in general fair and just. Which option below does not

agree with this statement?A. The Romans had to obey the common law, i.e., the unwritten law.

B.A11 Romans were equal before the law.

C.The Roman laws were written down and displayed in public.

D.A11 Romans were protected by the law, i.e., he could not be punished unless

the court found him guilty.

17. Which option below does not show a cause and effect relationship?

C A U S E RESULTAJesus Christ was born in

Bethlehem, a small town

under Roman rule.

B.The Romans had a well

developed road system.

C.Attacks of foreign tribes.

D.Julius Caesar was

murdered by a group of

nobles.

He was still not a Roman by birth.

Rome had good contact with

different areas.

Roman Empire declined and

collapsed.

Civil war broke out all over the

Roman provinces.

18. Many types of Roman entertainment were very cruel. Which option below

supports this statement?

A. Chariot races and gladiator fights were the two most popular

'sports' in Rome.

B.Most Romans tried to go to the bath every day.

C. Roman soldiers were very cruel against their enemies. Many

cruel punishments were used.

D.The Romans liked very much to take part in chariot races and gladiator

fights themselves.

19. Inequality existed within the Roman society. Which option below provides

evidence to support this statement?

A. There were great inequalities between the citizens and

non-citizens, men and women as well as the rich

and the poor.

B. After Emperor Constantine, the Roman Empire was

divided into two halves, the Western Roman Empire

and the Eastern Roman Empire.

C.The Romans gave citizen rights to some foreigners

under their rule,

D.The rich enjoyed more rights and were treated more

favorably by the law.

20 The Roman Empire collapsed because after a long period of peace, the

Romans no longer wanted to be soldiers. They just wanted an easy life

This explanation of the fall of the Roman Empire is

A. acceptable but incomplete.

B logical and complete.

C logical but not accurate

D.acceptable but not accurate.

21 In many ways the Romans contributed greatly to later generations. Which

option below best supports this statement?

A. Many Roman practices such as their legal system, government system,

calendar etc were still followed by many countries today

B The Romans built the greatest Empire on Earth by that time.

C The Roman Empire, especially the Eastern Roman Empire, lasted for

more than a thousand years.

D The Romans accepted Christianity. They lived their lives according to

the teaching of the Bible.

22. After the fall of Rome, Europe went into the Dark Ages. This was

because

A.Roman civilization was not practised during that time.

B. Rome was destroyed by the northern tribes.

C. Rome had make great achievements in many ways.

D.Latin, the Roman language, was no longer used. Nobody could read

and write.

C Life in Medieval Times

1 Buddhism teaches people that suffering comes fromdesire This implies thatA. the more you want, the more you would suffer,B. the less you want, the more you would suffer.C. the more you suffer, the more you want.D. if you have no desire, you would not have to suffer anything

2 King Asoka turned most of India into Buddhism. As a resultA many pillars and carvings were put up all over India.B. Asoka became a Buddhist.C. India turned back to Buddhism after the death of Asoka.D India became a Buddhist country up till now.

3 Buddhism became very successful in China after the Tangdynasty Which of the following provides the bestexplanation for this statement?A The Chinese people did not reject foreign ideas and

religions at that time,B. Buddhism helped the Chinese to develop printingC. Mahay ana Buddhism was more successful in China than Hinayana Buddhism.D. Many Chinese monks went to study Buddhism in India. They brought

back many Buddhist holy books,

4. The Roman leaders and the Jewish priests nailed Jesus to the cross becauseA. they considered him a threat to their rule / religion.B. after three days he came back to life.C. the Romans conquered the Jewish land in 63 BC,D Jesus taught his followers to obey God rather than the Roman leaders.

5. The early Christians suffered a lot under the Roman Empire. Which of thefollowing provides the best evidence to support this statement?A. Many Christians were thrown to the beast in the stadiums.B. Constantine became a Christian and stopped persecuting the Christians'C. Emperor Nero blamed the Christians for the fire that destroyed Rome.D. The Christians refused to worship the Roman gods.

6. The Christian Church became very powerful in Europe during the Middle AgesThis was becauseA. all the European countries and their rulers became Christians.

They were willing to obey the instruction of the Pope.B. the Pope could drive the European rulers away from

the Church. In this way the people would nothave to obey them.

C. the Church collected taxes from the people and became very rich.D. the Church ruled over most territories in Europe.

7. Before Muhammad's time most Arabs worshipped many different gods.After him they worshipped only one God called Allah. This shows thatA. Muhammad was very successful in changing the religious belief of

the Arabs.B. Muhammad taught his followers that he was the prophet of Allah.C. Muhammad received messages from Allah through the angel Gabriel.D. the Arabs were willing to give up other gods. They worshipped only

Muhammad and Allah.

8. Muhammad taught his followers not to worship idols(statues of gods) or images. ThereforeA. the Muslims leave the face of Muhammad blank in their religious drawings.B. his followers made only idols for Allah.C. mosques were mostly simple houses rather than beautiful buildings.D. the Muslims could only pray in their own houses.

9. After the death of Muhammad, Islam spread far and wide to manyplaces in Asia, Africa and Europe. This means thatA. many places in Asia, Africa and Europe gave up their own religions

and accepted Islam.B. there is only one God, and his name is Allah.C. the people all over Asia, Africa and Europe were willing to follow Islam.D. the death of Muhammad attracted many people in those places to accept Islam,

10. Buddhism began in the 6th century BC. Christianity began in the 1stcentury AD while Islam began in the 7th century AD. Therefore

A. Buddhism had a longer history than Christianity and Islam.B. Islam must have taken many ideas from Buddhism and Christianity.C. the three religions must have many things in common.D. the three religions must have a great deal of differences from one another.

11. European people living in the Middle Ages did not know that they werethe Middle Ages because

A "Middle Ages" is a term created by historians in a much later period.B. most of the Europeans did not know how to read and write.C. there were no books to read at that time.D the Church only taught the people things about the Bible.

So they were ignorant about other things.

