Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

Silver mined in Peru and Mexico played two key roles in the sixteenth-century global economy:

1. Enhancing Europe's wealth: The precious metals extracted from these American mines greatly increased Europe's economic resources and power.

1. Financing trade with Asia: This accumulated wealth was then used to fund and expand Europe's trade with Asia.

These two roles were directly connected — American silver first enriched Europe, and that wealth then enabled European merchants to purchase Asian goods, making Europe the new centre of world trade.

Source: Chapter 3, Section 1.3 — Conquest, Disease and Trade

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The passage explicitly states: "Precious metals, particularly silver, from mines located in present-day Peru and Mexico also enhanced Europe's wealth and financed its trade with Asia." — so both roles and their connection come directly from this one sentence. Examiners expect you to identify the two roles clearly (wealth enhancement + financing Asian trade) and state how they link (one enabled the other). Avoid adding information not in the passage.