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Age of Exploration and Global Encounters — 7th Grade Social Studies practice questions

24 multiple-choice questions and 8 flashcards on Age of Exploration and Global Encounters, about 16% of the 7th Grade Social Studies bank. Every one carries a written rationale.

Written and maintained by Nick Burton · last updated 2026-08-22 · how we write and review questions

What this chapter covers

Age of Exploration and Global Encounters is one of 6 chapters in CoStudy's 7th Grade Social Studies (World History) bank, and it holds 24 of the bank's 150 multiple-choice questions — roughly 16% of the total. That proportion is not arbitrary: chapters follow the certifying body's published exam outline, and the number of questions in each is set by that domain's published weight, so the share of your practice time this chapter takes matches the share of the real exam it accounts for.

Studying by chapter is worth doing once you have a diagnostic score. A single overall percentage tells you whether you are close; it does not tell you which domain is dragging. Working a weak chapter in isolation, and re-testing it in isolation, is the fastest way to move a score that has stalled — and it is why the mock exams in CoStudy report by domain rather than as one number.

Free Age of Exploration and Global Encounters practice questions

4 questions drawn from this chapter, with the full rationale shown — the controlling principle behind the right answer, and why each wrong option tempts and fails.

Which correctly describes supply and demand?

  1. When supply increases, price always rises
  2. When demand increases and supply remains constant, prices tend to rise
  3. Supply and demand are unrelated to price
  4. Higher prices always increase demand

Answer: B — When demand increases and supply remains constant, prices tend to rise

Basic economics: if more people want a good (demand up) and supply stays the same, sellers can charge more (price rises). (A) increased supply typically lowers price; (C) price is determined by supply and demand; (D) higher prices generally reduce demand (law of demand).

Nationalism MOST directly led to WWI by:

  1. Making nations cooperate more peacefully
  2. Creating ethnic tensions, particularly in the multi-ethnic Austro-Hungarian Empire, and inspiring movements for self-determination
  3. Reducing military spending
  4. Encouraging global free trade

Answer: B — Creating ethnic tensions, particularly in the multi-ethnic Austro-Hungarian Empire, and inspiring movements for self-determination

Nationalism fueled ethnic groups (Slavs, Poles, etc.) to seek independence from multi-ethnic empires, creating instability. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand was an act of Serbian nationalism. (A/C/D) are opposite effects.

Which statement about the TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE is accurate?

  1. It lasted only about 50 years
  2. It was primarily an intra-African practice
  3. It forcibly transported millions of Africans to the Americas, forming the foundation of an exploitative labor system
  4. It was supported by all European nations from the beginning

Answer: C — It forcibly transported millions of Africans to the Americas, forming the foundation of an exploitative labor system

The transatlantic slave trade (1500s–1800s) transported approximately 12 million Africans, with hundreds of thousands dying on the Middle Passage. It was the economic basis of plantation agriculture in the Americas. (A) it lasted ~400 years; (B) it was driven by European demand; (D) abolitionists opposed it.

The Age of Exploration (1400s–1600s) was primarily driven by:

  1. A desire to spread democracy
  2. The need to escape European wars
  3. The search for trade routes to Asia for spices and wealth, supported by new navigation technology
  4. The Black Death wiping out the merchant class

Answer: C — The search for trade routes to Asia for spices and wealth, supported by new navigation technology

European nations sought sea routes to Asian spice markets after the Ottoman Empire blocked overland routes. New tools (compass, caravel, astrolabe) made long voyages possible. (A) democracy wasn't a motive; (B) not the primary driver; (D) Black Death was over a century earlier.

Age of Exploration and Global Encounters flashcards

1 cards from the 8 in this chapter.

Why did Europeans explore the world in the 1400s-1500s?

Wanting Asian goods (spices, silk), spreading Christianity, seeking glory, finding new trade routes (after Ottoman blockade).

Practise the full chapter

These are a sample. The full Age of Exploration and Global Encounters chapter runs 32 items with per-chapter progress tracking, on the web and in the iOS app.

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