12. The church was very important to ordinary people inMedieval Europe. Which option below provides the bestevidence for this?

A. Records show that many priests helped the poor andsick and advised people when they were in trouble.

B. Many large church buildings were built in Europe at that time.C Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman Empire.D Monks copied books and taught children Greek and Roman learnings.

13. Knights in Medieval Europe did not have much work to do. This wasbecauseA. they were rich and therefore they had many servants.B. knights usually followed a code of behaviour called Chivalry.C. boys from noble families had to be trained for

many years in order to be knights.D. knights spent most of their lives in battles

fighting to defend their countries.

14. In Medieval Europe, most peasants followed the three-field system infarming their land. Yet this was a bad way of farming becauseA. each year one third of the land was wasted.B. this was also a crop rotation system.C. the poor land was usually used as common land for feeding animals.D. no one was allowed to try new ways of farming.

15. Peasants in Medieval Europe lived very simple lives. Which option belowbest illustrates this statement?A. The peasants lived in small wooden huts with very little furniture.B. The nobles usually lived in the manor house.C. The church used the monasteries as hospitals to look after the sick

people.D. People in Medieval Europe were very religious. They spent most of

their time in the church.

16. European towns during the Middle Ages were usually small. Why?A. Peasants could not leave their farms and go to work in the towns,B. Most European towns had only 2,000 to 5,000 people.C. Life in towns was usually better than that in the farms.D. The towns were very dirty. No people wanted to live there,

17. In Medieval Europe, craftsmen of the same trade joined together in guildsThis was becauseA. they could protect themselves against outsiders.B. guilds limited economic freedom and competition.C. there were guilds for each craft or trade in every town.D. they could protect themselves against thieves and robbers.

18. Feudalism in Europe came to an end by late 15th century.This indicates thatA. Europeans lived another way of life after the 15th century.B. gunpowder and new ideas helped to bring feudalism to an end.C. kings in Europe were becoming weaker and weaker.D. nobles and knights no longer exist in Europe after the 15th century.

19. Black death killed almost one-third of the people in Europe.To attract peasants to work for them, nobles had to pay money tothem. This explanation of the collapse of feudalism isA. acceptable but incomplete,B. logical and complete.C. logical but not accurate.D. acceptable but not accurate.

20. The Middle Ages in Europe can also be called the Dark Age.Which option below best supports this statement?A. The Europeans during that period were not interested in

learnings or discoveries.B. The church copied and kept many old books for future

generations to study.C. Great social inequality existed in European societies at that time.D. The Europeans studied only Greek and Roman learnings during that time

t?Jfc-v'.A* tSu *' " >

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B. True or False

Life in the Main Centres of Early Civilization

Which of the following represent reasonable cause and effect relationship?

Cause

1. The soil in Mesopotamia was

fertile. The area looked like a

new moon.

2. The Sumerjans [Jpyptit^a^t^. L , * J il /V*" V ' ^ *% **' !. wheels, * f / (^ j \ j ^;t,\ ;

3. Nebuchadnezzar constructed

the Hanging Gardens.

5. The Babylonians loved wars.

Effect

Mesopotamia was called

the Fertile Crescent.

People respected him as

one of the greatest rulers

in ancient times.

They were finally defeated

by the Persians.

11.The River Nile brought about

convenience in water supply

and transportation.

The Egyptian civilization

originated and developed

from the River Nile,

?& srr J'-t*?'^ «pw *?f «'!J rJiiLT<!^ »^'fi«45l.,l-rbf*|ti!:,Hji. u,, i up ,iij,vci's>',i,w,i,vu»j.*u "awiy.sWsfT

The crime rate in Babylon

was low.7. The "Code of Hammurabi11 was

engraved in a stone pillar.

The Egyptians could farm

on the fertile soil.9. The River Nile flooded every

year.

Cause

12. Pharaohs had supremeauthority,

" Egyptians believed jKat- 1 people could onfe,dayci$e

again from death, \\ -l4.The Egyptians believed there

were trials after death.

15*The writu;/ Y was complicate^'^^^T; > v ^ ; [ l

; :16. Howard Carter who discov-

e r e d t h e t o m b o fTutankhamun was cursed.

fc U7<1AU*sort$- of'thdii-giS, ferfj^jbri ^J ' ;, » , . 1 .^ > -:w ^ 4..f3L%a,: '/ tons

18.We could not find recordsabout the bui lding ofpyramids.

Effect

They could order theirpeople to build thepyramids.

They had particularly se-v e r e p e n a l t y f o rcriminals.

JSSaiBM^

He died not long after hefound the Tomb.

o

O

Pyramids should nothave been built by theEgyptians.

O

'..** ^S*^?<''iv'H§98f>:

20.The Nile valley was sur-rounded by deserts, highmountains and the sea.

The Egyptians couldbuild the greatest con-structions in ancientcivilizations.

Life in Ancient Greco-Roman Civilization

Which of the following represent reasonable cause and effect relationship?

Cause

1. Greece was mountainous andposed a barrier for traffic

between towns and cities.

•'''tie coast ofthe^'dif^

3. Spartan soldiers were fearless

and strong.

5. Constantine brought the Cross

to the battle and won.

*^3jcal !Gr^^<7,4'! tw^j,»«• . « ,4* >c '

Effect

The towns and cities

developed into independent

city-states.

Spartan men became citizens

formally at the age of 30.

0 o

Christianity became the

national religion of the

Roman Empire.

",v^WTI ir^T^I'? C1L,W,M.WWT -^^™»^w^.w.-.™t «, „

7. The Greek cities were separated City-states developed in

from one another by mountains ancient Greece.

o

9. The ancient Greeks believed that

human bodies were beautiful.

The races in the Olympics

were conducted in naked

bodies.

a

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Cause

*' 10. The Ancient Greekf used $1ofS. , < 'V * —:' ; '" 1: %#U V/;.u 1 - nr^lmVf*^ • •" *' ' " " • * ' v ' r j * " * 1 f r ( c * ' *i«• " MJL OX<1 YvO> K v - " "^ i ' * \i M^«

11. Ancient Greece was so

mountainous that the expansion

of city-states was not easy.

