Free AP® World History: Modern Practice Test (2026)

Question 1

What was the devshirme system in the Ottoman Empire?

Accepted Answer

The practice of taking Christian boys from the Balkans, converting them to Islam and training them as soldiers or officials

Answer

A tax paid by Muslim merchants to fund mosques

Answer

A law that gave all land to the Ottoman nobility

Answer

A system of examinations for choosing government officials based on Confucian texts

Question 2

What knowledge was most important for sailors in the Indian Ocean trade network?

Accepted Answer

The timing of the seasonal monsoon winds

Answer

The use of steam engines

Answer

How to sail around Cape Horn

Answer

The location of the trade winds in the Pacific

Question 3

Which idea did John Locke contribute to Enlightenment political thought?

Accepted Answer

People have natural rights to life, liberty and property, and government rests on the consent of the governed.

Answer

Kings rule by divine right and cannot be questioned.

Answer

A ruler should be feared rather than loved.

Answer

Society progresses through class struggle between workers and owners.

Question 4

Much of the silver mined at Potosí in South America ended up in which country, where demand for silver was very high?

Accepted Answer

China

Answer

England

Answer

Russia

Answer

The Mughal Empire

Question 5

Which development helped the population of Song dynasty China grow?

Accepted Answer

Fast-ripening Champa rice, which allowed more than one harvest a year

Answer

Potatoes and maize brought from the Americas

Answer

Steam-powered irrigation pumps

Answer

The end of all trade with Southeast Asia

Question 6

What was a result of the First Opium War (1839–1842)?

Accepted Answer

China gave Hong Kong to Britain and opened more ports to British trade.

Answer

Britain agreed to stop selling opium in China.

Answer

China conquered British India.

Answer

Japan took control of Korea.

Question 7

How did Akbar rule the religiously diverse Mughal Empire?

Accepted Answer

He practiced religious tolerance, ended the tax on non-Muslims and gave Hindus high posts.

Answer

He required all subjects to convert to Islam.

Answer

He banned all religions except Sikhism.

Answer

He expelled Hindus from the empire.

Question 8

What was the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War?

Accepted Answer

A group of countries, many newly independent, that chose not to join either the American or the Soviet bloc

Answer

A military alliance of Western European countries

Answer

The economic union of Soviet-controlled countries in Eastern Europe

Answer

A group of countries that agreed to give up nuclear weapons

Question 9

Why is the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) significant?

Accepted Answer

It was a revolt of enslaved people that created an independent state and abolished slavery there.

Answer

It restored French control over the island.

Answer

It ended the slave trade across the Atlantic at once.

Answer

It was led by Simón Bolívar.

Question 10

Which was an effect of the Columbian Exchange on Afro-Eurasia?

Accepted Answer

American crops such as potatoes and maize helped populations grow.

Answer

Smallpox spread from the Americas and killed most of Europe’s population.

Answer

Horses and cattle were introduced to Europe from the Americas.

Answer

Sugar was introduced to Europe for the first time from the Americas.

Question 11

Which was one result of the Treaty of Versailles (1919)?

Accepted Answer

Germany had to accept blame for the war and pay reparations.

Answer

Germany gained colonies in Africa.

Answer

The Ottoman Empire grew larger.

Answer

The United States joined the League of Nations.

Question 12

What was the Green Revolution?

Accepted Answer

The use of high-yield seeds, chemical fertilizers and irrigation that greatly increased food production in many countries

Answer

A movement to ban all chemical fertilizers

Answer

The spread of Islam across North Africa

Answer

A plan to replace farms with forests

Question 13

Why did the Industrial Revolution begin in Great Britain?

Accepted Answer

Britain had large coal and iron deposits, available capital and access to markets and raw materials through its empire.

Answer

Britain had the largest population in the world.

Answer

Britain had banned all foreign trade.

Answer

Britain had no rivers or ports, so it needed railroads.

Question 14

Which was an effect of the Mongol Empire on Eurasia in the 1200s and 1300s?

Accepted Answer

Safer travel along the Silk Roads increased trade and the exchange of ideas, and also helped spread the bubonic plague.

Answer

Trade between China and Europe stopped completely.

Answer

Islam disappeared from Central Asia.

Answer

Paper and gunpowder became unknown outside Europe.

Question 15

What was the purpose of the Berlin Conference (1884–1885)?

Accepted Answer

To set rules for European countries claiming territory in Africa

Answer

To end the slave trade in the Indian Ocean

Answer

To grant independence to African colonies

Answer

To divide China into spheres of influence

Question 16

Why did the Ottoman and Safavid empires often fight each other?

Accepted Answer

They competed for territory, and the Ottomans were Sunni Muslims while the Safavids were Shi’a Muslims.

Answer

The Safavids were Christian and the Ottomans were Muslim.

Answer

Both wanted to control the Atlantic slave trade.

Answer

The Ottomans wanted to conquer Ming China.

Question 17

What was the encomienda system in the Spanish Americas?

Accepted Answer

A grant that gave Spanish colonists the right to demand labor and tribute from Native people

Answer

A system of free wage labor for Native people

Answer

A trade agreement between Spain and Portugal

Answer

A school system for teaching Native languages

Question 18

What did Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 show the wider world?

Accepted Answer

The great wealth Mali gained from the trans-Saharan gold trade

Answer

That Mali had converted to Christianity

Answer

That Mali was part of the Mongol Empire

Answer

That Mali had no contact with North Africa

Question 19

Why did many people from India and China travel abroad as indentured laborers in the late 1800s?

Accepted Answer

They signed contracts to work for a set number of years on plantations, mines and railroads in exchange for passage and wages.

Answer

They were enslaved and sold through the Atlantic slave trade.

Answer

They moved to Europe to become factory owners.

Answer

They were forced to serve in the Ottoman army.

Question 20

How did the Meiji government in Japan respond to Western pressure after 1868?

Accepted Answer

It modernized quickly, building industry, railroads and a modern army based on Western models.

Answer

It closed Japan completely to foreign contact.

Answer

It became a colony of the United States.

Answer

It brought back rule by the shogun.

Question 21

How did India gain independence from Britain in 1947?

Accepted Answer

Through a largely nonviolent mass movement, after which British India was partitioned into India and Pakistan

Answer

Through a long war in which India defeated the British army

Answer

Through a vote of the League of Nations

Answer

Through a Soviet invasion that drove the British out

Question 22

In 1517 Martin Luther criticized the Catholic Church. What was one of his main complaints?

Accepted Answer

The sale of indulgences, which he said could not buy salvation

Answer

The Church’s use of German rather than Latin in its services

Answer

The Church’s plan to translate the Bible into German

Answer

The power of the Ottoman sultan over the Pope

Question 23

What were Joseph Stalin’s Five-Year Plans in the Soviet Union?

Accepted Answer

State plans to industrialize rapidly, together with the forced collectivization of farms

Answer

Plans to give land to private farmers and allow free markets

Answer

Plans to rebuild Western Europe after World War II

Answer

Plans to hold free elections every five years

Question 24

Which organization was created in 1995 to set and enforce rules for trade among nations?

Accepted Answer

The World Trade Organization

Answer

NATO

Answer

OPEC

Answer

The United Nations Security Council

Question 25

How did Tokugawa Japan handle contact with Europeans in the 1600s and 1700s?

Accepted Answer

It sharply limited foreign contact, expelling most Europeans and allowing only limited Dutch and Chinese trade at Nagasaki.

Answer

It welcomed Christian missionaries throughout the country.

Answer

It allowed Spain to set up colonies in Japan.

Answer

It sent large fleets to explore the Pacific.

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