History · Unit 17
The Modern World
The 20th and 21st centuries
The most recent history is the hardest to teach, because the consequences are not finished and the sources are still being written.
The unit covers decolonisation and the end of the European empires, civil rights movements, the arrival of computing and the internet, and the challenges - climate, migration, inequality - that remain open questions rather than settled narratives.
This unit breaks down into 20 short steps and 120 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 3. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.
- Steps
- 20
- Questions
- 120
- Difficulty
- 1-3
What this unit covers
- The End of Empires
- Civil Rights
- The Technology Age
- Modern Challenges
- A Connected World
Where this fits
The last chronological unit in the History track. Pairs well with Technology and Society and with Development and the Economy.
Where people slip
Recent events have no agreed interpretation yet. Where this unit describes causes, treat them as the current reading of the evidence rather than as a verdict.
How the unit is structured
The Modern World runs as 20 short steps that unlock in order. 15 are practice rounds and 5 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 3 as you progress.
Challenge rounds
Example questions
30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 120 in the unit altogether.
A Connected World
- Multiple choiceLevel 1
1. What is a main aim of the United Nations?
- To help countries cooperate and keep peacecorrect
- To choose the leader of every country
- To run a single world army
- To set the price of all goods
The United Nations was created to help countries cooperate and to maintain international peace.
- Fill the blankLevel 2
2. The headquarters of the United Nations is located in the city of ____.
- New Yorkcorrect
- London
- Paris
- Tokyo
The United Nations has its main headquarters in New York City, in the United States.
- Guess the numberLevel 2
3. In what year was the United Nations founded?
Answer: 1945 CE
The United Nations was founded in 1945, after World War Two, to help countries keep peace.
- Odd one outLevel 2
4. Which of these is NOT one of the United Nations' main purposes?
- Building a single global railway networkcorrect
- Helping to prevent war and keep peace
- Promoting human rights
- Encouraging cooperation between nations
The United Nations focuses on peace, human rights and cooperation, not on building a global railway.
- Choose all that applyLevel 3
5. Which of the following are common criticisms of globalisation? (Select all that apply.)
- It can cause job losses when production moves to lower-cost countriescorrect
- It can widen the gap between rich and poorcorrect
- It can weaken local cultures and industriescorrect
- It guarantees identical wealth for every nation
Critics argue globalisation can displace jobs, deepen inequality and pressure local cultures, even as it boosts overall trade.
- Fact or fibLevel 3
6. Globalisation has produced both winners and losers, benefiting some regions and industries while disadvantaging others.
Answer: True
Economists widely agree globalisation brings gains and losses that are unevenly shared between places, industries and groups.
Civil Rights
- Build the sentenceLevel 1
7. Arrange the words to complete the famous phrase from Martin Luther King's 1963 speech.
Answer: I have a dream
'I have a dream' became one of the best known lines of the American civil rights movement.
- Fact or fibLevel 1
8. During the 20th century, women in many countries gained the right to vote.
Answer: True
Women's suffrage spread across the world in the 20th century, giving women a voice in elections.
- Multiple choiceLevel 1
9. Martin Luther King is famous for a 1963 speech that repeats which words?
- I have a dreamcorrect
- We shall fight on the beaches
- Workers of the world unite
- Let them eat cake
In his 'I Have a Dream' speech, King called for equality and an end to racial discrimination in the United States.
- Fill the blankLevel 2
10. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a ____ in Montgomery, USA.
- buscorrect
- train
- plane
- ship
Rosa Parks' protest on a segregated bus helped spark the Montgomery bus boycott and the wider civil rights movement.
- Guess the numberLevel 2
11. In what year did Nelson Mandela become South Africa's first democratically elected president?
Answer: 1994 CE
Mandela was elected president in 1994, in South Africa's first election open to all races.
- Match the pairsLevel 2
12. Match each person with the movement they are known for.
Answer: Martin Luther King = US civil rights movement; Nelson Mandela = Ending apartheid in South Africa; Emmeline Pankhurst = Votes for women in Britain; Rosa Parks = The Montgomery bus boycott
These figures each campaigned for greater equality in their own countries during the 20th century.
Modern Challenges
- Fact or fibLevel 1
13. Global challenges such as climate change and pandemics often require countries to work together.
Answer: True
Problems that cross borders, like climate change and pandemics, are usually tackled through international cooperation.
- Guess the numberLevel 1
14. In what year did the World Health Organization declare COVID-19 a global pandemic?
Answer: 2020 CE
COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic in 2020 and affected countries all around the world.
- Choose all that applyLevel 2
15. Which of the following are common reasons people migrate between countries today? (Select all that apply.)
- Escaping armed conflict or persecutioncorrect
- Seeking better work and economic opportunitiescorrect
- Fleeing droughts, floods or other environmental pressures
- Because international borders no longer exist anywhere
People migrate for many overlapping reasons, including conflict, economic need and environmental pressures.