12. Athens had a deniocratto ;*,, political system, ^ ' ; ' { , ; ; * > ' «

13. The Romans believed in many

gods.

14, to the period1^^ tefc^W*i1Sl^*A^ » tjie feoman^.a^MwTOe^^^^^^

"

15. Roman aqueduct

Effect

When the population grew,there was the need to

expand outward and

develop colonies along the

Mediterranean.

Christianity could not

develop in Rome,

The way the Romans kept

their houses warm.

a 0

C. Fill in the Blanks

Life in the Main Centres of Early Civilization

I'm from the XXX Broadcasting

Company. I would like to ask you a question. In

the civilization that you are living, which thing,

such as invention, system, architecture, technology

etc,, are you most proud of? Please give a brief

explanation to our audience.

Now assume that you are living in one of the following civilizations. How would you

respond to the journalist's questions?

a. The Fertile Crescent

b. The Nile Valley

c. The Indus Valley

d. The Huang He Valley

Example:I am an Egyptian. I'm living in the Nile civilization. I'm most proud of the Pyramid

because this gigantic construction was built by our bare hands and some simpletools. I believe this Pyramid, which belongs to our Pharaoh, is the greatest

architecture.

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m

ipPJiat does this £ainfhig osjia t<jmb> watt teJUf /

Study the following picture, and fill in the blanks below,

This is a/an Egyptian wall painting. It describes the journey of a man's soul to the

land of the dead / sheol / hell to receive judgement. The gods shown in the pictures are

mostly having the heads of animals / birds and the bodies of human . The wall painting

shows that the people at that time believed in judgement after death / the immortal soul/ religion, etc.

Study the following paragraph, and fill in the blanks below.

All citizens of Athens over the age of eighteen can take part in theAssembly. Issues like the election of officials, declaration of war orconclusion of peace are discussed and decided in the Assembly. The

senate is composed of representatives from different districts allover the state, and is responsible for carrying out decisions made inthe Assembly, management of finance and foreign affairs etc. Besides,

citizens of Athens enjoy the right to impeach, and they can exile up toten years any politicans they consider dangerous to

the safety of the state. By about 500 BC, Athens evenmade laws to provide grants to all officials so thatall citizens can havethe right to take part in politics.

The above source describes a political system called democracy / representativegovernment. All rights of the citizens are equal / the same , and important issues of the

state are discussed and decided in the Assembly. Citizens can impeach / exile bad officials.Not everyone, however, enjoys same political rights. Only citizens are qualified, women /

children and slaves are not qualified.

Life in Ancient Greco-Roman Civilization

-. 'Vfl^tei'i^^v. !v^-';<: A&V ;..„ ,v? v. jjo' i^F4^4^^y"r""

Classify the following sources into their appropriate categories.

(May fill in the appropriate letter,):

A, A History textbook

D. A Spartan elder having ahealth check for a new-bornbaby to determine whetherto let it live on,

G. "History" written byHerodotus.

B. Imaginative picture ofthe Greeks

E. Ruins of the Colosseum

H. Clay tablet engravedwith writings of Minoan

C. Bronze statue of aSpartan girl

F. Coins issued by theRoman Republic

I. Roads built by theRomans.

Primary sources Secondary Sources

Written

GH

Non-written

cE

F

1

A

B

D

I

Read the following source and make your choice:

You are a young Spartan boy. When your father was young, he

was an outstanding Spartan soldier, When you are seven, you are sent toa military training camp.

Inside the camp, you are not allowed to wear shoes. Every day,

you have to climb up the cliff bare-footed. You wear flimsy clothing no

matter it is winter or summer. You can never have a full meal for you

have to learn to fight the enemies with an empty stomach. Whenever you

make any request or complaint, you are fiercely beaten up. Thus, you

learn to obey orders and accept all difficult trials.

You hate the life in the camp very much. And you al-

ways wish to escape. One day, the training officer said to

you, "Starting from today, you have to learn how to fight

in alien places. There, you would not have any food

supply, You have to get what you need from the people

there. Today no food would be given to you. You go

and steal from the slave camp.11

Where the question lies.You are starved for the whole day. By night time, you are ordered to steal food

from the slave camp. You are scared for if caught by the slaves, you will certainly be beaten

to death. You want to escape and get comfort from your parents at home.

What the choices are

1 To steal from the slave camp 2 To escape and go home

Considerations

Pros Cons

1 no need to starve 1 I might be caught

2 would not be 2

punished 3

3 can piove my

ability

Possible outcome

I will be beaten to death by the

Pros

1 no need to suffer

the cold and the

hunger

2 no need to stand

the harsh training

3

Cons1 I might be

caught

2. My father will

blame me

3

Possible outcome

If captur ecL I will be punished or putto death bv the training officer.

List the factors you have considered

1, My ability (will I succeed in stealing food?)2- My future (do I want to become a brilliant Spartan soldier?)

3. The punishment I will receive if I am caught

4. My parents' expectation on me

Wnte down your decision

D. Matching

*7\

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Life in the Main Centres of Early Civilization%

Historians can use the following six objects on the left to make certain deductions about

Ancient Egyptain civilization. Now try to put the number representing each object into

the blanks next to the deduction(s) it can make.

