Social Studies – Benchmark Review – 1st Nine Weeks – Units 1 & 2
1. What is the name of the currency MOST European countries use?
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2. Why would European countries benefit from using the same currency (euro)?
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3. What type of currency does the United Kingdom use?
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4. Who is the head of government in the United Kingdom?
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5. Who is the head of state in the United Kingdom?
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6. How do they work together?
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7. How has the European Union contributed to trade?
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8. What are the benefits of the European Union?
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9. What does unitary mean?
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10. What does a confederation mean?
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11. What does federal mean?
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12. Describe an autocratic government:
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13. Describe an oligarchic government:
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14. Describe a democratic government:
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15. Which of these is the most controlling?
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16. How are parliamentary and presidential democracies different?
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17. What is a cultural barrier?
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18. Where do Christians worship?
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19. Where do Muslims worship?
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20. Where do Jews worship?
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21. What is literacy rate?
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22. Is the literacy rate of Europe high or low?
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23. How do the mountain ranges of Europe affect their climate?
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24. Which mountain range is between France and Spain?
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25. Which mountain range is between Switzerland and France?
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26. Which mountain range separates Russia from the rest of Europe?
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27. Which body of water is between the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe?
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28. Which countries are in the Iberian Peninsula?
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29. Which countries are in the Scandinavian Peninsula?
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30. How does the location, climate, and natural resources of the United Kingdom affect where people live
and how they trade?
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31. Why is the United Kingdom climate so unusually mild?
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32. How does the location, climate, and natural resources of the Russia affect where people live and how
they trade?
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33. How does the location, climate, and natural resources of the Germany affect where people live and
how they trade?
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34. How does the location, climate, and natural resources of the Italy affect where people live and how they
trade?
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35. How are the United Kingdom and Russia different in terms of climate?
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36. How are Italy and Germany different in terms of land usage?
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37. Why was the European Union created?
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38. Describe the following modern European governments in terms of citizen participation and
government organization:
*United Kingdom
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*Germany
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*Russia
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39. What type of problems does Europe face because of it’s variety of languages?
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40. How does a country’s literacy rate affect its standard of living?
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41. What are the Romance languages?
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42. What is Christianity?
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43. What is Judaism?
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44. What is Islam?
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45. How are they all alike?
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46. Which religion is the oldest?
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47. This economic concept involves a limited supply of an item that forces a consumer to make a decision:
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48. What is acid rain? How it is causing environmental problems in Germany?
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49. Where did the Great Smog occur? What was it?
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50. What did the nuclear fallout in Chernobyl, Ukraine cause that has had long term effects?
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51. What is the definition of tariff? Give an example.
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52. What is the definition of a quote? Give an example.
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53. What is the definition of an embargo? Give an example.
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54. What is the definition of a standard? Give an example.
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55. Why do we have a system of currency exchange?
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Label the following:
Danube River
Rhine River
English Channel
Mediterranean Sea
European Plain
Alps
Pyrenees
Ural Mountains
Iberian Peninsula
Scandinavian Peninsula
Belgium
France
Germany
Italy
Poland
Russia
Spain
Ukraine
United Kingdom