World Cultures
Textbook Exam Questions
Course Introduction
World Cultures offers an exploration of the diverse customs, traditions, beliefs, and social practices that define societies around the globe. Through comparative study, students gain insight into the unique histories, values, and cultural expressions such as art, music, religion, language, and social organization of various regions including Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania. The course fosters an appreciation for cultural diversity and encourages critical reflection on global interconnectedness, cross-cultural communication, and the challenges and benefits of living in a multicultural world.
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Cultural Anthropology A Global Perspective 8th Edition by Raymond Scupin
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Chapter 1: Introduction to Anthropology
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Q1) Anthropology is said to be "holistic" because it:
A) is concerned with primitive societies
B) makes use of both written and spoken sources
C) combines studies of biological and cultural phenomena
D) studies the mystical aspects of human experience
Answer: C
Q2) Primatology, the study of non-human primates, is a specialization within physical anthropology that explores human evolution.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Which of the following would NOT be considered a specialization within the discipline of physical anthropology?
A) human anatomy
B) paleopathology
C) primatology
D) phonology
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: Human Evolution
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Q1) How was the material culture of Homo sapiens affected by climatic change?
Answer: The material culture of Homo sapiens was significantly affected by climatic change. As the climate shifted, early human populations had to adapt their tools, clothing, and shelter to survive in new environments. For example, during periods of extreme cold, Homo sapiens developed more advanced clothing and shelter to protect themselves from the elements. They also had to adjust their hunting and gathering techniques to find food in changing landscapes.
Additionally, as the climate changed, certain resources may have become scarce or more abundant, leading to shifts in the types of tools and technologies that were used. For example, as certain plant and animal species became less available, Homo sapiens had to develop new ways to obtain food and other resources.
Overall, the material culture of Homo sapiens was deeply intertwined with the natural environment, and as the climate changed, so too did their technology, tools, and way of life. This constant adaptation and innovation allowed early humans to thrive in a variety of environments and eventually spread across the globe.
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Chapter 3: Culture
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Sample Questions
Q1) An example of a symbol is:
A) ringing a bell to indicate class is over
B) using bright orange paint to indicate danger
C) litmus paper turning pink to indicate acidity
D) yawning to indicate fatigue
Answer: B
Q2) __________ may occur when one dominant group in a complex society imposes its cultural beliefs on subordinate ethnic groups. For example, the dominant ethnic group in the U.S. during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (the white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants) was able to impose its language, cultural beliefs, and practices on other minority groups in U.S. society.
A) Cultural hegemony
B) Cultural chaos
C) Multiculturalism
D) Ethnic superiority
E) Mores strife
Answer: A
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Chapter 4: The Process of Enculturation: Psychological and Cognitive Anthropology
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Q1) Recent research in new types of psychological anthropology shows that children are not passive recipients during enculturation.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Do you agree with the theory that humans do not have closed instincts? Why or why not?
Q3) An example of one way in which humans can make decisions to ignore or override basic needs would be:
A) telling a lie
B) abstaining from sex
C) running a marathon
D) sleeping late
Q4) Based on your own experience of different ethnic groups, do you agree with the theory that there are specific personality types that are common in certain cul?tures? Discuss the reasons why you agree or disagree.
Q5) What are some of the most important methods of enculturation used in your own society? Give an example of how your own personality has been affected by enculturation.
6
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Chapter 5: Language
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Q1) If an English speaker said to you, "Get out of my face!" you would probably back up and move away from the person speaking to you. From a linguistic point of view, "Get out of my face":
A) consists of fourteen phonemes but only three morphemes
B) is an example of a kinesics message
C) shows that glottochronology and the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis may be more closely related than most linguists think
D) is an example of proxemics in action
E) contains four free morphemes and two bounded morphemes .
Q2) The concept of arbitrariness is in reference to how abstract words are as symbols.
A)True
B)False
Q3) An example of a bound morpheme in English is:
A) the phrase "boys will be boys"
B) the word "boys"
C) the word "boy"
D) the "s" in the word "boys"
E) the two words, "will be," that are in between the word "boys" in the phrase above in A
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Chapter 6: Anthropological Explanations
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Q1) An important aspect of theories of "unilineal evolution" was that:
A) human societies could be classified on the basis of their relative level of civilization
B) all living primates were related to the human species
C) the oldest accomplishments of civilization were found along the Nile
D) the Great Flood of Noah was an actual historical event
Q2) In order for diffusionism to work as envisioned by the British and German schools, adherents had to assume or maintain all of the following ideas except:
A) Some peoples were not sufficiently innovative to develop their own cultural traits.