, • -\'.« S ,» 5M W,

Life in Medieval Times

Match items in Column B with those in Column A,

-TS^

1 1(^hftflfl*rn£i<jp'np r'AftilF'^fprl fh^Hrvri^tH^^ r * l^^"^> Thiotfw&frKrtiiilrfp&A <&$%i]\r*\$*^>'''*!l"r'A 4 * ** * ft, V^AJ,<4-4 *V-^ A-ifciteCjJU W * V.VJI tlVpi VV4 HXv* jr'VJ*'v! ^^ ' \ * a , ***" •l«;i'+s#V-<*Qv!p >/l/i \?<*V4- K-;4|'CltJ4y'V ', 5^* '* <<' ' ^<J > ; f >x

nrrinm Kitn iio WYstv .T?AH^o'fi .T?.tvi>f:\/ 'f>Af ^iL^'^ «^*»i *$ ^^4^4.^1*. iT* V</'H^! j^^i^i^ 'V^^jf t ' »*,/** * \ !2" ^ 'crciwn him as

?.' I.n medieval' t i e s i* . > , ' „ ' 'centre t

' '

t|J,

f nl*

Answers

1c

2

h

3

a

4

e

5

9

6

d

7

f

8

b

E. Fact or Opinion

The concepts of "historical facts" and "opinions11 are not absolute, We usually term

what can be proved or disproved "historical facts". On the other hand, different people mighthave different views and we call these "opinions". However, in our daily usage, a certain

argument might be supported by a number of witnesses or evidences and is thus beyond

doubt. We might say that this argument reflects "historical facts11. For instance: "The Japanesearmy invaded China after the "Lugouqiao Incident". This is certainly a historical fact, and not

an opinion that different people may have differed views. But the view that "the pyramids

were the tomb of the Pharaohs" was reasonably doubted by many scholars, because themummies of the pharaohs had never been found inside the pyramids.

Life in the Main Centres ofEarly Civilization

Which of the following statements are closer to "historical facts", and which

to "historians' opinions"?

. • - • " ' > ;> .- •:''.. ; : < ; > .^CT^iiftKW^^*^^*^^;ijw?i; • ' • • • • . . - ' . • • v". H^i^f^i44'>M'^W. " • : , ' , . - : ' " /.;;^ 'i:SR^.^fetoi&^^A^

1. One thing in common among ancient civilizations is that they all

built some grand temples.

2. The building of temples shows that ancient people worshipped

and feared gods.

3. The Code of Hummurabi was the earliest and most complete laws in

ancient times.

4, Compared with the laws of other ancient civilizations, the Code of

Hummurabi can better realize the spirit of equality and the rule of

laws .

5. The wheel was the greatest invention in ancient times.

6. The Tigris and the Euphrates are two rivers flowing through the

Fertile Crescent.

7. Hammurabi was a great ruler.

8. In ancient Babylonian time, Hammurabi ruled the country according

to written laws.

i;r^F/4^!

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••

•

•

Si

;

* J 1 ' ' * „ ' ' , ; * ' ' -x * "v* VJ' ' l<"''! *" < ^ <« *-' , " ,

' -: ' ; : ' ' • ' ' ' "'^-^

9. The brutal Assyrians conquered the Sumerians and became the

new rulers of the Fertile Crescent.

10. The invention of writing contributed to the recording and

dissemination of knowledge.

11. The discovery of Ur showed that a long time ago people in

Mesopotamia had started to live together and cities had emerged.

12. The Sumerians lived in city-state.

13. The Egyptian civilization was supreme among the ancient

civilizations.

14. The pharaohs ordered the people to construct the pyramids. They

were brutal rulers.

15. The pyramids were the greatest ancient construction,

16. The Egyptians were the greatest ancient architects.

17. All four ancient civilizations developed along the river valleys.

18, Archaeologists and tomb raiders who went into the tombs of the

pharaohs were cursed by the tomb and died of unknown causes.

19. Many Egyptian noble women liked to put on cosmetics and

perfumes.

20. The construction of pyramids was complicated and intricate. The

ancient Egyptians could not have built them by themselves.

Following this logic, the pyramids must have been built by

extra-terrestrial beings.

21. The regular flooding of the River Nile irrigated the valley and

prompted the development of ancient Egyptian civilization.

;;;^J^ct>?>

•••

•

•

•

k '* ^* '*^pmfoti;-**v*>/vV

•

•••••

•

§,

Life in Ancient Greco-Roman Civilization

Which of the following statements are closer to "historical facts11, and which

to "historians' opinions"?

1, The Roman armies were brave and good at fighting. They were

fearless of death, The establishment of the Roman Empire was

largely their achievement.

2. The Romans set up written laws and engraved the laws on

12 bronze plaques and had them exhibited publicly in the

Roman forum.

3. The Romans were brutal. This was shown by the fact that they

loved watching gladiator fights.

4. The Romans were without creativity. They changed the names

of the Greek gods and took them as their own gods for

worship.

5. The Romans knew how to use mechanics like pulleys and

leverages to aid construction.

6. The Romans believed in many gods. Even the emperors were

objects of their worship.

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sfifl?

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F. Long Questions

Read the map below and find a solution to the following questions.'

2* §»;$'?'»'You are a Sumerian living in area X. This is a mountainous area and the land is ^!J\v;"

becoming poor after years of cultivation. You decide to move to another place for an easier f r if^|i -life. But where should you go? /<^&iV1. List all the factors you would consider before you move.

Climate, landform, water supply, soil, source of food, possible enemies.communication

2. Assess the possible outcomes of moving towards each of the following direction according

to the factors you have listed:

Direction ADry, cold, inconvenient communication, mountainous, kck water supply, poor soilunreliable source of food, possible enemies unknown

Direction BDry, inconvenient communication, lack water supply, poor soil, unreliable source

of food, possible enemies unknownDirection CWarm weather* wet convenient communication, more flat land, good water supply,fertile soil, reliable source of food possible enemies unknown

3. My decision.:I decide to.because

< / * < *

Study the following picture and answer the questions.

The picture above shows the hair decoration and jewelry of a noble woman ofUr, restored to their original condition. Try to figure out the development of the civiliza-tion in the Mesopotamia.

Society

Economic

Activities

Craft &

Skills

Religion

There were different classes in society. The jewelry was for the

noble woman. Also, there should have been some craftsmen who

were able to make delicate decorative accessories.

Agriculture was developed. There was thus more leisure time for

the production of luxury goods like jewelry*

The craft and skills were good. They knew about metallurgy and

were able to make delicate jewelry.