- Fill the blankLevel 2
16. In 2015, many countries signed the Paris ____, a global agreement to limit climate change.
- Agreementcorrect
- Festival
- Marathon
- Blockade
The Paris Agreement of 2015 committed nations to work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Multiple choiceLevel 2
17. Climate change today is mainly linked to which human activity?
- Burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas
- Planting new forests
- Recycling paper
- Using wind turbines
Burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas releases greenhouse gases that warm the planet.
- Match the pairsLevel 3
18. Match each environmental agreement with the problem it mainly addresses.
Answer: Kyoto Protocol = Cutting greenhouse gas emissions; Montreal Protocol = Protecting the ozone layer; Paris Agreement = Limiting global temperature rise; Ramsar Convention = Protecting wetlands
Different treaties target different issues: the Kyoto Protocol emissions, the Montreal Protocol the ozone layer, the Paris Agreement warming, and the Ramsar Convention wetlands.
The End of Empires
- Guess the numberLevel 1
19. In what year did India gain independence from British rule?
Answer: 1947 CE
India became independent in 1947, ending nearly two centuries of British control.
- Multiple choiceLevel 1
20. Who was a leading figure in India's non-violent movement for independence?
- Mahatma Gandhicorrect
- Winston Churchill
- Nelson Mandela
- Christopher Columbus
Mahatma Gandhi led peaceful protests that helped India win independence in 1947.
- Fill the blankLevel 2
21. So many African nations became independent in ____ that it is often called the 'Year of Africa'.
- 1960correct
- 1918
- 1989
- 2001
In 1960, around 17 African countries gained their independence, mostly from Britain and France.
- Match the pairsLevel 2
22. Match each nation with the European empire it gained independence from.
Answer: India = Britain; Algeria = France; Indonesia = the Netherlands; Angola = Portugal
As empires broke up in the 20th century, colonies across Asia and Africa became independent countries.
- Odd one outLevel 2
23. Three of these countries were British colonies that became independent after 1945. Which one was instead a French colony?
- Algeriacorrect
- India
- Ghana
- Kenya
Algeria was a French colony and gained independence from France in 1962, while the others were British.
- Put in orderLevel 2
24. Put these countries in order of when they became independent, earliest first.
Answer: India (1947) -> Ghana (1957) -> Kenya (1963) -> Zimbabwe (1980)
India became independent in 1947, Ghana in 1957, Kenya in 1963 and Zimbabwe in 1980.
The Technology Age
- Guess the numberLevel 1
25. In what year did astronauts first land on the Moon?
Answer: 1969 CE
The Apollo 11 mission landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969.
- Picture questionLevel 1
26. 🚀 Sending rockets, satellites and people beyond the Earth is known as what?
- Space explorationcorrect
- Deep-sea diving
- Mountain climbing
- Time travel
Space exploration has grown since the 1950s, from the first satellites to space stations.
- Build the sentenceLevel 2
27. Build the true sentence about where the World Wide Web was created.
Answer: The World Wide Web was created at CERN
The World Wide Web was created at CERN, the European physics research organisation, by Tim Berners-Lee.
- Choose all that applyLevel 2
28. Which of these technologies became common in the late 20th and early 21st centuries? Select all that apply.
- The internetcorrect
- Mobile phonescorrect
- Personal computerscorrect
- The steam locomotive
The internet, mobile phones and personal computers all became widespread in recent decades, unlike the much older steam locomotive.
- Fill the blankLevel 2
29. The World Wide Web, which lets us view websites, was invented in 1989 by ____ Berners-Lee.
- Timcorrect
- Bill
- Steve
- Alan
British scientist Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web, making the internet easy to use.
- Multiple choiceLevel 3
30. Moore's Law, named after Gordon Moore, describes which trend in computing?
- The number of transistors on a chip roughly doubles about every two yearscorrect
- Computers become twice as heavy each decade
- Software always costs twice as much each year
- Internet speeds halve every two years
Moore's Law observed that transistor counts on chips roughly double every two years, driving rapid gains in computing power.
Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.
How you practise
This unit mixes 17 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.
- Build the sentence
- Choose all that apply
- Fact or fib
- Fill the blank
- Guess the number
- Listen and choose
- Match the pairs
- Multiple choice
- Odd one out
- Picture question
- Put in order
- Sequence recall
- Sort into groups
- Spell it
- Tap the pairs
- True or false
- Type the answer
Practise The Modern World
120 questions across 20 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.
Play this unitRead about The Modern World
Explainers from our blog on what this unit covers. Each one ends with real questions from the bank.
More units in History
- Prehistory and Early HumansFrom the Stone Age to the first farmers
- The First CivilizationsCities, writing and the first states
- Ancient EgyptPharaohs, pyramids and the Nile
- Ancient GreeceCity-states, democracy and ideas
- Ancient RomeRepublic, empire and legions
- Ancient China and IndiaDynasties, inventions and empires of Asia
- The Ancient AmericasMaya, Aztec and Inca civilizations
- The Middle AgesCastles, knights and medieval life