B) Inherent inferiority of different non-Western peoples was assumed.
C) Cultural traits that were diffused were part of the technological dimension of the society.
D) Cultural traits in the same geographical region would inevitably spread from one society to another.
Q3) Explain the major tenets of Feminist anthropology. How does the feminist orientation developed in the 1960s and 1970s differ from earlier work by female anthropologists?
Q4) How would a cultural materialist explain why Muslims don't eat pork?
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Chapter 7: Analyzing Sociocultural Systems
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Q1) Demographic anthropologists are interested in demonstrating how cultural systems modify the natural environment.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Religion appears to be a cultural universal, although specific practices and beliefs vary significantly from culture to culture.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Have you ever gone through a "rite of passage"? If so, what was the rite of pas?sage? Have you experienced more than one rite of passage? Pick one rite of passage that you have experienced and describe it in terms of Van Gennep's stages of separation, marginality, and incorporation (aggregation).
Q4) How does enculturation influence male and female gender roles? Is there a universal division of labor based on sex? Are gender roles static entities within each society? Are gender roles changing in the United States?
Q5) Both sex and gender are biologically determined.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 8: Band Societies
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Q1) An ideal marriage partner in a forager group is often a parallel cousin, the offspring of one's father's sister or one's mother's brother.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Leaders of band societies:
A) rule by edict
B) often have to resort to the use of power and coercion to accomplish goals
C) lead by persuasion, example, and personal influence
D) are similar to communist dictators, in that they have absolute power over the people E) rule by trickery and deceit and by withholding key resources
Q3) Food production, as a subsistence pattern, developed about:
A) 1 million years ago
B) 100,000 to 120,000 years ago
C) 10,000 to 12,000 years ago
D) 1,000 to 2,000 years ago
Q4) The attempt to get something for nothing is called negative reciprocity.
A)True
B)False
Q5) If you were a hunter-gatherer, where would you prefer to live and why?
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Chapter 9: Tribes
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Q1) A clan is a special kind of descent group whose members are defined by:
A) relationships to a male figure, known through myths and legends
B) common descent from unknown or sacred beings, such as special animals or plants
C) their long-term occupation of a specific geographical location
D) relationships to a specific extended family
Q2) One of the ways that "big men" in Melanesia can gain the allegiance of followers is to:
A) impress them by sponsoring a feast of pig meat from his family's herd
B) conquer them in battle, take them captive, and then provide them with freedom
C) demonstrate sacred knowledge by reciting long epic poems about ocean voyages
D) provide them with gifts of sheep, goats, and heavy wool textiles
Q3) Cross-cultural research has shown that societies engaged in external warfare (warfare at long distances from home) develop matrilocal residence rules.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Are there any reasons why polygyny occurs most frequently in tribal societies? Is polygyny an adaptive strategy, or is it maladaptive?
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Chapter 10: Chiefdoms
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Q1) The term shaman is used to designate:
A) an individual who had the ability to sicken and to cure, and who often served as spiritual guide to chiefs
B) a cosmic power that can be increased through brave deeds, diminished through illness, and passed from a chief to his sons
C) the New Year's festival in ancient Hawaii, at which human sacrifices were practiced
D) the principal ancestor in a conical clan
Q2) Archaeologist Timothy Earle has challenged the hypothesis by Elman Service that chiefdoms arose through regional symbiosis. Earle suggests that the key factor in the evolution of chiefdoms was the:
A) exchange of limited, high prestige goods among local descent groups
B) development of a lineage organization that controlled access to the land
C) degree of political and economic control that was held over productive resources and labor
D) domestication of animals
E) rise of religious elite that eventually took control of the economy of a region
Q3) What role did kinship and descent play in the social structure of a chiefdom?
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Chapter 11: Agricultural States
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Q1) The term "civilization" usually implies societies with a complex division of labor, with economic roles other than those pertaining to food production.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Bridewealth occurs frequently in horticultural societies, whereas goods and wealth paid by the bride's family to the groom's family is most common in agricultural states. This type of marital exchange is known as the:
A) quick fix
B) dowry
C) groomwealth
D) rombat
E) moiety
Q3) Are marriage patterns and social ties in agricultural states independent of economic and political considerations? If so, why? If not, what are some of the economic and political implications of marriage patterns and other social ties?
Q4) How does the dowry differ from bridewealth? What are some of the functions of a dowry?