Probably believed in world or life after death. Therefore daily

utensils were put in the tombs.

1. What kind of writing is shown above?

Cuneiform

•M

2. This kind of writing is the writing of which area?

The Sumerians writing of the Fertile Crescent,

3. What is the characteristic of this kind of writing?

It was wedge-shaped,

4. On what kind of material was this kind of writing written? Why did the people at that time

use this kind of material?

This kind of writing was written on clay tablets. It was because this kind of

material could easily be obtained from the soil along the rivers.

5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of writing on this kind of material?

Advantages: Records could be preserved in this way, and these records became

primary sources for historians to study the civilization of the

Fertile Crescent

Disadvantages^ was difficult for the people at that time to carry these clay tablets.

6. Compare this kind of writing with the word-processing we are using today. What are the

differences?

Cuneiform writing is much more time consuming and it is inconvenient to use

clay tablets for writing. It is much more convenient to use computers to store or

amend information. Anyhow, both serve the function of recording information,

Study the following souices

Source A

Homage to the Pharaoh

Source B

I saw the majesty sitting in histhrone and I knelt immediatelybefore him. Although this godI worshipped asked me somequestions, he did not know who

I was. My mind was unclear, myfeet trembled, and I tasted thedifference between life and

death-

The recollection of an Egyptian afterseeing the Pharaoh

1 Aie the two sources above in agreement with one another? Explain your answerThey are in agreement with one another. They both show people kneeling iti frontof the pharaoh worshipping him like a god.

2 What do the above sources tell you about the power of the Egyptian pharaohs? Select

some clues from these sources to support your answerThey tell us that the Egyptian pharaohs had great power over their people. Theywere worshipped like gods and could do whatever they like on their subjects.

r I***"* .

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Life in Ancient Greco-Roman Civilization

Study the following sources.

Source A

May be Rome's system of law

and justice was its greatest

contribution to the world, It

still forms the basis of today's

Western law.

From a modern History textbook in the

West

Source C

Not everyone likes the Romans or

the Roman Empire. The way they

treated the slaves was seen as cruel

and savage. The people watching

fights in the Colosseum and

amphitheatres were seen as blood-

thirsty and brutal Conquering and

ruling a large empire is no longer

regarded as glorious.

Legislative Council Building, HK

Even today, centuries after the

fall of the Roman Empire, we

can still see traces of their

civilization. Some of their

buildings can still be seen in

Europe, Even in Hong Kong

we can also see their influence

in some of our buildings.

From a book written for secondary

school children in the West

From a modern History textbook in

Hong Kong

1. Study Source D. Can its view be supported by another source above?

Its view can be supported by Source B.

2. Study Source A. Is it fact or opinion? Can you test the view of Source A as you did for

Source D in question 1? Give reasons for your answer.

It is an opinion. We cannot test this view as we did for source D becausecontribution or the influences of one thing upon another are abstract ideas.

3. Study Source C, What views does it have about the Romans? Do you think the Romanswould have held the same view? Why?

Its view about the Romans was very negative. The Romans themselves would nothave held such a view for if they did, they would not have such practices,

4. Which source above seems to contradict the view expressed in Source C? Why are theresuch differences?Source A seems to contradict the views expressed in C. There is such differenceabout the Romans because the Roman system of law and justice protected only thecitizens but not the slaves and criminals.

jVy*'***'•<'«, •«& <, » » ' .&%*.*»'*%',*•

pi*hH^n;^•-lUU*

"I can still recall that there were two battles between Greece and the Persian

Empire in 490 BC and 480-479 BC respectively. The most unforgettable is the

Battle of Marathon , To combat the invading Persian barbarians, we, the Athe-

nian soldiers, got prepared for the fight with no hesitation. Although we were

not full time soldiers, we were all brave, strong and well trained. Although we

did not get any help from the Spartans, we did not withdraw We vested our

lives to the almighty Zeus. We followed the plan of the general and deployed

heavy troops on the two sides according to the landscape of Marathon. The

army in the middle pretended to be defeated. When the Persian barbarians

attacked us in the front, our armies on the two sides came up. We fought

fearlessly and defeated the Persian barbarians totally. We eliminated

more than 6000 of them while nearly 200 of us sacrificed their lives.

The lives of these brave soldiers were not lost aimlessly. Greece is a

powerful nation It will rule the Mediterranean forever." /

Which of the above is historical fact and which is an opinion? Give two examples.

Historical facts

1. Greece and the Persian empire had two battles in 490 BC and 480479 BC.

2. The Battle of Marathon was one of the battles.

3. Athens did not have a full-time army.

4. The Spartans did not help in the battle,5. The tactic adopted bv the Greeks is to deployed heavy troops at the two sides

and the army in the middle pretended to be defeated.

6. The Persians were defeated in the battle.7. The number of deaths in the batde: Persians ; 6000 plus, Greeks ; nearly 200.

(Any two of the above )

Opinions

1. The Persians were barbarians.2. The brave and strong Athenian soldiers fought the enemies without

hesitation.3. The Athenian soldiers fought fearlessly and their deaths were sacrifices.

4. Greece was strong and would rule the Mediterranean forever.

(Any two of the above,)

Read the following two paragraphs and answer the questions:

T h e B a t t l e o f T h e r m o p y l a eIn 480BC, the Persians invaded Greece again Various city-states

in Greece united under the leadership of Sparta and fought

bravely The Spartan soldiers were led by their king, Leonidas.

At the mountain pass of Thermopylae, they fought against sev-

eral thousands strong Persian army. As the enemies were too

strong, all Spartan died gloriously in the battle. The Persians

went further south and invaded Athens.

T h e B a t t l e o f S a l a m i ' sIn the autumn of 480 BC, a sea-battle broke out between the

Persian fleet and the Athenian fleet near Salamis. It was too clumsy

to mobilize the huge Persian fleet, and it was finally defeated by

the Athenian fleet. The Greeks forced the Persians to withdraw

and won a great victory Soon peace was made. Thereafter, the

Persians dared not invade Greece again.

