Course Introduction
Cultural Anthropology
Textbook Exam Questions
Cultural Anthropology explores the diverse tapestry of human cultures around the world, examining how people live, communicate, organize society, and make sense of their environments. The course introduces foundational concepts such as culture, ethnography, kinship, language, belief systems, and social structures. Through cross-cultural comparison and in-depth case studies, students gain insight into issues like globalization, identity, power dynamics, and cultural change, enhancing their ability to engage with the complexities of cultural diversity and fostering a broader understanding of what it means to be human.
Recommended Textbook
Cultural Anthropology 4th Canadian Edition by
Barbara D. Miller
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15 Chapters
1776 Verified Questions
1776 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: The Nature of Anthropology
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134 Verified Questions
134 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following activities would an applied anthropologist most likely NOT be involved in?
A) persuading indigenous healers to discard their traditional methods of treating illness in favour of modern medicine
B) providing mediation between members of an Aboriginal group and residents of a nearby housing development who are in conflict over water rights
C) providing background information to First Nations and government agencies during land claims negotiations
D) working with Aboriginal peoples to develop cultural awareness programs about their heritage and history
Answer: A
Q2) Anthropologists consider the notions of racial and cultural superiority as fallacies.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 2: The Nature of Culture
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98 Verified Questions
98 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Goldschmidt suggests that it is possible to make judgments about which cultures are more successful than others.How does he suggest this can be done?
A) by looking at which cultures control the most fertile land
B) by considering which cultures last the longest
C) by how well a given culture satisfies people's physical and psychological needs
D) by how effectively a given culture controls behaviour and immorality
Answer: C
Q2) Among the Kapauku Papuans of New Guinea,attempts to eliminate warfare would affect the sex ratio and the practice of polygyny.This would in turn affect the economy,since women raise pigs,and the more wives a man has,the more pigs he has and the wealthier he is.What do these complex relationships tell us about culture?
A) It is materialistic.
B) It is integrated.
C) It is pluralistic.
D) It is logical.
Answer: B
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Chapter 3: The Beginnings of Human Culture
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111 Verified Questions
111 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The spinal cord passes through an opening in the skull and connects to the brain.Which development in human evolution does the study of this feature of our anatomy shed light on?
A) primate vision
B) primate intelligence
C) a trend towards upright posture
D) increased manual dexterity
Answer: C
Q2) Which of the following learned behaviours has been observed among chimpanzees?
A) making tools by stripping branches to use as a "fishing rod" for termites
B) making simple clay pots to get water for drinking
C) an infant breaking open a birds nest to get eggs
D) wooden "spear" fishing
Answer: A
Q3) In 1995,Biruté Galdikas,a primatologist teaching at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia,is one of the three best known female primatologists.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Language and Communication
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120 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) All children in modern mainland China learn to speak Mandarin in school,which means that they can be understood anywhere they go in China.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following is notated and analyzed by means of "kinesics"?
A) the effects of aging
B) child social development
C) verbal communication
D) body language
Q3) English-Canadian accents vary widely from coast to coast even for second-generation immigrants.
A)True
B)False
Q4) At the beginning of the 15th century,there were 15,000 languages spoken,but by the beginning of the 21st century,there were only 6,000 languages still being spoken
A)True
B)False
Q5) Explain and critique the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.
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Chapter 5: Making a Living
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133 Verified Questions
133 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Who is most responsible for the extermination of the American bison herds in the 1880s?
A) mounted Plains hunters,whose mobility gave them lethal efficiency
B) white setters,who saw the independence of mounted Indians as a threat
C) starving Plains hunters,who had no choice but to kill off the few remaining animals
D) invading Canadian Aboriginal groups
Q2) Which of the following is true of individuals who inherited the sickle-cell trait from one parent and a normal gene from the other parent?
A) They were favoured by natural selection.
B) They succumbed to malaria but did not die.
C) They had no natural defence to malaria.
D) They usually died of anthropogenesis.
