Questions & Answers
Browse all 20 questions from the
Explorers and Great Expeditions study set below.
Each question shows the correct answer — select a study format above to practice interactively.
1
Which Portuguese explorer was the first European to reach India by sea, sailing around the Cape of Good Hope?
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A
Vasco da Gama
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B
Ferdinand Magellan
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C
Bartolomeu Dias
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D
Amerigo Vespucci
2
In what year did Roald Amundsen and his team become the first to reach the South Pole?
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A
1905
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B
1911
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C
1914
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D
1920
3
Which explorer led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe, although he died in the Philippines during the voyage?
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A
James Cook
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B
Christopher Columbus
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C
Ferdinand Magellan
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D
Sir Francis Drake
4
What was the primary goal of the Lewis and Clark Expedition commissioned by Thomas Jefferson?
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A
To map the Northwest Passage
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B
To explore the Louisiana Purchase
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C
To find gold in California
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D
To establish trade with Russia
5
Which mountain climber, along with Tenzing Norgay, was the first confirmed person to reach the summit of Mount Everest?
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A
Edmund Hillary
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B
Reinhold Messner
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C
George Mallory
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D
Ernest Shackleton
6
Which explorer was responsible for the mapping of the east coast of Australia and the discovery of the Great Barrier Reef?
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A
Abel Tasman
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B
William Dampier
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C
James Cook
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D
Matthew Flinders
7
What is the name of the strait that separates Russia and Alaska, named after the explorer who mapped it?
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A
Magellan Strait
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B
Bering Strait
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C
Bass Strait
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D
Gibraltar Strait
8
Which Italian explorer's accounts of his travels to China (Cathay) inspired many later European explorers to seek a route to Asia?
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A
Marco Polo
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B
John Cabot
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C
Giovanni da Verrazzano
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D
Amerigo Vespucci
9
What was the name of the ship used by Ernest Shackleton during his ill-fated 1914 expedition to Antarctica?
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A
Discovery
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B
Terra Nova
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C
Endurance
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D
Fram
10
Which explorer completed the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927?
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A
Charles Lindbergh
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B
Amelia Earhart
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C
Richard Byrd
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D
Howard Hughes
11
Which civilization did the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés overthrow in the early 16th century?
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A
Inca
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B
Maya
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C
Aztec
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D
Olmec
12
What is the name of the desert in Mongolia and China that was crossed by many Silk Road explorers?
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A
Sahara
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B
Gobi
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C
Kalahari
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D
Atacama
13
Which explorer reached the North Pole in 1909, a claim that was later subject to debate?
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A
Robert Peary
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B
Matthew Henson
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C
Richard Byrd
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D
Roald Amundsen
14
Who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean?
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A
Bessie Coleman
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B
Amelia Earhart
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C
Harriet Quimby
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D
Jacqueline Cochran
15
In 1642, which Dutch explorer became the first European to reach Tasmania and New Zealand?
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A
Abel Tasman
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B
Willem Janszoon
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C
Dirk Hartog
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D
Louis de Bougainville
16
Which English explorer was sent by Queen Elizabeth I to circumnavigate the globe and plunder Spanish ports?
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A
Walter Raleigh
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B
Francis Drake
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C
John Hawkins
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D
Martin Frobisher
17
What was the primary motivation for early European explorers to search for a 'Northwest Passage'?
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A
To find new land for farming
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B
To establish a faster trade route to Asia
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C
To map the Arctic climate
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D
To escape political persecution
18
Which explorer discovered the St. Lawrence River and claimed the region for France?
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A
Samuel de Champlain
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B
Jacques Cartier
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C
René-Robert Cavelier
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D
Louis Joliet
19
What island group did Charles Darwin visit during his voyage on the HMS Beagle, which inspired his theory of evolution?
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A
Galápagos Islands
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B
Azores
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C
Canary Islands
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D
Fiji
20
Which explorer led the expedition that first navigated the entire length of the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon?
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A
John Wesley Powell
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B
Zebulon Pike
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C
Jedediah Smith
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D
Jim Bridger