"Extracted from a history textbook"

1 Is the author neutral in his description of the two battles? If not, which party do you think

the author sided with?The author is not nentral. He/She sided with Greece/the Greeks/Sparta/the

Spartans/the Athenians.

2. Try to cite two examples from the text to illustrate your answer.

The Spartans fought "bravely" and they "died doriouslY".

The winning of the Athenian fleet was a "great victory",The author did not think the victory of the Persians was "great". Their losing was a

"defeat", and not a "sacrifice". From this we can see that he/she sided with the

Greeks.

»

3. Try to comment the way the author writes the history,

Taking sides, subjective.

Emotional words are used.

4. If you do not agree with the way the author wrote, try to re-write the two historical

incidents below.

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Based upon the information below, answer the following questions:X* ' ' 'J1L T ° -'•-••""";|J-°TI" • ' • - •""••• • -" ' • ""• •• •" .1,.. .,„.

The Roman commander ordered his men to take Paul into the fort, and hetolci them to whip him in order to find out. .Paul said to the officer standing there, "Isit lawful for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn't even been tried for any crime?",..At once the men who were going to question Paul drew back from him; and thecommander was frightened when he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and thathe had put him in chains....

On the next day he sat down in the court of judgement and ordered Paul tobe brought in. When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come from Jerusalem stoodround him and started making many serious charges against him, which they werenot able to prove. But Paul defended himself, "...But if there is no truth in the chargesthey bring against me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to the Emperor...

Festus (governor) explained. .",..we Romans are not in the habit of handingover any man accused of a crime before he has met his accusers face to face and hashad the chance of defending himself against the accusation.... So I gave orders forhim to be kept under guard until I could send him to the Emperor."

v, i; L _ . . . . .. . - , . _^s

Extracted from THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES in the Bible (Today's English Version)

Question;1. Paul's case happened in a remote province of the Roman Empire, Now list out the features

of Roman laws with reference to the passage above.Features of Roman laws include;1. The Roman citizens might eniov the following rights:

a. Penalty might not be executed when sentence was not yet given.b. To defend against accusations.c. Appeals could be made to the Emperor.

2. Accusations had to be supported by evidences. Biased judgements were notsufficient.

3. The Roman laws were followed even in remote provinces and were respectedby the officers in the regiments.

4. Non-Roman citizens did not eniov the same rights,

2. Which religious group did the author of the Acts of the Apostles in the Bible belong? Howwas their relationship with the Roman Empire like?They belonged to the Christian group. Their relationship with the Roman Empirewas not good o** the whole. They suffered from various forms of persecutions

every now and then,

3. Would the information regarding Roman laws in The Acts of the Apostles in the Bible beuseful to a historian? Please explain your answer.

information about the Roman laws contained in the Acts of the Apostles inis considered reliable to a historian. Records they made were based oninformation fthat they personally experienced). It was not written(Le. the Roman laws were not the main theme). Furthermore, they did

a reason to beautify the legal system of the Romans.

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Read the information below and answer the questions,

"There were three battles between Rome and Carthage.

The second Punic War lasted from 218 BC to 201 BC. In

218 BC, Carthage's most outstanding leader, Hannibal,

brought tens of thousands of soldiers and several dozens

of trained elephants, crossed the Mediterranean and

attracked Rome from the northern part of the Italian

Peninsula. Hannibal was the toughest rival for the Romans,

He had a calm character, demonstrating strong

perseverance. He defeated the Romans in a battle and

was indeed the most extraordinary leader at his time,11

In the above paragraph, which part is historical fact and which is an opinion? Cite two

examples each.

Historical Facts

1. There were three battles between Rome and Carthage,

2. The second Punic War broke out in 218 BC to 201 BC

3» A Carthage leader. Hannibal led his soldiers and trained elephants

to attack Rome.

4. The Romans were once defeated.

(Any two of the suggested answers above.)

Opinions

1. Hannibal was the most outstanding leader in Carthage*

2. Hannibal was the toughest rival for the Romans. He had a calm

character, demonstrating strong perseverance.

3. Hannibal was the most extraordinary leader at his time.

(Any two of the suggested answers above.)

The following picture is taken from a history textbook, The caption is "The barbarian tribes : ~$l

invaded Rome and led to the fall of the Roman Empire". Study the picture in detail and |J|answer the questions.

1. There are usually many pictures in history textbooks. Many of these pictures are drawn by

artists under the instruction of the editors. Now consider the theme of the above picture

and lay down the three requirements made by the editors to the artists,

a. The barbarians looked brutal and uncivilized.

b. The barbarians brought about destruction.

c. The Romans suffered a lot of loss and injuries and were pitiful.

<, •

***• ' *

2 What impression does this picture give you about the Eastern European tribes whichdefeated the Roman army? Please list two points.

a. They were brutal uncivilized, and barbarkms.

b. They brought about destruction and not construction.

3 Do you agree to the theme brought about by the artist in the picture? Explain your answer

Agree:

This was the fact. Tribes from Eastern Europe were really backward in civilization.

The invasion of Rome had turned Europe into the Dark Age. Further, burning.

killing and robbery were always found in wars.

Disagree;There should not be a ranking in civilization. Should not deliberately create a low

image of the Eastern European Tribes.

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Study the following sources.

Source A

Source C

Source D

* Public grants have made the richeven more luxurious, while thepoor are forced into crimes.* The huge spending on the armymust be stopped.* The barbarians are attacking ev-ery frontier. The state must dosomething about it.

H Rent

H Army tax;j| Others

Source B

Extracts from a letter to theRoman Emperor Valens in

AD369.

Spending of the averageRoman Family

A - AD 1-50

B - AD 51-100

C - AD 101-150

D - AD 151-200

E - AD 201-250

F - AD 251-300

A B C D E FThe number of Roman emperors from ADI to AD300

This wall was built by the Romans in the North ofEngland. Once invaders got through

Sources B to E are extracted from different history books on

the Roman Empire.

