Period 2 Vocab

Question 1

Aristocracy

Answer 1

Land-owning families who make up a small portion of the population

Question 2

Classic, Classical

Answer 2

Traditional, relating to a form or system felt to be first of significance before modern times

Question 3

Scholar-gentry

Answer 3

In China, the class of prosperous families next in wealth below the rural aristocrats from which the rulers drew their administrative personnel. Respected for their education and expertise, these officials became a privileged group and made the government more efficient and responsive than in the past.

Question 4

Civil Service

Answer 4

The administrative departments of the government, especially those in which employees are hired on the basis of their scores on examinations.

Question 5

Meritocracy

Answer 5

Government or the holding of power by people selected on the basis of their ability

Question 6

Mandate of Heaven

Answer 6

In Chinese history, the divine approval thought to be the basis of royal authority

Question 7

Dynastic cycle

Answer 7

The historical pattern of the rise, decline, and replacement of dynasties

Question 8

Filial piety

Answer 8

Respect for parents and elders

Question 9

Ancestor veneration

Answer 9

A ritual practice that is based on the belief that deceased family members have a continued existence, take an interest in affairs of the world, and possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living.

Question 10

Empire

Answer 10

A political unit in which a number of people’s or countries are controlled by a single ruler

Question 11

Direct democracy

Answer 11

A government where all citizens rule directly rather than through elected or appointed representatives

Question 12

Citizen

Answer 12

A member of a state; especially one entitled to the rights and privileges of a freeman

Question 13

Rational thought

Answer 13

To base one’s opinion on evidence and reason rather than superstition or commonly accepted beliefs

Question 14

Philosopher

Answer 14

Thinkers who use logic and reason to investigate the nature of the universe, human society, and morality

Question 15

Oligarchy

Answer 15

Form of government in which ruling power is in the hands of a few leaders

Question 16

Tyranny

Answer 16

Form of government in which ruling power is in the hands of a person who has seized control through force or the manipulation of social groups

Question 17

Paterfamilias

Answer 17

The legal head of the extended family in Rome and the only person who could own property. Made all the decisions affecting his wife, children, and son’s wives.

Question 18

Latifundia

Answer 18

A large landed estate in Ancient Rome typically worked by slaves

Question 19

Autocracy

Answer 19

A government in which the ruler has unlimited power and uses it any manner he chooses

Question 20

Dictator

Answer 20

A political leader given absolute command to make laws and command the army for a limited time (in theory)

Question 21

Republic

Answer 21

A form of government in which power is in the hands of representatives and leaders are elected by the people

Question 22

Caste

Answer 22

Each of the hereditary classes of Hindu society, distinguished by relative degrees of ritual purity and of social status

Question 23

Divinity

Answer 23

The state or quality of being divine