Class 6 History & Civics — What makes a civilisation

Name the characteristics the chapter says a civilisation should have, tell internal trade from external, and say where and when civilisation first began.

Name: ________________________

Before you start

Village, town, city — the same place at three moments.

1. Village
2. Town
3. City

Left: two huts. Middle: more of them, closer together. Right: larger buildings set along straight streets that cross each other. The last picture is the one the chapter calls urbanism — not just more houses, but a place laid out and managed.

1.In general, what does the chapter say the term civilisation is used for?
- a) A society that has invented writing
- b) Any group of people living in one place
- c) The period after the last Ice Age
- d) An advanced stage of human societies
2.The chapter names some form of government and administration as a characteristic. What does it say that government is for?
- a) Defending the city against attack
- b) Managing a more complex society and its many activities
- c) Collecting taxes from the villages around the city
- d) Deciding what the crafts should produce
3.Cultural ideas about life and the world are one of the characteristics. How does the chapter say they get expressed?
- a) Through trade with distant regions
- b) Through writing alone, once a script has been invented
- c) Through art, architecture, literature, oral traditions or social customs
- d) Through the decisions of the government and administration
4.By the end of the previous chapter, what were the first human groups already doing?
- a) Building cities laid out on a plan
- b) Trading with distant parts of the world
- c) Settling down, practising agriculture, and developing construction, metallurgy and transport
- d) Living in caves and rock shelters, hunting and gathering
5.Match each characteristic of a civilisation to what the chapter says it means.
- urbanism
- a variety of crafts
- trade
- some form of writing
- managing raw materials and producing finished goods
- keeping records and communicating
- exchanging goods within a region and with distant ones
- town-planning, the growth of cities and their management
6.The chapter splits trade into two kinds. Sort each one.
Groups: Internal trade · External trade
- within a region
- within a city
- with distant regions
- with other parts of the world
7.The chapter says civilisation began at different times in different parts of the world. What does it add about what those ancient civilisations left us?
- a) Each one developed without knowing of the others
- b) Their achievements were lost when their cities were abandoned
- c) Humanity would not have reached its present stage without their contributions and advances
- d) They were each built on the same three characteristics
8.In the northwest of the Indian Subcontinent, put these three stages in order, starting from villages, from about 3500 BCE.
- Villages, from about 3500 BCE
- Towns, as trade and other exchanges increased
- Cities, around 2600 BCE

Answer key — Class 6 History & Civics — What makes a civilisation

1. d) An advanced stage of human societies
2. b) Managing a more complex society and its many activities
3. c) Through art, architecture, literature, oral traditions or social customs
4. c) Settling down, practising agriculture, and developing construction, metallurgy and transport
5. urbanism → town-planning, the growth of cities and their management; a variety of crafts → managing raw materials and producing finished goods; trade → exchanging goods within a region and with distant ones; some form of writing → keeping records and communicating
6. within a city → Internal trade; within a region → Internal trade; with distant regions → External trade; with other parts of the world → External trade
7. c) Humanity would not have reached its present stage without their contributions and advances
8. 1. Villages, from about 3500 BCE 2. Towns, as trade and other exchanges increased 3. Cities, around 2600 BCE