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Quiz: Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

Test your understanding of Chapter 19. Choose the best answer, then click Show Answer to check.

Question 1

Which three rivers meet to form the Bengal Delta?

  1. The Indus, the Ganges and the Yamuna
  2. The Mekong, the Brahmaputra and the Irrawaddy
  3. The Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna
  4. The Padma, the Indus and the Kaveri
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. The Ganges (called the Padma in Bangladesh), the Brahmaputra (called the Jamuna) and the Meghna meet and flow into the Bay of Bengal. The Indus flows through Pakistan to the Arabian Sea, far to the west.

Concept Tested: Bengal Delta Bloom's Level: Remember

Question 2

What does Ekushey February commemorate?

  1. Students killed in Dhaka on 21 February 1952 while protesting for Bangla as a state language
  2. The day Bangladesh declared independence in 1971
  3. The founding of Grameen Bank
  4. The first Bengali New Year parade in Dhaka
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. On 21 February 1952, police fired on students protesting for Bangla. The day is now Language Martyrs' Day in Bangladesh and, since 1999, UNESCO's International Mother Language Day. Independence was declared on 26 March 1971, a different date.

Concept Tested: Ekushey February Bloom's Level: Remember

Question 3

When did the Sri Lankan Civil War take place?

  1. 1948 to 1972
  2. 1971 to 1983
  3. 1990 to 2002
  4. 1983 to 2009
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. The war began in 1983 and ended in May 2009 with the military defeat of the LTTE. 1948 is the year of independence and 1972 the year Ceylon became Sri Lanka. In 2002 a ceasefire was signed, but it later broke down.

Concept Tested: Sri Lankan Civil War Bloom's Level: Remember

Question 4

Why can monsoon floods in Bangladesh be helpful as well as harmful?

  1. Because floods only happen in the desert parts of the country
  2. Because normal floods water the fields and leave fresh silt that keeps the soil fertile
  3. Because all of the flood water comes from rain inside Bangladesh
  4. Because floods stop the rivers from carrying mud
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. A normal flood soaks the fields and deposits silt for rice, jute and fish, while extreme floods destroy homes and crops. Option C is a common mistake: most of the river water comes from outside Bangladesh.

Concept Tested: Rivers and Floods Bloom's Level: Understand

Question 5

Which statement best explains how Ceylon tea came to Sri Lanka?

  1. British planters introduced it as a crop in 1867 and expanded it after coffee leaf rust destroyed the coffee plantations.
  2. Tea has grown wild on the island's mountains for thousands of years.
  3. Buddhist monks brought it from Anuradhapura in the 200s BCE.
  4. It was first planted by the Portuguese in Galle.
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. Tea is not native. James Taylor began growing it commercially in 1867, and it spread after coffee leaf rust struck from 1869. The plantations depended on workers brought from South India.

Concept Tested: Ceylon Tea Bloom's Level: Understand

Question 6

Which description fits the Sinhala Language?

  1. A Dravidian language closely related to Tamil
  2. A dialect of Hindi brought by the British
  3. An Indo-Aryan language with its own script, most closely related to Dhivehi of the Maldives
  4. A language spoken mainly in the Jaffna Peninsula
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. Sinhala is Indo-Aryan, written in its own rounded script, and its closest relative is Dhivehi. Tamil, not Sinhala, is the Dravidian language spoken mainly in the north, including Jaffna.

Concept Tested: Sinhala Language Bloom's Level: Understand

Question 7

A classmate asks whether Sri Lanka is "just a part of India." Which answer is best?

  1. Yes, Sri Lanka is an Indian state in the Indian Ocean.
  2. No. Sri Lanka is an independent island country, independent since 1948, with its own government, languages and currency, across the narrow Palk Strait from India.
  3. Yes, but it has its own flag.
  4. No, Sri Lanka is part of the Maldives.
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. Sri Lanka became independent on 4 February 1948 (as Ceylon) and has always been a separate country from India, though the two are close neighbors with shared history.

Concept Tested: Sri Lanka Bloom's Level: Apply

Question 8

Using the Delta and Island MicroSim, you press Average year. Which result matches the chapter?

  1. The whole country floods, including the eastern hills.
  2. Nothing floods, because floods only happen in extreme years.
  3. Only the Sundarbans floods.
  4. About a fifth of the land floods, mostly along the rivers and toward the coast, while higher ground stays dry.
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. In an average year about 21% of Bangladesh floods, and the lowest land near the rivers and coast floods first. The sim's land heights are illustrative, but the preset matches the documented average.

Concept Tested: Rivers and Floods Bloom's Level: Apply

Question 9

Both Ekushey February and the Sinhala Only Act involve language policy. What is the most important similarity?

  1. In both, a government favored one language, and speakers of another language felt shut out, which fed political movements.
  2. In both, English was made the only official language.
  3. In both, the protests happened in the same year.
  4. In both, the language being promoted was Tamil.
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. Pakistan's push for Urdu alone angered Bangla speakers and fed the movement that led to independence. Sri Lanka's 1956 act made Sinhala the only official language and became a grievance for Tamils that fed the conflict. The events were in 1952 and 1956, not the same year.

Concept Tested: Sinhala Language Bloom's Level: Analyze

Question 10

Why is it misleading to call the Sri Lankan Civil War a religious war?

  1. Because no one in Sri Lanka practices a religion
  2. Because all Tamils and all Sinhalese share the same religion
  3. Because the conflict was mainly about ethnicity, language, power and land, and the LTTE sought a Tamil homeland, not a Hindu one
  4. Because the war was fought only by foreign armies
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. Most Sinhalese are Buddhist and most Tamils are Hindu, so religion overlapped with identity, but the fight was over a separate Tamil state, political power and language rights, and there were Christians on both sides.

Concept Tested: Sri Lankan Tamils Bloom's Level: Analyze