Source E

The Roman road sys-

tem was a big mistake.

When the Romans

were on the attack, it

served them well. But

when they were weak

and on the defensive,

it allowed invaders to

push deep into the

Empire.

Using all the sources above, make a list of problems facing the Roman Empire, Assuming that

you are the Emperor's adviser, suggest solutions to these problems,

Problems:

Solutions;

Life in Medieval Times

Read Sources (1) to (6). They are taken from the records about Black Death in Europe from

1348 to 1385.

Source 1

Animals move around freely in

the fields. No one tries to drivethem away. When the time to

harvest comes, no one is will-ing to do the job even highwages are offered. The crops areleft in the field to decay.

Source 2

There are only two farmers remainingin the whole village. They say that ifthe clergy in charge of the monasterywould not lessen their workload, theywould also leave. Since the plaguestarted, no one is farming anymore.The soil is depleted and barren andbecomes worthless.

Source 3

The king issues an order that workersare not allowed to charge wages higherthan the level before the plague.However, many of the workersdisregard the order. Anyone who wantsto employ them must pay the wagesthey demand. So the king orders thearrest and imprisonment of manyworkers.

Source 5

There were a lot of priests beforethe plague. You had to pay only 2

pounds a year to hire a priest tomanage the church. But now, evenwith 20 pounds a year it would behard to get one to do the job.

Source 4

The world is getting worse. Peopleown more than before. But theybecome selfish and greedy. They arejealous of each other. Fights andquarrels always happen and thecrime rate increases every day.

Source 6

Whenever the employer blames theworkers for poor work or when he triesto reduce their wages, the workers willquit at once. Very soon they'll find a newjob elsewhere, with higher wages at thesame time, Therefore, the employer darenot irritate the workers again and yieldto any requests they make.

Analyze the sources above one by one to see if the following arguments are supportedPlease put a \/ in the appropriate boxes

2 Find evidence for massive reduction of farming population from Source 1 to Source 6.

Cannot find people to do harvest job, crops are left in the field and rotten, peopledo not work in the farm, farmland are abandoned, workers ask for whatever wagesthey like, workers can find new jobs very easily*

3 Find reasons for massive reduction in farming population

An epidemic plague

* ,

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Source (2)

Source (3)? H

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Source (5)

* Source (6) * !

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1 Is Source 4 a historical fact or an opinion? Why? fr S>> ? ?

It is an opinion because "worse", "selfish", "greedv" are opinions made according ft*** V

to personal values, !* * ' "JT'1- • H^^/^ j *

Study the following sources.

Source A

The basic reason was the close posi-

tion of the three planets, Saturn, Jupi-

ter and Mars. This has always been asign of wonderful, terrible or violent

things to appear. The particular causeof the disease was the state of the

people's body - poor digestion, weak-

ness and blockage - and because of

this the people died.

A French doctor of the 14th century giv-

ing his opinion on the cause of Black

Death.

Source B

A drawing from a 13th century book.

Some people believed that a touch from

a king could cure disease.

Source C

Remove the human waste and other

dirty things lying in the streets and

lanes in the city to places far away.

Then there will be no greater cause

of people dying may arise from such

smell

A letter of King Edward III to the Mayor

of London, 1349.

Source D

How to cure toothacheTake a candle and burn it close tothe tooth. The worm inside the tooth

will fall out into the water.

A medieval cure for toothache.

'1?

1. Using information from Sources A to D as evidence, write two short paragraphs about

Health and Medicine in Medieval Europe. (Deduction)

a. The fifst paragraph could be about the malpractice in medical cure orsuperstitions or pseudo-scientific views about the causes of disease.

t>. The second paragraph could be on the view of the king about relations betweenhygienic environment and diseases,

2, Which sources from A to D are about wrong medical advice? To a historian, are these

sources useless? Why? (Evidence)

A. B and D. They are useful to a historian as they provide infof mation andevidence about health and medicine in medieval Europe. Historians can concludethat there were malpractice and superstitions in the medical field.

§•8,*• 33*0

' . ' •

•

G. Design Questions

* Design questions provide alternatives tostudents, especially those who are weak inwriting ability. This kind of questions doesnot require lengthy answers. But still, anassessment can be made on students'knowledge and understanding on andattitude towards history.

* It is hoped that teachers can be moreflexible in grading. Flexibility includes (1)

, the proportion of this kind of questionsout of the whole paper, and (2) marksawarded in assessing the answers of thiskind of Hill A questions.

' '

1. Design a tomb for the pharaohs. Draw your design in the space below. Explain your

design, too. (If consideration is given to the prevention of tomb-raiding, higher marks may

be awarded.)

2. Design a set of clothing for ancient Egyptians. Draw your design in the space below.

Explain your design, too. (If consideration is given to a person's need at work/social

status/ and the weather there, higher marks may be awarded.)

3- The pharaoh orders you to design an object/a building (no constraints on the size and

materials used) in order to show the greatness of the Egyptians, what would you come

up with? Draw your design in the space below and give explanations. (Students can get

ideas from the Egyptians' mathematics, medicine, writing, politics, religion and calendar.)

4. If you were a Roman and you were to design one thing for Julius Caesar to show his

greatness, what would you create? /Briefly explain how this item shows the greatness of Julius Caesar.