Q3) What does the Aztec word chinampas refer to?
A) temple priests who performed religious rituals for the population
B) gold flakes used as currency in the Tlatelolco market
C) artificial garden plots on the lake surrounding the capital
D) Aztec noble families
Q4) Critique the Western notion of "progress" from an anthropological viewpoint.
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Page 7
Chapter 6: Economic Systems
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120 Verified Questions
120 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is an example of the informal economy in Canada?
A) factory outlets
B) garage sales
C) Christmas gift giving
D) e-commerce
Q2) Which of the following groups tends to have fewer and simpler tools?
A) mobile food foragers and pastoralists
B) semi-permanent horticulturalists
C) sedentary agriculturalists
D) landless peasants
Q3) Discuss the role of First Nations groups as intermediaries in the fur trade in Canada.
Q4) Which of the following statements land ownership among food foragers such as the Ju/'hoansi is true?
A) Land belongs to the band that has occupied it for a long time.
B) Land belongs to those who have bought it.
C) Land is private property,and access to it can be denied.
D) Land has clear boundaries marked by survey posts.
Q5) Describe the working conditions and specialized skills of Afar salt miners.
Q6) Discuss the consequences of resource depletion for the people of Newfoundland.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Sex and Marriage
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124 Verified Questions
124 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is common behaviour in India for parents wishing to arrange a marriage for their children?
A) segregating their children in private schools
B) encouraging their children toward online dating
C) taking their children to psychic matchmakers
D) isolating their children within the home
Q2) In Tibet a young man lives with his older brother,who is married.The younger brother begins to think about setting up his own tent and taking his share of the yaks and pastures.One night his brother's wife gives him her necklace.In Tibetan culture this is an invitation for him to become her second husband.If he accepts,he will remain with his brother and share the same tent.What is his sister-in-law offering him?
A) a polyandrous marriage
B) a polygynous marriage
C) a chance take the place of her first husband
D) an adulterous relationship
Q3) For Mormons,Muslims,and some Jews,polygamy is a component of religious practice.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Discuss the relationship between polygyny and wealth.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Family and Household
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Sample Questions
Q1) When fraternal polyandrous households of the Nayar break up,it is usually the wife who leaves.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What does a Nayar consanguine family consist of?
A) a woman,her dependent offspring,and the woman's brothers
B) a married heterosexual couple,their dependent offspring,and the woman's parents
C) a woman and all of her own relatives
D) a group of sisters,their husbands,and their dependent offspring
Q3) By 2003,what ratio of female-headed families in Canada lived in a low-income situation?
A) one-quarter
B) one-third
C) one-half
D) two-thirds
Q4) Some form of family is present in all human cultures.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Identify and discuss the problems inherent in the "traditional" nuclear family.
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Chapter 9: Kinship and Descent
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Sample Questions
Q1) How many kinship terminology systems have anthropologists documented?
A) four
B) five
C) six
D) ten
Q2) Anglo-Canadians assume that they are related equally to the relatives on both the mother's and father's side.What is the term for this type of descent group?
A) ambilineal
B) double
C) bilateral
D) patrilineal
Q3) What is the term for a noncorporate descent group whose members claim descent from a common ancestor but who cannot prove their genealogical links to that ancestor?
A) lineage
B) totem
C) clan
D) kindred
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Chapter 10: Social Stratification and Groupings
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is one of the weaknesses in the conflict theory of stratification?
A) The theory ignores such factors as personal choice.
B) Conflict theory does not take into account ethnic differences.
C) Conflict theory overemphasizes intellectual and physical abilities.
D) The theory ignores the importance of globalization.
Q2) Which country has a seniors' political party that has made impressive inroads in recent years?
A) Sweden
B) Finland
C) Israel
D) Spain
Q3) Among "Tribal" peoples,which of the following is most often correct?
A) The elderly are never abandoned.
B) They often withdraw and die on their own in old age.
C) Statuses tend to be more "natural" than those imposed in Western cultures.
