Question 1
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For hundreds and even thousands of years people have liked spices.
Question 2
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In the past, spices were especially important as people did not have refrigerators. Food, especially meat, would spoil very quickly.
Question 3
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Salt helped to prevent meat from spoiling.
Question 4
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Spices made plain, bad-tasting, or part spoiled food taste better.
Question 5
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Spices were not very valuable.
Question 6
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Before the Age of Exploration spices in Europe were
Question 7
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Spices usually grow in
Answer
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places of warm weather
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places of cold weather
Question 8
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Most spices came from the warm islands and coasts of the Far East (southeastern Asia)
Question 9
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Hundreds of years ago spices had to be brought to Europe
Question 10
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Most spices came from Europe
Question 11
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Most spices came from India, the middle of southern Asia, and the islands between Asia and Australia.
Question 12
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Europeans called the islands between Asia and Australia the "Spice Islands".
Question 13
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Spices had to be carried to Africa and west Asia in what from the Spice Islands?
Question 14
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After being transported to western Asia or Africa, the spices then had to be taken long distances overland to cities on the Mediterranean Sea. By what mode of transport were they taken?
Question 15
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The Mediterranean Sea is part of which ocean?
Question 16
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From the Mediterranean the spices are then again loaded onto what to be transported across the water to Europe?
Question 17
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Crossing the ocean was dangerous because of what?
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Enemy bomber planes
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Storms and pirates
Question 18
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Often, crossing land with the spices was even more difficult than crossing the sea.
Question 19
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When transporting goods across land by camel, each camel could only carry a small part of the huge amount of spices. This meant that many camels were needed and it was very expensive.
Question 20
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Thieves would sometimes attack the camel caravans and steal the spices.
Question 21
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Cities along the caravan routes charged for the caravans to pass in safety, which made the trip even more expensive.
Question 22
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By the time the spices reached Europe, the merchants had to sell them for very high prices to pay for the cost of bringing them there.
Question 23
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Did people still want to buy the spices even though the prices were high?
Question 24
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Peppercorns were so valuable that they were sometimes called what?
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black coal
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black gold
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black money
Question 25
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Many of the spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves were actually worth their weight in what?
Question 26
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Spice merchants often became rich men.
Question 27
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Sea captains and merchants realized that it would be more cost effective if they could find a way to reach the Spice Islands by water only. That way they could bring back bigger cargoes and not have to pay to transport them across the dessert. But in those days, no one knew a route to sail a ship from Europe to Southeast Asia, because no one knew what the earth looked like. They did not know that there was an ocean south of Africa. They did not know what was across the Atlantic Ocean west of Europe.
Question 28
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People were also very afraid of the ocean and what there might be out there.
Question 29
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Sailors told stories of huge sea monsters that swallowed ships.
Question 30
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Most educated people knew the earth was a sphere, but some still believed it was flat.
Question 31
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Some people were afraid of sailing too far from land and falling off the edge of the earth.
Question 32
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Ships were driven by wind in their sails. If the winds did not blow in the right direction, the ship might not be able to make it home.
Question 33
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It was very difficult to find a way to sail to Spice Islands in the far east of the earth.
Question 34
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Prince Henry the Navigator was born in the country of
Question 35
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Prince Henry the Navigator was born in the year
Question 36
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Prince Henry was the king's third son and never himself became king. Instead he became famous for
Question 37
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Who is generally accepted as the most famous explorer from the Age of Exploration?
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Prince Henry
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Christopher Columbus
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Ferdinand Magellan
Question 38
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In what country was Christopher Columbus born?
Question 39
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In what year was Christopher Columbus born?
Question 40
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What profession was Columbus' father?
Question 41
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Whilst in Portugal, Columbus had an idea. What was it?
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He would try to prove the world was round
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He thought he could sail to the spice islands by sailing west from Portugal instead of east because the world was round!
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He would try to prove the world was flat
Question 42
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It was a good idea of Columbus' to sail west around the world but unfortunately there was something in his way. What was it?
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Greenland
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The Americas
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Africa
Question 43
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Columbus knew that the Americas were between Europe and the Spice Islands in the Far East
Question 44
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Columbus thought that the world was smaller than it really was.
Question 45
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Queen Isabella of Spain agreed to pay for Columbus' voyage.
Question 46
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At the time of Columbus, educated people in Europe were quite sure the world was round and not flat.
Question 47
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Columbus had three ships called the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.