50 A cadem ic Module
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on
Reading Passage 1 below.
The Vikings’ Wayfaring Ways
Perhaps best known as fierce warriors, the Vikings were also the most far-rang-
ing of peoples. In fact, the term Viking, in Old Norse, means “to go on an expe
dition.” From the late 700s until the eleventh century, Viking explorers
journeyed from their native Norway, Denmark, and Sweden to many distant
lands. They traveled1 as far west as Newfoundland in present-day Canada, and
as far east as Baghdad.
Those from Norway sailed west to the British Isles, and eventually across the
Atlantic Ocean. During their first expedition, in 793, a force of Viking warriors
sacked the famed abbey at Lindisfarne, on England’s northeast coast. In the 800s,
groups of raiders went on to occupy the Shetland Islands, north of the British
Academic Module-Practice Test
Isles and west of Norway, and the Orkney Islands off northern Scotland.
By 870, the Vikings were settling Iceland. In 980, an Icelandic assembly found
a man named Eric “the Red” Ericson guilty of murder and sent him into exile. Eric
the Red responded by sailing to a large island to the west, which he called
“Greenland.” An Icelandic saga mentions that people would be attracted to go to
Greenland if it had a favorable2 name. Around 998, Eric the Red’s son, Leif “the
Lucky” Ericson, and a small Viking fleet sailed west to North America. There they
established the first European settlement in the New World, called “Vinland.”
Vikings from Denmark, meanwhile, ravaged large swaths of England and
France. In 866, a Viking “Great Army” landed in England, occupying much of
the country’s north and east. They forced the English king to acknowledge their
control of much of England under the so-called Danelaw. To the west, they con
quered coastal portions of Ireland, and in 841 founded Dublin, today a major
Irish city, but originally a Viking fort. The Vikings remained a major power in
Ireland until the early eleventh century.
To the south, the Vikings conquered France, moving swiftly up rivers in long
boats, powered by oar and sail. From 845 to 886, they surged up the Seine to
attack Paris three times. To stop the raids, French King Charles III the Simple
in 911 offered the Viking chief Rollo territories in northwest France, called
Normandy, after the Normans or “Northmen.” There they set up a powerful
kingdom and, in 1066, under William, Duke of Normandy, defeated King
Harold at the battle of Hastings in England.
Farther south, in 844, the Vikings had raided Portugal and Spain, then largely
controlled by Arab Moors. A fleet of 100 Viking ships seized Lisbon and boldly
1British: travelled
2British: favourable
A c a d e m ic M od u le — P ractice Test 2 51
sailed up the Guadalquivir River to occupy Seville. However, the Moors dealt
them a rare defeat. The Moors catapulted flaming projectiles onto the Viking
vessels, forcing a retreat.
Still other Vikings sailed much farther, to raid Morocco, then to the eastern
Mediterranean and beyond. Many of these Vikings enlisted with the military
forces of the Byzantine Empire, the Greek-speaking successors to the Roman
Empire. Vikings made up the Byzantine Emperor’s elite Varangian Guard. In
902, hundreds of Varangians served as marines during a Byzantine naval assault
on the island of Crete. Varangians battled Arab forces in Syria in 955, and even
fought in Jerusalem. So many men left Scandinavia for the Byzantine Empire
that, to stem the outflow, Sweden passed a law denying inherited property to
anyone serving under the Byzantines.
The Vikings of Sweden, meanwhile, were moving out of Scandinavia to the
east and south. They journeyed through the Baltic Sea, then built inland trading
posts in Germany and Poland. In time, they struck out across Central and
Eastern Europe, down the Vistula River in Poland, and the Dnieper, Volga, and
Don Rivers in Russia. Their vessel of choice was the “knar,” a cargo ship with a
deep draft and wide hull. Viking merchants on horseback penetrated far into the
Asian heartland, trading with towns on the Caspian and Black seas.
The most significant settlements were in Russia and Ukraine. In 862, Vikings
settled in the town of Novgorod, in northwestern Russia. It became the capital
of a country called Rus, after the Finnish name for the Swedes. Rus came from
the word Rutosi, meaning “rowers.” Rus formed the foundation of Russia, as the
Russian and Viking leaders of Rus intermarried, converted to Christianity, and
steadily expanded their territory. And after lucrative trade relations were estab
lished with the Byzantines and with Muslim lands, the Rus moved their capital
southward to Kiev, later the capital of Ukraine.
Another important Viking market town was Bulgar, on the Volga River.
There, merchants peddled honey, wax, amber, and steel swords. The Viking’s
most common commodity may have been skins: they dealt in horse, beaver, rab
bit, mink, ermine, and sable skins. They also traded hazelnuts, fish, cattle, and
falcons. Another commodity was slaves, many of them Slavs from Eastern
Europe. The merchants eagerly exchanged their goods for Arab silver coins. In
Sweden, archeologists1 have excavated about 100,000 such coins, minted in such
distant cities as Cairo and Tashkent.
Like their Danish and Norwegian relatives, the Swedish Vikings traveled to
the most exotic realms. They took part in the Silk Road trade with India and
China. Archeological evidence shows that Viking traders even traveled by camel
caravan to Baghdad.
Given the wide-ranging travel of the Vikings, it is fitting the Anglo-Saxons
gave them the nickname “Faergenga”— “Far Going.”
1British: archaeologists
52 A c a d e m ic M odule
Questions 1—5
Answer the questions below.
Choose ONE NUMBER ONLY[from the textfor each answer.
Write your answers on lines 1—5 ton your answer sheet.
1 When did Viking warriors raid an abbey on the coast of England?
2 When was Eric the Red convicted of a crime?
3 When did Vikings establish a fort in Ireland?
4 When was a Viking chief granted lands by a king of France?
5 When did Viking warriors defeat an English king?
Questions 6-13
Complete the summary using the list o f words, A -O , below. Write the correct letter,
Academic Module-Practice Test 2
A -O , on lines 6—13 on your answer sheet.
The people known as Vikings were given this name because they were
6 • Groups of Vikings from Norway traveled west to Britain,
Iceland, and beyond. They were the first Europeans who 7 ________________
North America. Groups from Denmark 8 ________________ large areas of
England and France. Other groups of Vikings raided areas of Portugal and
Spain. The people of Seville, Spain, drove the Vikings away by throwing
9 ________________at them. Large numbers of Vikings left Scandinavia for
the Byzantine Empire, and many of these joined the Byzantine military. At one
point, they took part in 1 0 ________________on the Greek island of Crete.
Groups of Swedish Vikings crossed the Baltic Sea to explore the lands beyond.
They traveled down Russian rivers, then journeyed deep into Asia by
1 1 _______________ . After settling in northwest Russia, they expanded their
territories toward the south. Kiev, Ukraine, eventually became the Vikings’
territorial 12 ________________. The Vikings also had an important
1 3 __________ in the town of Bulgar on the Volga River.
—- -
A warriors B an attack C capital D explorers
■: ■
E trade with F conquered G burning objects H settled in
1 ship J oars K market L a parade
M archeologists N silver coins 0 horse
