Explanation: According to the end of the excerpt, the North African slaves could look forward to the possibility of freedom. While all slave trade was motivated by profit, the passage indicates that the North Africans rationalized the capture of Africans who were considered idolaters (A). West African slaves were predominantly male; North African slaves were predominantly female (C). Slaves doing plantation work in the Caribbean had a notoriously shorter life span, and most of those slaves came from West Africa (D).
Which statement best supports the argument that religion played a role in the Arab slave trade?
Explanation: Specifying that captives were “idolatrous” makes it clear that the slavers were working off a religious premise. Choices A, B, and C all refer to the capture of slaves, not to their ultimate destination or purpose and not to their religious beliefs.
What is the most likely destination for the captured slaves in the excerpt?
Explanation: Because the slaves were predominantly women and had been captured by Arabs, they were most suited for domestic service or harems. Sugar plantations (B), cotton plantations (C), and armies (D) all favored physical strength, resulting in a preference for males. Arabs did not engage in the Atlantic slave trade, but sold slaves primarily in the Middle East.
Which conclusion is supported by the passage?
Explanation: The passage specifies that more women than men were enslaved, and also that women slaves brought more profit. This would result in tribes with an overpopulation of men. The passage refers to the resistance of slaves (A), and their prices indicate the possibility of escape. The captors in the passage were primarily Arab (B), as indicated by the introduction. Women were more highly valued than men because of their beauty, as indicated in the price lists (D).
Those who argue that the roots of World War II are found in the Treaty of Versailles, which created the League of Nations, point to which of the following?
Explanation: The so-called war guilt clause forced Germany to agree that it was solely responsible for World War I, creating German anger and resentment toward the other European nations at the conference. Both France and Britain joined the League of Nations (A). Italy did not lose territory in World War I, although it did in World War II (C). The Austro-Hungarian Empire’s dissolution played no role in the hostilities leading up to World War II (D).
Though the League of Nations was short-lived (1919–1946), it set the stage for which of the following?
Explanation: In theory, the United Nations was the successor to the League of Nations. Founded after World War II, it promoted peaceful international relations, acted as an arbiter in international disputes, and called for its member nations to solve sociocultural, economic, and political (humanitarian) problems around the world.