THE MODERN REVOLUTION AND THE FUTURE PAGE \*

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NAME: ROSELLE M. VILLEGAS SCORE: ______________
YR & SEC: 2M GROUP NO. 08 DATE: June 21, 2022

ACTIVITY NO. 08
THRESHOLD 8 – THE MODERN REVOLUTION

A. Encircle the letter of the term or phrase that best completes each statement or best
answers each question. Answers are highlighted in yellow.

1. Why did many leaders in agrarian civilizations choose conquest to pay their expenses rather
than try to raise money in lands they already controlled?
A. Conquering neighbouring states is easier.
B. Conquest was much less costly to agrarian civilizations than attempts to raise money
through lands already controlled.
C. Land productivity had its limits, and at some point, leaders of agrarian civilizations
realised that they had extracted all they could get out of their populations.
D. Most agrarian civilizations funnelled the vast majority of their resources to a well-trained
army, with which they conquered neighbouring states.

2. Why did some very large empires begin to decline and fall after they had taken over large
expanses of land?
A. There was an alien invasion.
B. There were a number of meteor showers that destroyed these areas and they were never
able to recover.
C. They ran out of land to farm.
D. They had grown so large that it was difficult to maintain control over such a large area of
land and people.

3. What advantages did the Afro-Eurasian world zone have over the other world zones?
A. It was the most secluded from the other world zones and thus less susceptible to disease.
B. The Afro-Eurasian world zone was the least populated of the world zones and therefore
had the most land available for expansion of agrarian civilizations.
C. It was the most tropical in its climate and thus had the longest growing season available to
agrarian civilizations.
D. It covered a larger area and had better plants for food, better animals for transportation, and
had been occupied longer than any other zone.

4. The Australasian and Pacific world zones faced disadvantages because of their smaller land
areas, smaller populations, fewer resources, and the fact that agriculture came to these areas
very late or not at all.
A. True
B. False

5. The Afro-Eurasian world zone had an edge over the other world zones for all of the following
reasons
A. Technological advancements created in the Afro-Eurasian world gave them an edge over
others.
B. Larger populations in Afro-Eurasia meant that collective learning increased more rapidly.
C. Immunity to diseases gave Afro-Eurasians an advantage over people in other world zones
once interaction between these areas increased.
D. The lack of work animals such as horses and camels meant that the Afro-Eurasians had to
innovate in order to advance.

6. All of the following innovations in communication helped to speed up the process of

interconnection in the fifteenth century EXCEPT:
A. Telegraph
B. Printing
C. Paper
D. Writing

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7. Innovations in transportation such as ______________helped to speed up the process of
interconnection during the Age of Exploration.
A. road systems and courier systems
B. railroad powered by steams
C. passenger air flights
8. Trade before the late fifteenth century was confined to four separated world zones (Afro-
Eurasia, the Americas, the Pacific Islands, and Australasia).
A. True
B. False

9. People in the 1400s would have used all of the following modes of transportation for trade
EXCEPT:
A. Horses
B. Ships
C. Camels
D. Trains

10. The use of _______________ helped to facilitate trade.

A. gold
B. silver
C. paper
D. currency

11. The building of roads allowed for the movement of all of the following EXCEPT:
A. Evolutionary changes such as mutations in DNA
B. Spread of diseases
C. Movement of armies
D. Travel and the trade of goods and ideas

12. What ended the Silk Road era?

A. A severe decline in the camel population due to famine and disease.
B. Political instability in Rome and China made trade between these two areas impractical.
C. The invention of the steam engine.
D. The invention of more sea-worthy ships to traverse the Indian Ocean.

13. All of the following empires contributed to the maintenance of the Silk Road except:
A. Spanish
B. Roman
C. Han
D. Parthian

14. What effect did the Silk Roads and other networks of exchange and trade have on the
development and power of the four world zones?
A. The Silk Roads made Afro-Eurasia more technologically dynamic, interlinked, and
powerful than any other zone.
B. The Silk Roads connected all of the four world zones, opening the globe to a worldwide
marketplace.
C. The Silk Roads put the Americas on the map and set in motion a shift in power from the
east to the west.
D. The Silk Roads connected Australia with the islands of the Pacific, bringing both world
zones into a competitive balance with the others.

15. The modern world counts as the eighth threshold of increasing complexity because it exhibits
four important characteristics. Which of the following is NOT one of these four
characteristics?
A. Warmer climates after the last ice age
B. Human control over energy and resources
C. Rapid population growth
D. Increasing fragility

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THRESHOLD 8 – THE MODERN REVOLUTION

Rapid population growth is one of the key features of the modern world and provides key evidence
for the idea of acceleration. In this activity, you will study and analyse the nature and patterns of
human population growth over the last 10,000 years. This will help you understand the differences
between population growth before and after the Modern Revolution.

Carefully study the population chart below and answer the following questions:

1. How would you describe human population growth in the first 5,000 years represented in
the graph?

● The human population appears to be slightly increasing.

● The rate of population growth is not particularly rapid.

2. How would you describe human population growth in the next 5,000 years represented in
the graph?

● During this time, there is more growth and variance.

● The first 3,000 years see a greater increase in population.

● In the last 2,000 years, the population has increased much more.

● In a few hundred years, there has been incredible growth.

3. What are two periods in the last 5,000 years where population rises and then drops or
levels off? Can you think of a reason for either of these instances of population drop or
levelling off?

● Around 2,500 years ago, the human population began to increase.

● It reached around 2,000 years ago and then appeared to decrease.

● It reached around 2,000 years ago and then appeared to decrease.

● Around 1,000 years ago, the population increased, grew for a few hundred years,
and then began to drop.

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● The 2,000-year-old drop could be linked to the fall of major empires (Rome, Han
China, and Gupta India) and the chaos that accompanied these events.

● A terrible outbreak of the bubonic plague is related to the fall that began around
700 years ago.

4. When did the most dramatic rise in human population begin and how does this population
rise compared to earlier ones?

● It was only a few hundred years ago that this increase began.

● There is no other time on the graph that has such a dramatic increase in population.

THE FUTURE

You are going to identify a problem affecting the world today, and then you’ll create a vision of
the future based on your chosen problem. You can choose whatever you want. Once you’ve
picked out the problem, write a few sentences that address the following criteria:

1. Provide a short explanation of the problem. Describe how you think this problem will affect
the world in 100 years.

● The main causes of climate change are the fossil fuels we utilise (coal, gases, and oils).
Global warming is brought on by the release of carbon dioxide when they burn. In 100
years, climates will become more extreme in a variety of ways, affecting flooding,
extremely high and low temperatures, and ecosystems. For instance, cold areas will get
even colder, and hotter areas will get even hotter, rendering them uninhabitable and
pushing people to relocate to a safer spot. There will be a shortage of food for humans
because many plants won't be able to grow, which will prevent animals from having access
to food. Additionally, there will be a lot of overcrowded spaces, which will spread disease.

2. Draw about how your vision of the future has changed since Unit 1.

3. Provide a short explanation of the drawing.

● This drawing is about the world going back to normal.New normal for some, this means
trying to combat social isolation. For many, it means learning how to live (or re-live) with
friends, family members, partners, or roommates, which is not always easy. It is
impossible to predict the future, but God can change the impossible situation. So, trust God
even though things don't make complete sense to you at the moment. Seek God sincerely
in prayer. Keep hoping, keep believing, and keep persisting. We have to be optimistic
about the world we live in.

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