2. Why did European countries want to find the Northwest Passage?

1. They wanted to avoid all contact with Asia and stop buying or selling any trade goods from faraway places.
2. They hoped a shorter route would make trade with Asia faster, cheaper, and more powerful for their own country.
3. They planned to move all of Europe’s cities into the Arctic so people could live closer to the North Pole.
4. They needed a place to hide their ships during the winter and wanted a quiet, frozen harbor.

3. Based on the passage, what was the Northwest Passage supposed to be?

1. A sea route through or around northern North America that could connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and on to Asia.
2. A long road for wagons that stretched across the middle of South America and ended in the desert.
3. A chain of tall mountains that explorers hoped to climb in order to see the entire world at once.
4. A secret tunnel under the ocean floor where ships could sail without needing sails or crews.

4. Which problem made the search for the Northwest Passage especially dangerous?

1. The seas were crowded with friendly fishing boats that helped explorers find safe paths through warm water.
2. The explorers traveled only in summertime and enjoyed clear skies, fresh fruit, and calm winds every day.
3. The ships were made of metal and could easily break the ice without worrying about storms or darkness.
4. Thick sea ice, freezing weather, storms, and a lack of fresh food could trap ships and make crews sick or weak.

5. How did Indigenous peoples play a role in the explorers’ journeys, according to the passage?

1. They had never seen the northern seas before and refused to talk to any explorers who visited their lands.
2. They already knew the region, sometimes traded and shared information, and at other times had conflicts with the newcomers.
3. They forced all explorers to stay on the ships and never allowed them to walk on the coast or the ice.
4. They moved to Europe so they would not have to deal with any visitors in the Arctic at all.

6. Which sentence best describes what explorers gained from their trips, even though they did not find an easy passage?

1. They learned that maps were not useful tools and decided to stop drawing them for the rest of history.
2. They kept their discoveries secret and refused to share any information with people back in Europe.
3. They mapped new coasts and bays, described plants and animals, and helped others understand more about the Arctic world.
4. They forgot where they had sailed and left large blank spaces on maps of North America.

7. Which idea from the 720L passage shows that the search for the Northwest Passage had both success and failure?

1. “The dream of a simple northern shortcut to Asia did not come true, but the search for it changed the way people saw the top of the world.”
2. “Searching for the Northwest Passage was risky.”
3. “Explorers in the Age of Exploration never found an easy Northwest Passage for trade.”
4. “In winter, the sun stayed low or almost disappeared.”

2. Why were countries like England, France, and the Netherlands especially interested in finding a northern route to Asia?

1. They wanted to avoid trading with Asia completely and hoped to keep all European goods at home behind closed borders.
2. They hoped a Northwest Passage would let them reach Asian markets faster and avoid paying fees to Spanish and Portuguese ships that controlled southern routes.
3. They were required by law to explore the Arctic every year, no matter what their goals or interests might be.
4. They believed the North Atlantic already held busy cities and road systems built by earlier European empires.

3. Which detail from the passage best shows how early voyages slowly improved European maps of the north?

1. “On their maps, coastlines that had once been blank slowly filled with inlets, islands, and capes.”
2. “Modern ships and changing sea ice conditions have made it possible to travel through narrow northern channels…”
3. “Indigenous guides sometimes helped visitors understand local currents, animal migrations, and safe travel routes on sea and ice.”
4. “Their reports also encouraged later expeditions that continued the search into the 1800s and beyond.”

4. According to the 950L passage, how did Indigenous peoples influence the search for the Northwest Passage?

1. They refused all contact with explorers, so European crews were forced to rely only on guesswork and superstition.
2. They took over command of European ships and made sure no one ever sailed into dangerous waters again.
3. They moved away from the Arctic, leaving the region empty and unused during the entire Age of Exploration.
4. They shared knowledge about travel, hunting, and ice conditions, sometimes cooperating with explorers and sometimes clashing with them over mistrust and change.

5. Which quotation best explains why the Arctic environment made the search for a passage so difficult?

1. “Powerful kingdoms such as Spain and Portugal already controlled important sea routes around Africa and South America.”
2. “These explorers did not travel through empty spaces.”
3. “Sea ice could trap a vessel for months, squeezing and splintering its hull. Crews forced to spend winter in the Arctic struggled with freezing temperatures, darkness, and limited food.”
4. “Their notes and charts turned the once ‘unknown’ Arctic into a region that could be mapped, named, and studied.”

6. How does the author show that the story of the Northwest Passage is both a failure and a success?

1. By arguing that the route was never real and insisting that no ship has ever sailed through any northern waterway at any time.
2. By explaining that explorers never gained the simple trade route they wanted, but their dangerous journeys created new knowledge about the Arctic and inspired later expeditions.
3. By describing how European sailors refused to record what they saw, leaving historians unsure of what happened in the north.
4. By stating that all nations agreed to stop trading with Asia once they realized the Arctic was too cold for regular sailing.

7. Based on the 950L passage, which statement best explains why historians still study the search for the Northwest Passage?

1. It is the only example in history where explorers traveled without caring about money, power, or national pride.
2. It proves that the Arctic is an easy place to sail and that early explorers faced no real dangers or hard choices.
3. It shows how trade, science, ambition, and contact with Indigenous peoples all came together in a long search that changed maps and ideas about the far north.
4. It demonstrates that sea ice conditions never change and that modern travel is identical to voyages from the Age of Exploration.