AP EUROPEAN HISTORY EXAM
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Period 1 Short-Answer Question
Suggested time: 12 minutes
Directions: Read each question carefully and write your
responses in the Short-Answer booklet on the lined pages
provided for that question.
Answer all parts of every question. Use complete sentences:
an outline or bulleted list alone is not acceptable. You may plan
your answers in this exam booklet, but no credit will be given
for notes written in this booklet. Only your responses on the
designated pages of the Short-Answer booklet will be scored.
Sources have been edited for the purpose of this exercise.
Use your knowledge of European history to answer all parts of
the question that follows.
a) Identify and explain TWO ways in which the Price
Revolution marked a shift in the economic structure of
European society.
b) Identify and explain ONE way in which the Price Revolution
did not mark a shift in the economic structure of European
society.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
© 2015 College Board
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AP EUROPEAN HISTORY EXAM
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Scoring Guidelines and Notes
Learning Objective
Historical
Thinking Skill
Key Concepts in
the Curriculum
Framework
PP-2: Identify the changes
in agricultural production
and evaluate their impact
on economic growth and
the standard of living in
preindustrial Europe.
Periodization
1.5 II
PP-9: Assess how peasants
across Europe were affected
by and responded to the
policies of landlords,
increased taxation, and
the price revolution in the
early modern period.
Scoring Guidelines
0–3 points
Score 3
Response accomplishes all three tasks set by the question.
Score 2
Response accomplishes two of the tasks set by the question.
Score 1
Response accomplishes one of the tasks set by the question.
Score 0
Response accomplishes none of the tasks set by the question.
Scoring Notes
a) Identify and explain TWO ways in which the Price Revolution
marked a shift in the economic structure of European society.
Students may employ a wide variety of evidence drawn from
the particular content of their AP European History course
and materials. What follows is a brief list of possible answers:
i
The influx of currency allowed individuals to accumulate
capital, thereby contributing to the commercialization of
agriculture.
i
The influx of capital contributed to the rise of new elites.
i
Rising inflation exacerbated problems of poverty in cities
and the countryside.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
© 2015 College Board
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AP EUROPEAN HISTORY EXAM
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
b) Identify and explain ONE way in which the Price Revolution
did not mark a shift in the economic structure of European
society.
Students may employ a wide variety of evidence drawn from
the particular content of their AP European History course
and materials. What follows is a possible answer:
i
The influx of capital that contributed to the commercialization
of agriculture was most pronounced among the Atlantic
powers, in Eastern and Southern Europe traditional
methods continued.
Useful secondary source for understanding the Price
Revolution: Sevket Pamuk, “The Price Revolution in the
Ottoman Empire Reconsidered,” International Journal of
Middle East Studies 33:1 (Feb., 2001): 68–89.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
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