Item:Explanation: ;

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5 Choose a god/goddess of ancient Greeks and design an emblem for him/her

w

A Apollo is the god of music, playing a golden-string harp He

is also the god of bow and arrow He uses the silver bow to

shoot out arrows to great distance He is the god of health

He teaches people the knowledge of medicine He is the god

of light, and the god of truth He never tells lies His most

important work everyday is to drive the sun with his 4-horse

chariot

B Artemis is the goddess of hunting Like Apollo, she hunts with a

silver arrow She is also the goddess of moon She protects

children and the young

C Zeus is the god of all gods He is in charge of the sky, the rain and

the cloud His weapon is thunder and lightning He punishes those

who he or who fail to keep promises

D Poseidon is the god of sea He is respected by the seamen His

weapon is a three-pronged fork The fork can shake the universe

and shatter any thing He lives in the golden palace under the sea

He drives a chariot pulled by the dolphins, seahorses and other

ocean animals

The Humanities Unit of the Curriculum Development Institute invited Ms Flora

Kan of the Department of Curriculum Studies, University of Hong Kong to deliver a speech

on "History Assessment - is 'rote-learning1 avoidable?" in a seminar in June 1998 Ms Kan

cited numerous examples to illustrate what assessment questions were bad and advised

teachers to avoid Furthermore, she suggested a number of "alternative" assessment formats

and encouraged the others to adopt, in order to change the "rote-learning" culture of the

students Teachers present at the seminar all found the examples provided by Ms Kan very

inspiring Our unit has obtained her consent and re-organized the examples,

complemented with pictures or similar questions for teachers' reference.

Fill in the Blank type questions which do not have clear answers.

1 Julius Caesar was a .

2 The Fertile Crescent situated between and

3 When Siddhartha Gautama stepped out of the palace, he saw in the world only.

sickness, and .

4. The Greeks were great They built temples, and

5 In about 750 - 500 BC, many Greek colonies were set up along the coast of

and the

6. The two way trade between Greece and her colonies helped to increase the _

of many Greek city-states.

Fill in the following blanks:

Priests

Noblemen, Soldiers

Merchants, Farmers

Labour

Oh! How am I to

answer these? More than

one answer fits in.

Perhaps what the teacher

^ wants is that part in the

textbook....

and

So many difficulties...

A. Multiple Choices

1. Which of the following were conquered by Alexander the Great in 336-329 B.C.?

(i) Asia Minor (ii) Egypt (iii) Persia

A. (I) & (ii) only

B. (ii) & (iii) only

C. (i) & (iii) only

D. (i), (ii) & (m)

2. FromSOOB.C,

A. city-states emerged in Greece.

B. Greek city-states implemented monarchy.

C. Greek civilization diminished.

D. the Greeks were ruled by the Romans.

B. Matching

1.Match the four civilizations and their starting time.

How can onepossibly know theanswers?

A. The Fertile Crescent

B. The Nile Valley

C. The Huang He Valley

D. The Indus Valley

1. About 3000B.C.

2. About 1700B.C.

3. About 3500B.C.

4. About 2500B.C.

C. Question & Answer1. What are the characteristics of Roman judicial system?

2. Write an essay on Julius Ceasar.

I'm only a SI student, not S5!

To distinguish true and false - Descriptive

The following passage is about the judicial system of Rome. There are lots of mistakes.

Please point out the mistakes and provide the correct information,

"The Roman laws were posted outside the arena. The main purpose was to remind the

soldiers to comply Only the army soldiers were tried by the local judges. The other Roman

citizens followed Divine rule."

Mistakes Corrections

To distinguish dissimilarities.

Circle the dissimilar ones and explain the reasons. (Note the reasons provided by the students in

rating.)

1. Plato/Socrates/Aristotle/Alexander

2. Sumerians/Babylonians/Romans/Phoenicians

3 Islam/Buddhism/Christianity/Mormon

4. Julius Caesar/Augustus Caesar/Nero/Alexander

(Students can choose Alexander for he was the only Greek ruler. But if students choose Nero,

this is also acceptable because only he did not have any military achievements/was an infamous

tyrant.)

5. King/Nobles/Knights/Priests

To distinguish correctness from mistakes - introductory

Please explain why the following quotation was unrelated to the people in bracket.

1. "I'm an outcaste." (A Spartan in 500B.C)

2. "I write cuneiform writing." (A Chinese of West Zhou in 800B.C.)

3. "I swore to follow the Chivalry spirit when I was 21 year old. (A priest in Europe in

medieval time.)

4. "I worshipped in the direction of Mecca five times daily." (A Roman in 50B.C.)

5. "The thing I love to do most daily is to go to the public bath hall." (An Arab in 500B.C.)

To distinguish true and false - Pictures

Which of the following coins is fake? Why?

Alternative Type of Fill in the Blank questions

Fill in the blanks and explain your answer,

1. The Nile valley, , the Huang He Valley, the Indus Valley

Reason :

2. Ancient, .

Reason :

_, Modern

3. King,

Reason :

_, Knight, Farmer

4. 3BC, 2BC, 1BC,

Reason :

5. Babylon, Persia,

Reason :

_, Rome

6. _, Archbishop, Bishop, Priest

Reason :

Pictures

1. Use three adjectives to describe the life of Spartans.

2. Why did Spartans lead this kind of life?3. Were the pictures on the vases first-hand or second-hand historical references? Please explain.

Matching

Match items in Column A with those in Column B and explain your answers (Matches can be

made with more than one item.)

Column A

Sumerians

Hammurabi

Ancient Egyptians

Ancient Romans

Column B

Cuneiform writing

Law Books

Wheels

Worship many gods

Numeric I, IV, X, C

Information - Introductory

1 "I am an outcaste, born in the caste system of the Indian society, I really have no hope at all.

I can only blame my parents. I cannot even take up low-ranked jobs like street cleaning. I

have absolutely no social status, worse than a beggar. Am I supposed to live the rest of my life

like this?"

a What is meant by "outcaste11?

b, How can he change the identity of Moutcaste"? Why?

c, What is your view about the social system in India?

Guided Writing1. Assume you are a journalist. Your task is to interview the ruler about the following systems.

Please draft 5 questions.

a. Caste system in India

b. Democratic system in Athens, ancient Greece.

c. Judicial system in Rome.

Diagram Questions

What do the question marks represent?

Fill in the blanks with appropriate words and breiflyexplain your answers.

1. ?

2. ?

1.

HK 907.12 T25 aTeaching thinking foreffective learning in history: sample assessment tasks forthe revised secondary one

Date Due

N( FOR r