How to Approach AP World History: Modern Multiple-Choice Questions

C: The Black Death (bubonic plague) spread through infected fleas carried by rodents, but Europeans at the time did not understand this disease vector. Instead interpreting the plague as divine punishment and viewing the Church as powerless to stop it, many Europeans turned to whipping themselves as penance for their sins. Thus, (C) is correct. While the crusades continued in piecemeal fashion into the early fifteenth century, Muslims in the Holy Land were not specifically targeted as scapegoats for the plague. Rather, Jews and other minorities within Europe were. So (A) is incorrect. Although the labor scar- city created by the plague helped end serfdom in Western Europe, it did not do so in Eastern Europe, which suffered comparatively less population loss. That makes (B) incorrect. Europe was largely deforested prior to the plague; the widespread population loss from the plague actually led to reforestation. (D) is incorrect because it suggests the opposite.

D: While the societies and institutions of Western Europe had outwardly endured the plague unaltered, internally they had changed due to, for example, a labor shortage. Workers were able to demand higher wages and greater political rights, such as freedom of movement, which contributed to undermining feudalism. Thus, (d) is correct. Only one-third of the population died in the first five years of the plague, not two-thirds; (A) is incorrect. The English Civil War did not take place until the seventeenth century. In fact, the plague strengthened the power of monarchies throughout Europe; (B) is incorrect. While tempting due to the plague’s impact on the course of the conflict, espe- cially in terms of French manpower loss, (C) is incorrect because the start of the Hundred Years’ War predates the outbreak of the plague in Europe by a decade.

C: Hecker offers a negative characterization of the Catholic Church gaining new lands and money during the plague, suggesting it led to retrogression. In fact, the introduction of added wealth spurred a culture of corruption and wealth-seeking within the Church that helped spark the Protestant Reformation a century and a half later. Thus, (C) is correct. (A) is incorrect because there were only nine official crusades conducted by the Catholic Church, the last of which ended in 1291. Later crusades were regional or national affairs, not overseen by the Church. (B) is incorrect because medical science in this time period was unable to treat the plague. (D) is incorrect because, while the financial gains made by the Church did help fund various Renaissance projects later on, Hecker is referencing a negative outcome for the Church, not a positive one.

A: In the context of the passage, Hecker is referring to near-term positive developments for European civilization after it suffered greatly from the Black Death. The Renaissance was a period of artistic and scientific self-discovery in Europe, particularly from the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries. Thus, (a) is correct. The First Crusade was called for in 1095, long before the plague; (B) is incorrect. The Enlightenment took place in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries—too late for Hecker; (C) is incorrect. Although (D) is tempting in the context of the war strengthening English and French identity and government, it is too limited to be correct. The Renaissance had a widespread impact throughout the European continent.