Pearson Edexcel International GCSE History · 4HI1 · Free · no account needed
China: conflict, crisis and change, 1900–89 — exam questions
15 original Incandio exam-style questions on China: conflict, crisis and change, 1900–89, 150 marks, about 225 minutes of writing. Each one carries the command word, the tariff and the specification statement it assesses, exactly as a paper presents them. This is an original Incandio practice question, written to reflect the structure and demands of the qualification. It is not an official Pearson Edexcel past-paper question.
This is the practice set for China: conflict, crisis and change, 1900–89 — the option that teaches it. Read the option first if the idea is new; come here when you want to find out whether you can turn it into marks. Completely free, no account needed to read.
What these questions ask of you
2 command words run through this set, and on Pearson Edexcel International GCSE History each one means something precise. Answering the wrong command is the commonest way a candidate who understands the option still loses the mark.
- Explain (6–8 marks)
- TWO of whatever is asked for — effects, causes or ways — each analysed and shown to lead somewhere Misread as: one of them explained superbly, which is capped at 4 with no access to Level 3
- How (8–16 marks)
- a judgement on the EXTENT, built from both sides — agreement and disagreement, or three aspects and a criterion Misread as: agreement only on the source question (capped at 4), or the two printed bullets and nothing else on the sixteen-marker (held at 10)
Assessed on Paper 1 (4HI1/01) and Paper 2 (4HI1/02), against AO1, AO2.
Where these sit in the specification
Pearson Edexcel International GCSE History (4HI1) — statements 4HI1 B4.2 AO1 · 4HI1 B4.2 AO2 · 4HI1 B4.4 AO1 · 4HI1 B4.4 AO2 · 4HI1 B4.5 AO1 · 4HI1 B4.5 AO2 · 4HI1 B4.3 AO1 · 4HI1 B4.3 AO2 · 4HI1 B4.1 AO1 · 4HI1 B4.1 AO2. Incandio is aligned to this specification; it is not published by, endorsed by or affiliated with Pearson, and it reproduces none of Pearson's wording.
The 15 questions
Answer them on paper, then open the option's exam practice to have them marked. The mark scheme, the accepted and rejected answers and the annotated model answer are in Incandio and are not printed here — an answer beside its question is not practice.
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(6)Explain
Explain TWO ways in which Communist strategy in the war with Japan was different from Guomindang strategy.
(Total for Question 1 = 6 marks)
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(6)Explain
Explain TWO ways in which the Cultural Revolution was different from the Great Leap Forward.
(Total for Question 2 = 6 marks)
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(6)Explain
Explain TWO ways in which Deng's approach to change was different from Mao's.
(Total for Question 3 = 6 marks)
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(6)Explain
Explain TWO ways in which Chinese agriculture in 1957 was different from Chinese agriculture in 1949.
(Total for Question 4 = 6 marks)
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(6)Explain
Explain TWO ways in which China after 1912 was different from China before 1900.
(Total for Question 5 = 6 marks)
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(8)Explain
Explain TWO causes of the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War.
(Total for Question 6 = 8 marks)
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(8)Explain
Explain TWO causes of the Cultural Revolution.
(Total for Question 7 = 8 marks)
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(8)Explain
Explain TWO causes of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations of 1989.
(Total for Question 8 = 8 marks)
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(8)Explain
Explain TWO causes of the famine of 1959–62.
(Total for Question 9 = 8 marks)
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(8)Explain
Explain TWO causes of the 1911 Revolution.
(Total for Question 10 = 8 marks)
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(16)How
How far were the Guomindang's own weaknesses responsible for the Communist victory, in the years 1927–49? • The war with Japan (1937–45) • Hyperinflation
(Total for Question 11 = 16 marks)
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(16)How
How significant was Mao Zedong in the history of China, in the years 1934–89? • The Long March (1934–35) • The Cultural Revolution (1966–76)
(Total for Question 12 = 16 marks)
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(16)How
How far were the changes in China more apparent than real, in the years 1949–89? • The Great Leap Forward (1958–62) • The reforms after 1978
(Total for Question 13 = 16 marks)
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(16)How
How significant was Communist rule in improving life for the Chinese people, in the years 1949–89? • Land reform (1950–52) • The Great Leap Forward (1958–62)
(Total for Question 14 = 16 marks)
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(16)How
How significant was the fall of the Qing dynasty in the history of China, in the years 1900–49? • The 1911 Revolution • The warlord era
(Total for Question 15 = 16 marks)
Have them marked, then defend the answer
Practice tells you the mark; teaching it back tells you whether you understand it. On Incandio a topic counts as mastered only once you have taught it and defended it.
- Mark these questions — 15 questions, marked on Incandio against the authored scheme, with the mistake you actually made named.
- Teach it — explain China: conflict, crisis and change, 1900–89 to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — three rounds against the mind with the strongest claim on it, marked against descriptors you can read first.
Completely free. No subscriptions, no paywalls, no account needed to start.
Back to the option
- China: conflict, crisis and change, 1900–89 — Option B4: the fall of the Qing, Warlordism and chaos, 1900–34; the triumph of Mao and the CCP, 1934–49; change under Mao, 1949–63; the Cultural Revolution and its impact, 1965–76; China, 1976–89.
- All of Incandio History · Incandio Exam Practice