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Chapter 12: Industrial States
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Q1) One of the most distinctive features of law in industrial societies is the proliferation of public and procedural law, referred to as:
A) tort law
B) administrative law
C) habeas corpus
D) litigation law
E) "sue anyone for anything" law
Q2) One of the major consequences of the Industrial Revolution was a dramatic decrease in population.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Capitalist societies share three basic ideals. Which of the following is NOT one of these ideals?
A) The elements of production are privately owned.
B) Companies are free to maximize profits and accumulate wealth.
C) Land and resources should be owned and controlled by the state government, while production and services are in the hands of free enterprise.
D) Free competition and consumer independence are basic to all economic activities.
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Chapter 13: Globalization, Culture, and Indigenous Societies
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Q1) Rates of alcoholism among the Ju/'hoansi or San have increased as a result of wage labor.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Colin Turnbull examined two cases of African foragers who have faced decimation through forced cultural change. These were the Yanamamö and the San.
A)True
B)False
Q3) According to modernization theorists, the primary impediments to economic development are:
A) foreign investment and exchange
B) poor nutrition and health care
C) cultural values and traditionalism
D) international relief agencies
Q4) Throughout the Arabian Peninsula, Bedouin communities are becoming:
A) absorbed into existing nation-states
B) economically self-sufficient
C) autonomous nations with their own governments
D) wealthy through oil revenues
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Chapter 14: Globalization in Latin America, africa, and the Caribbean
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Q1) The French were the first Europeans to engage in slave trade in West Africa.
A)True
B)False
Q2) One of the strategies used by European colonies to force native villagers to abandon agricultural lands and become wage laborers was:
A) the formation of labor unions
B) collection of taxes in cash
C) their recruitment into the military
D) construction of low-cost housing
Q3) The most significant factor in Latin American demographic change after the arrival of Europeans was a dramatic increase in:
A) fertility
B) mortality
C) employment
D) life expectancy
Q4) Apartheid is a system in which social and political rights are based on an individual's physical characteristics.
A)True
B)False
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Globalization in the Middle East and Asia
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Q1) According to caste ideology, all individuals are equal with respect to ritual purity.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The term purdah refers to:
A) the idea of physical attractiveness and sensuality
B) the wearing of the veil and forced seclusion of Muslim women
C) the concept of the traditional extended family
D) bridewealth paid in traditional Islamic families
Q3) The ultimate aim and spiritual goal for all Hindus is:
A) freedom from the cycle of reincarnation through spiritual enlightenment
B) following the code of law given to humans by God
C) emulating the life of the prophet Muhammad
D) achieving salvation and eternal life through a personal relationship with God
Q4) Most of the problems experienced in the Middle East and Asia today are the result of:
A) traditional village economic systems
B) the legacy of ancient agricultural states
C) the incompatibility of different Eastern religions
D) global industrialization and exploitation by core societies
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Chapter 16: Race and Ethnicity
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Q1) Two-thirds of African Americans subsist at or below the poverty level.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The majority of legal immigrants admitted to the United States in the early 1980s came from:
A) Asia
B) Latin America
C) Africa
D) Europe
Q3) Cases of ethnic cleansing and genocide have been on the decrease since World War II.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Ethnicity is not innately determined by biology or purported racial characteristics.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Nazis originated the concept of racism.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: Contemporary Global Trends
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Q1) In China, the government penalizes urban couples who have more than one child.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The Green Revolution has been successful in every part of the world where it has been implemented.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The term "Green Revolution" refers to the increased use of to increase food production in Third World countries.
A) traditional, organic farming methods that avoid the use of pesticides
B) intensive human labor for planting, weeding, and harvesting
C) renewable tree- and root-crop products of the tropical rain forests
D) mechanized agriculture, genetic engineering, and artificial hybrid crops
Q4) Female infanticide has been virtually eliminated in China due to the one-child policy.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is the demographic transition theory? Do you think this model applies to all cultures in the world?
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Chapter 18: Applied Anthropology
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Q1) Researchers estimate that pot hunters may destroy up to 98% of sites predating the year 2000 by the middle of this century.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In order to tolerate practices such as racism, child abuse, spouse abuse, homicide, torture, human sacrifice, and the mass murder (genocide) of Jews, Gypsies, and homosexuals by the Nazis, one would have to abide strictly by the principle of:
A) lost causes
B) misplaced perceptions
C) ethical relativism
D) moral turpitude
E) immoral tolerance
Q3) When an archaeological site is destroyed, it can often be replaced or renewed.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Applied anthropologists often act as consultants for farmers in underdeveloped areas such as rural India.
A)True
B)False
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