Lesson test: The name and the thing

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The name and the thing

1.[2p]
Who coined the term "Silk Road", and when?

Ferdinand von Richthofen, in 1877

Correct

Sven Hedin, in 1936

The answer is: Ferdinand von Richthofen, in 1877

Marco Polo, in the 1290s

The answer is: Ferdinand von Richthofen, in 1877

Aurel Stein, in 1907

The answer is: Ferdinand von Richthofen, in 1877

2.[1p]
Merchants who used the routes called them the Silk Road.

True

The answer is: False

False

Correct

3.[3p]
Zhang Qian reached Bactria in the 120s BCE and found what there?

Cloth and bamboo from Sichuan, bought by merchants in India

Correct

Roman glass vessels brought overland from Syria

The answer is: Cloth and bamboo from Sichuan, bought by merchants in India

A Chinese trading colony established a century earlier

The answer is: Cloth and bamboo from Sichuan, bought by merchants in India

Nothing of Chinese origin at all

The answer is: Cloth and bamboo from Sichuan, bought by merchants in India

4.[2p]
A bolt of silk passes through twelve hands, each merchant taking 20 per cent over what they paid. By what factor has the price multiplied?

CorrectNot quite: 8.92

5.[2p]
The same bolt passes through only two hands, each taking 25 per cent. By what factor has the price multiplied now?

CorrectNot quite: 1.56

6.[3p]
Why did merchants work short stretches of the route rather than travelling the whole way and keeping the margin?

The relay converted one intolerable risk into a series of tolerable ones, and each merchant was paid for local knowledge

Correct

Rulers along the route legally forbade through traffic

The answer is: The relay converted one intolerable risk into a series of tolerable ones, and each merchant was paid for local knowledge

Camels could not survive a journey of more than a few hundred kilometres

The answer is: The relay converted one intolerable risk into a series of tolerable ones, and each merchant was paid for local knowledge

The margins were in fact higher for a short stretch than for the whole journey

The answer is: The relay converted one intolerable risk into a series of tolerable ones, and each merchant was paid for local knowledge

7.[3p]
Which of these are defensible things the term "Silk Road" can denote?

Select all that apply

The actual tracks through the passes and along the desert rims

Correct

The long-distance trade in dense luxuries between China and the west

Correct

The whole system of exchange across Central Eurasia from about 100 BCE to about 1500 CE

Correct

A single continuous physical road from Chang'an to the Mediterranean

The answer is: The actual tracks through the passes and along the desert rims, The long-distance trade in dense luxuries between China and the west, The whole system of exchange across Central Eurasia from about 100 BCE to about 1500 CE

8.[2p]
Match each name to what they contributed to the idea of the Silk Road.

Ferdinand von Richthofen
Sven Hedin
Valerie Hansen
James Millward

coined Seidenstrassen in 1877
argued the long-distance trade was small
made the singular name popular in 1936
defends the broad Central Eurasian definition

Show the answer

Ferdinand von Richthofen: coined Seidenstrassen in 1877 Sven Hedin: made the singular name popular in 1936 Valerie Hansen: argued the long-distance trade was small James Millward: defends the broad Central Eurasian definition

9.[2p]
What is wrong with saying the Silk Road "opened in 138 BCE"?

Traffic long predated the mission; what began then was Chinese documentation of it

Correct

The correct date is 126 BCE, when Zhang Qian returned

The answer is: Traffic long predated the mission; what began then was Chinese documentation of it

Nothing: it is the standard scholarly view

The answer is: Traffic long predated the mission; what began then was Chinese documentation of it

The routes were opened by the Kushans rather than the Han

The answer is: Traffic long predated the mission; what began then was Chinese documentation of it

1.[2p] Who coined the term "Silk Road", and when?

2.[1p] Merchants who used the routes called them the Silk Road.

3.[3p] Zhang Qian reached Bactria in the 120s BCE and found what there?

4.[2p] A bolt of silk passes through twelve hands, each merchant taking 20 per cent over what they paid. By what factor has the price multiplied?

5.[2p] The same bolt passes through only two hands, each taking 25 per cent. By what factor has the price multiplied now?

6.[3p] Why did merchants work short stretches of the route rather than travelling the whole way and keeping the margin?

7.[3p] Which of these are defensible things the term "Silk Road" can denote?

8.[2p] Match each name to what they contributed to the idea of the Silk Road.

9.[2p] What is wrong with saying the Silk Road "opened in 138 BCE"?

1.[2p]
Who coined the term "Silk Road", and when?

2.[1p]
Merchants who used the routes called them the Silk Road.

3.[3p]
Zhang Qian reached Bactria in the 120s BCE and found what there?

4.[2p]
A bolt of silk passes through twelve hands, each merchant taking 20 per cent over what they paid. By what factor has the price multiplied?

5.[2p]
The same bolt passes through only two hands, each taking 25 per cent. By what factor has the price multiplied now?

6.[3p]
Why did merchants work short stretches of the route rather than travelling the whole way and keeping the margin?

7.[3p]
Which of these are defensible things the term "Silk Road" can denote?

8.[2p]
Match each name to what they contributed to the idea of the Silk Road.

9.[2p]
What is wrong with saying the Silk Road "opened in 138 BCE"?