Grade 12 results are out. Where to check yours

Past papers

History entrance exam, 2012 E.C. (2020)

Real questions from the Grade 12 university entrance exam in History, as students sat it in 2012 E.C. Every question comes with the correct answer and a worked explanation.

Start practicing freeQuestion paper

  • Social science stream

    Who sits it

  • 2012 E.C. (2020)

    Exam year

  • 30 questions with answers

    In this set

Try questions from this paper

Answer each question yourself before opening the answer. The explanations point to the exact textbook section, so you know which page to reread when you miss one.

Question 1

Which of the following was NOT the major characteristic of the "Dark Age"?

  1. A.Feudalism flourished.
  2. B.Societies became urban centered.
  3. C.Early capitalism emerged
  4. D.Greco-Roman civilization declined.
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: B Societies became urban centered.

Why

The textbook lists the marks of the Dark Age, about 500 to 1000 AD, as follows: Greco-Roman civilisation declined, the societies became rural and the cities declined, and feudalism became the social, economic and political order.

Option B says the opposite of that. Towns lost people and wealth in this period, so society was rural, not urban centred.

The tempting wrong pick is D, but the decline of Greco-Roman civilisation is one of the listed features, so it cannot be the exception.

Textbook: History Grade 9, Unit 4 The Middle Ages and Early Modern World, section 4.1.1 Dark Age (page 66).

Question 2

The major economic activity in the early capitalism in Europe was

  1. A.Investment
  2. B.Serfdom
  3. C.Vassalage
  4. D.Memorialism
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: A Investment

Why

Early capitalism means putting money, that is capital, into trade, mining and manufacturing in order to earn profit. So investment is the activity that defines it.

Serfdom, vassalage and manorialism (printed here as memorialism) all belong to feudalism, the system early capitalism grew out of and slowly replaced.

Textbook: History Grade 11, Unit 4 The Middle Ages, section 4.4 Development of Early Capitalism 1500 to 1789 (page 100).

Question 3

Which of the following best describes the political, economic, and cultural Conditions in Medieval Europe?

  1. A.Expansion of the factory system
  2. B.Development of feudalism
  3. C.Split of the Roman Catholic Church
  4. D.Consolidation of capitalism
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: B Development of feudalism

Why

Between about 500 and 1500 the order in Europe was feudalism: land was held in exchange for service, lords and the Church controlled the land, and peasants worked it.

The factory system came with the Industrial Revolution after 1750, and capitalism was consolidated even later. The split in the Church is a single event of 1054 and later of the Reformation, not a description of the whole political, economic and cultural order.

Textbook: History Grade 9, Unit 4, section 4.1.2 Feudal Society (page 66).

Question 4

Which of the following was among the major developments of the Renaissance period?

  1. A.The decline in wealth of towns and cities
  2. B.The birth of feudal society in Western Europe
  3. C.The granting of full freedom of religion
  4. D.The use of reason and questioning attitude
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: D The use of reason and questioning attitude

Why

The Renaissance, meaning rebirth, was the cultural movement of the 14th to 16th centuries that rediscovered Greek and Roman learning. Its central habit of mind was reason, free inquiry and a questioning attitude.

Option A is the reverse of what happened, because Renaissance Italy grew rich on town trade. Full freedom of religion is much later, and feudal society had been born centuries before.

Textbook: History Grade 11, Unit 4, section 4.6 The Renaissance (page 106).

Question 5

Which one of the following was an achievement of Muslim Arab Civilization?

  1. A.Calligraphy
  2. B.Gothic paintings
  3. C.Use of Latin grammar
  4. D.Democracy
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: A Calligraphy

Why

Calligraphy, the art of beautiful writing, is one of the best known achievements of Muslim Arab civilisation, alongside algebra, medicine and astronomy.

Gothic painting belongs to Western Europe, Latin grammar to Rome, and democracy to ancient Greece.

Textbook: History Grade 9, Unit 4, section 4.2.1 The Rise and Expansion of Islam (page 69).

Question 6

Which one of the following is best describes history? It

  1. A.the study of human culture prior to written records.
  2. B.studies and interprets what people did in the past.
  3. C.is the study of societies with writing.
  4. D.is the study of events before the beginning of writing.
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: B studies and interprets what people did in the past.

Why

History is the study and interpretation of what people did in the past, based on evidence. Interpretation is the key word: the historian does not only collect facts, he explains them.

Options A and D describe prehistory, the time before writing. Option C is too narrow, because history is not limited to societies that wrote.

Textbook: History Grade 9, Unit 1, sections 1.1 and 1.2 The Discipline of History (pages 2 to 4).

Download the whole paper as a PDF

All 30 questions in this set as a printed paper, and the answer key with 30 worked explanations as a second file. Print them or read them with no data.

Free, and it needs no account.

Question paperAnswer key and explanations

Sit the full paper, timed and scored

A free Temari account gives you the whole History paper, and every other year, as timed mock exams with instant scoring. It works on any phone, even over a weak connection.

Start practicing free

History papers from other years

2017 E.C. (2025)2016 E.C. (2024)2015 E.C. (2023)2014 E.C. (2022)2013 E.C. (2021)2011 E.C. (2019)
Are these the real 2012 E.C. History entrance exam questions?

Yes. They come from the national university entrance exam in History that students sat in 2012 E.C. (2020). Our set holds 30 of its questions, each with its answer and an explanation that points back to the textbook.

How do I practice the full paper?

Create a free account with a phone number. The full paper runs as a timed mock exam with instant scoring, and the AI tutor upgrade at 199 ETB per month can walk you through anything you miss.

Can I download the History 2012 E.C. paper as a PDF?

Yes, and it is free. The question paper is one file and the answer key with its worked explanations is another, so you can attempt the paper first. Print them, or keep them on your phone for revision when there is no data.

Sign inCreate your account