Year 8 History practice questions

Lock in’s Year 8 History course has 5 units with 88 flashcards and 86 practice questions, plus timed exams built fresh each time.

• Medieval EuropeFeudalism and the social order; The Church; Daily life: manor, village and town; Power and conflict
• The Black DeathOrigins, spread and symptoms; Beliefs and responses; Consequences; Continuity, change and interpretations
• Japan under the shogunsSociety and government; The samurai and bushido; Unification and the Tokugawa shogunate; Religion, culture, environment and decline
• The Spanish conquest and expanding contactsThe Mexica (Aztec) and Inca empires; The conquest; Why the Spanish succeeded; Impacts and expanding contacts
• Historical skillsPrimary and secondary sources; Perspective, reliability and usefulness; Chronology and periods; Historical concepts

Try each question before you open the answer. Written answers show what a full-marks response needs to include.

1. Question 1. Medieval EuropeMultiple choice

   In the feudal system, who received a fief?

   1. AA serf’s child
   2. BThe Pope
   3. CA vassal
   4. DA merchant
   Show answer

   C. A vassal

2. Question 2. The Black DeathMultiple choice

   The Black Death spread to Europe mainly along…

   1. AAir routes
   2. BTrade routes
   3. CPilgrim paths in Australia
   4. DRailway lines
   Show answer

   B. Trade routes

3. Question 3. The Black Death: beliefs and responses2 marks

   Describe TWO ways medieval people tried to protect themselves from the plague.

   Show model answer and marking criteria

   Model answer. Many people turned to religion, praying, going on pilgrimages or joining flagellant processions to ask God’s forgiveness. Others tried to avoid miasma by carrying posies of sweet-smelling flowers, or fled from towns to the countryside.

   A full-marks answer:

   • Method 1, e.g. prayer, pilgrimage or flagellant processions
   • Method 2, e.g. posies against bad air, bloodletting, fleeing to the country, quarantine
4. Question 4. Japan under the shogunsMultiple choice

   A daimyo was…

   1. AA powerful lord controlling a domain
   2. BA merchant
   3. CThe emperor’s wife
   4. DA Buddhist monk
   Show answer

   A. A powerful lord controlling a domain

5. Question 5. Japan under the shoguns: the samurai and bushido2 marks

   Describe the key values of bushido.

   Show model answer and marking criteria

   Model answer. Bushido stressed absolute loyalty to one’s lord and courage in battle. It also valued honour, self-discipline and simple living; a samurai was expected to choose seppuku rather than live with dishonour.

   A full-marks answer:

   • Loyalty to one’s lord, and courage
   • Honour and self-discipline, with seppuku preferred to dishonour
6. Question 6. The Spanish conquest and expanding contactsMultiple choice

   Tenochtitlan was built…

   1. AOn a mountain top in the Andes
   2. BIn a desert
   3. COn the coast of Spain
   4. DOn an island in a lake
   Show answer

   D. On an island in a lake

History answers earn marks for specific evidence: names, dates, places and numbers. For “explain” questions, give the cause or effect and then say why it mattered. For source questions, say who made the source, when and why, before you judge how useful it is.

In Lock in, every History topic has short notes, then flashcards that use spaced repetition: rate each card Again, Hard, Good or Easy and it comes back just before you would forget it. Practice questions come in three levels, Foundation, Standard and Complex. Three right in a row moves you up a level, and two wrong moves you back.

Press Study for me and the app builds a 15 to 20 minute session from the cards that are due, the mistakes that are due and questions on your weakest topics. Anything you get wrong comes back 1, 3 and 7 days later until you get it right. When an exam is close, sit a timed practice exam with AI marking.

More Year 8 subjects

Year 8 Maths practice questions, Year 8 English practice questions, Year 8 Science practice questions, Year 8 Geography practice questions, Year 8 PDHPE practice questions.

History in other years

Year 7 History practice questions, Year 9 History practice questions, Year 10 History practice questions.