D) Elders are respected and treated as wise "living libraries."
Q4) Seniors are projected to make up about 21 percent of the Canadian population by 2026.
A)True
B)False
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Political Organization and the Maintenance of Order
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115 Verified Questions
115 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which term can be defined as people who share a language,culture,territorial base,political organization,and a common history?
A) civilization
B) chiefdom
C) state
D) nation
Q2) Identify the distinguishing features of chiefdoms and states,focusing on major differences between these two types of political systems.
Q3) The Order of Canada is awarded in a formal ceremony in Ottawa each year.What is this an example of?
A) a positive sanction
B) an informal sanction
C) an internalized sanction
D) a military sanction
Q4) Canadian international peacekeepers are only permitted to supervise ceasefires and the withdrawal and disarmament of warring forces.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 12: Religion and the Supernatural
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Sample Questions
Q1) A sick person who is given a medical explanation for his disease (for example,that he has tuberculosis)may still prefer to explain his illness as the result of witchcraft because it explains why he,and not someone else,got the disease.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following beliefs is shared by both Wiccans and Reconstructionists?
A) Nature is sacred,and there is more than one god.
B) Christ died for our sins.
C) The performance of magical sacred rites will create a cone of power.
D) There are twenty commandments.
Q3) The Canadian census indicates a dramatic decline in church attendance over the past 50 years.Which region of Canada had an especially large decline?
A) British Columbia
B) Quebec
C) the Maritimes
D) rural areas
Q4) Both Melanesian cargo cults and the Native American Ghost Dance are described as parallel processes.Discuss.
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Page 14
Chapter 13: The Arts
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Sample Questions
Q1) Human appearance is a cultural construct as well as a biological creation.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What is the first example of visual arts found in Canada?
A) the bark scrolls of the Ojibwa dating from 5,000 years ago
B) decorated Iroquois pottery dating from 3,000 years ago
C) petroglyph rock art dating from 7,000 years ago
D) Inuit decorated harpoons from 9,000 years ago
Q3) Ukrainian dancers;Jewish klezmer bands;Celtic fiddlers:What function do these three types of music perform?
A) They remind people of past tragedies.
B) They give otherwise unknown performers high visibility.
C) They affirm and celebrate people's ethnic identity.
D) They unite Canada into a single culture.
Q4) How does the text refer to the popular novel,Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone?
A) as an urban legend
B) as a narrative myth
C) as a test of masculinity
D) as "Cinderella" for males
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Anthropology at Work
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110 Verified Questions
110 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which area of applied anthropology is most useful in police work?
A) handwriting analysis
B) historical archaeology
C) forensic anthropology
D) biological anthropology
Q2) Many applied anthropologists are concerned that the militarization of anthropology runs counter to their humanitarian orientation and may be used by governments to harm innocent people.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Owen Beattie's forensic examination of the victims of the Franklin expedition indicated that they resorted to cannibalism as they were dying off.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In the article,"A Tale of Two First Nations:Traditional Knowledge in Today's Business World," Rodney Nelson discusses the application of traditional Aboriginal knowledge to modern business models.Can his approach,which involves social development,be reconciled with the goals of capitalism? Do you think this would work outside of Aboriginal communities?
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Chapter 15: Cultural Change and the Future of Humanity
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174 Verified Questions
174 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The use of camels in the Middle East indicates that these societies were at a less-advanced stage in cultural development than societies that used the wheel.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Canada's attempts to assimilate First Nations peoples have differed from attempts by the United States to assimilate Native Americans.What has been the main difference?
A) Canada has used less force and violence than was used in the United States.
B) Canada has made only one major,prolonged attempt to assimilate First Nations peoples,while the United States has made numerous repeated attempts.
C) Canada encouraged Christian missionaries to Europeanize First Nations peoples,but this did not occur in the United States.
D) Canada has been very successful in assimilating First Nations peoples;the United States failed to assimilate Native Americans.
Q3) Not all change is adaptive.
A)True
B)False
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