IB+Test+Preparation

Note to IB Americas students: This page is open for all members to edit. Please only serious and substantive edits because I intend to use this site as a tool for study guide and test preparation.

Brief Information about Paper Exams:

For Higher Level Students:

Paper One -- students have one hour to write on four questions based on documents and their own knowledge for a total of 25 marks. Students will encounter three sections -- Peacemaking, Peacekeeping: International Relations 1918 - 1936; The Arab-Israeli Conflict 1945 - 1979; Communism in Crisis 1976 - 1989 -- but they only need to answer the four questions from ONE section. This class will be focusing on the Communism in Crisis. (20% of total IB History score)

Paper Two -- students will see 30 essay questions, five on each of the twentieth century topics -- Causes, Practices and Effects of War; Democratic States: Challenges and Response; Origins and Development of Authoritarian and Single-Party States; Nationalist and Independence Movements in Africa and Asia and Post-1945 Central and Eastern European States; The Cold War -- as prescribed by IBO. Students have 1 ½ hours to complete two questions, chosen from different topics, each worth 20 marks. This class will be focusing on Origins and Development of Authoritarian and Single-Party States, The Cold War, and the Causes and Effects of War. (25 % of total IB History score)

Paper Three -- students will see 25 essay questions and they have 2½ hours to answer three questions, each worth 20 marks. This class will cover 20th century events related to the Americas section of Paper Three. (35% of total IB History score)

Internal Assessment -- a historical investigation 1500 - 2000 words. The topic is chosen by the student, preferably on a focused topic that will be helpful to him/her on the paper exams. Information on the format to be handed out in class (maybe posted on to this site). (20% of total IB History score)

For Standard Level Students:

Paper One -- students have one hour to write on four questions based on documents and their own knowledge for a total of 25 marks. Students will encounter three sections -- Peacemaking, Peacekeeping: International Relations 1918 - 1936; The Arab-Israeli Conflict 1945 - 1979; Communism in Crisis 1976 - 1989 -- but they only need to answer the four questions from ONE section. This class will be focusing on the Communism in Crisis. (45% of total IB History score)

Paper Two -- students will see 30 essay questions, five on each of the twentieth century topics -- Causes, Practices and Effects of War; Democratic States: Challenges and Response; Origins and Development of Authoritarian and Single-Party States; Nationalist and Independence Movements in Africa and Asia and Post-1945 Central and Eastern European States; The Cold War -- as prescribed by IBO. Students have 1 ½ hours to complete two questions, chosen from different topics, each worth 20 marks. This class will be focusing on Origins and Development of Authoritarian and Single-Party States, The Cold War, and the Causes and Effects of War. (25 % of total IB History score)

Internal Assessment -- a historical investigation 1500 - 2000 words. The topic is chosen by the student, preferably on a focused topic that will be helpful to him/her on the paper exams. Information on the format to be handed out in class (maybe posted on to this site). (25% of total IB History score)

===**Previous Paper Two Questions Related to WWI:** === From Topic 1: Causes, Practices, and Effects of War
 * Examine the part played by each of the following in the outbreak of the First World War: alliances, mobilization, Balkan nationalism. (2006)
 * How valid is the claim that in 1914 states went to war due to fear rather than for motives of gain? (2004)
 * Assess critically three causes of the First World War. (2003)
 * To what extent can it be said that the First World War was caused by the alliance system? (1999)
 * “Germany must bear the ultimate responsibility for the outbreak of the First World War.” How far do you agree with this judgment? (1995)
 * How valid is it to claim that Europe “stumbled into” a world war in 1914? (1992)

===**Previous Paper Three Questions Related to WWI** ===
 * “It was the U-Boat campaign of 1917 which brought the United States into the First World War.” To what extent would you agree with this statement? (2007)

===**Previous Paper Two Questions Related to WWII** === From Topic 1: Causes, Practices, and Effects of War
 * Discuss briefly the immediate effects that the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 had on the progress of the Second World War. Comment on how the existence of the “bomb” has subsequently affected the practices of war in terms of global conflict. (1992)
 * Analyze the results of either the First World War or the Second World War.
 * In what ways did the causes of the Second World War differ from the causes of the First World War? (2004)