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Quiz: Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives

Test your understanding of Chapter 20. Choose the best answer, then click Show Answer to check.

Question 1

On what date did Nepal's Constituent Assembly vote to end the monarchy and declare a republic?

  1. 15 August 1947
  2. 28 May 2008
  3. 20 September 2015
  4. 5 March 2026
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. At its first meeting on 28 May 2008, the newly elected Constituent Assembly declared Nepal a federal democratic republic. The date 20 September 2015 is when Nepal's new constitution came into effect, years after the monarchy had already ended.

Concept Tested: Nepal's Republic (2008) Bloom's Level: Remember

Question 2

What does the Dzongkha word that gives Dzongkha its name, dzong, refer to?

  1. A Buddhist prayer wheel
  2. A mountain pass
  3. A masked dance festival
  4. A fortress-monastery that also serves as a government office
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. A dzong is a fortress-monastery in which roughly half the building holds monks and temples and half holds government offices. Dzongkha means "language of the fortress." A masked dance festival held at a dzong is a tshechu, not a dzong itself.

Concept Tested: Dzong Bloom's Level: Remember

Question 3

The English word "atoll" was borrowed from which language?

  1. Dhivehi
  2. Arabic
  3. Sinhala
  4. Portuguese
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. "Atoll" comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu, the language of the Maldives. It reached English through French in the 1600s. Sinhala is Dhivehi's closest relative, which makes it a tempting choice, but the word itself is Maldivian.

Concept Tested: Atolls Bloom's Level: Remember

Question 4

Why is it inaccurate to use "Sherpa" to mean any mountain porter?

  1. Because Sherpas are only found in Bhutan, not Nepal
  2. Because Sherpas are not allowed to work on Everest expeditions
  3. Because Sherpa is an ethnic group with its own language and traditions, and many climbing workers come from other groups
  4. Because the word Sherpa means "porter" only in Tibetan, not in Nepali
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. The Sherpa people are an ethnic group of the Himalaya, mostly in eastern Nepal. Their name means "people from the east." Many Sherpas have worked as guides, but many have not, and many climbing workers belong to other groups. The name does not mean "porter" in any language.

Concept Tested: Sherpa People Bloom's Level: Understand

Question 5

Which statement best describes Gross National Happiness?

  1. A finding that every person in Bhutan is happy
  2. A goal and measuring system that looks at well-being and the environment, not just the economy
  3. Bhutan's name for its national currency
  4. A ranking that shows Bhutan is the happiest country on Earth
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. GNH is Bhutan's policy goal and index for measuring well-being across nine areas of life. It does not claim everyone is happy: in the 2022 GNH Index, 6.4% of people were classed as unhappy and 45.5% as only narrowly happy.

Concept Tested: Gross National Happiness Bloom's Level: Understand

Question 6

Why is the Maldives so flat?

  1. Its islands are coral reef and sand piled up by waves around lagoons, not the tops of mountains
  2. Glaciers scraped the islands flat during the last ice age
  3. Engineers leveled all the islands to build resorts
  4. The islands are the remains of a flat river delta
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. Maldivian islands sit on atolls: rings of coral reef that grew upward as old volcanoes sank, with sand islands built on top by waves. That is why average ground is only about 1.5 m. Some land, such as Hulhumalé, was reclaimed by engineers, but that is not why the whole country is flat.

Concept Tested: Atolls Bloom's Level: Understand

Question 7

Ben says, "Nepal must have been a British colony, since India was." Which response is most accurate?

  1. He's right; Nepal was ruled directly by Britain until 1947.
  2. He's right; Nepal became independent in 1965.
  3. He's wrong; Nepal was part of the Mughal Empire until 2008.
  4. He's wrong; Nepal kept its own rulers, though it lost land to the East India Company under the 1816 Treaty of Sugauli.
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. Nepal was never formally colonized, though the 1816 Treaty of Sugauli cost it territory and tied it closely to Britain. The British also began recruiting Gurkhas then. The year 1965 is the Maldives' independence date, not Nepal's.

Concept Tested: Nepal Bloom's Level: Apply

Question 8

A Maldivian island's ground is about 1.5 m above sea level. Using the IPCC's 2021 likely range for very high emissions, roughly how high could global sea level rise by 2100?

  1. About 0.02 to 0.05 m
  2. About 5 to 10 m
  3. About 0.63 to 1.01 m
  4. About 8.8 m
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. The IPCC's likely range under very high emissions is about 0.63 to 1.01 m by 2100, relative to the years 1995 to 2014. On an island averaging about 1.5 m, that would bring much more flooding from tides and storm waves. The 5 to 10 m figure describes sea levels about 125,000 years ago, not 2100.

Concept Tested: Sea-Level Rise Bloom's Level: Apply

Question 9

Compare Nepal's and Bhutan's moves away from absolute monarchy in 2008. Which statement is accurate?

  1. Nepal abolished its monarchy and became a republic, while Bhutan kept its king as head of state in a new constitutional monarchy.
  2. Both countries abolished their monarchies and became republics.
  3. Bhutan abolished its monarchy, while Nepal kept its king.
  4. Neither country held elections in 2008.
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. Nepal's Constituent Assembly ended the monarchy on 28 May 2008. Bhutan held its first National Assembly elections on 24 March 2008 and adopted a constitution, but its king remains head of state. Both countries changed systems in 2008, which is why choice B is a tempting mistake.

Concept Tested: Bhutan Bloom's Level: Analyze

Question 10

In the Mountains to Atolls sim, a 1 m sea-level rise moves the sea line on the mountain panel by less than one pixel but floods a large part of the sample island. What does this show?

  1. Sea-level rise only matters in Nepal.
  2. The sim has a mistake in its scale.
  3. Mount Everest is getting shorter as the sea rises.
  4. The same rise that is tiny compared with mountain heights is large compared with the height of atoll islands.
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. On a scale built for Everest (8,848.86 m), 1 m is too small to see, but the Maldives' highest natural ground is only about 2.4 m, so 1 m is a big share of it. The scale is correct. The two panels use very different vertical scales on purpose.

Concept Tested: Maldives Bloom's Level: Analyze