Geography Sample Exam Questions

Sample Exam Questions 1) How does the text define globalization? A) the increasing interconnectedness of people and places through converging economic, political, and cultural activities B) the spread of McDonald's throughout the world C) the trend toward international trade agreements among the countries of the world D) the pattern of increasing telephone and Internet connections around the world E) the growth of international and supranational organizations uniting the world's people Answer: A 2) What do most scholars agree is the most significant component of globalization? A) climate change B) political transition around the planet C) international terrorism D) cultural hybridization E) economic reorganization of the world Answer: E 3) Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of our increasingly globalized world? A) communications systems that link all regions of the Earth instantaneously B) transportation systems capable of moving goods quickly by air, sea, and land C) powerful transnational conglomerate corporations D) local folk cultures E) new and more flexible forms of monetary flow Answer: D 4) Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of culture? A) It is individual. B) It is learned. C) It is shared. D) It has abstract dimensions. E) It has material dimensions. Answer: A 5) Which of the following characteristics often best defines cultural groups? A) politics B) religion C) language D) commerce E) customs Answer: C 6) Why are "growth" and "development" NOT interchangeable terms? A) "Growth" normally refers to improvements, while "development" usually refers to an increase in the size of a system. B) "Growth" normally refers to the economic system, while "development" normally refers to 1 the political system in a country. C) "Growth" normally refers to the standard of living, while "development" normally refers to the economic system in a country. D) "Growth" normally refers to the increase in agricultural output, while "development" usually refers to the improvement in the educational system of a country. E) "Growth" normally refers to increase in the size of the system, while "development" usually refers to improvements. Answer: E 7) Culture is learned. Answer: TRUE 8) The natural process of the Earth's atmosphere heating through the trapping of reradiated infrared radiation is known as A) the greenhouse effect. B) thermal inversion. C) solar heating. D) climate change. E) subduction. Answer: A 9) This is the process involving the displacement of lower-income residents of central-city neighborhoods by higher-income residents, the improvement of deteriorated innercity landscapes, and the construction of shopping complexes, sports and entertainment attractions, and convention centers in selected downtown locations. A) hierarchical diffusion B) centripetal forces C) gentrification D) counterurbanization E) urban decentralization Answer: C 10) What cultural homeland is home to the Inuit? A) Acadiana, in the southern U.S. B) Newfoundland, in eastern Canada C) Hawaii, the U.S.'s 50th state D) the Navaho Reservation in the Southwest U.S. E) Nunavut, a self-governing territory in Canada Answer: E 11) What countries are members of the North American Free Trade Agreement? A) Canada, Mexico, United States B) Canada and Mexico C) Mexico and the United States D) United States and Canada E) Canada, Mexico, United States, and Greenland 2 Answer: A 12) Acid rain falls only in the same geographic area in which the pollutants that make it are created. Answer: FALSE 13) The growing popularity of sustainable agriculture exemplifies the trend, where organic farming principles, a limited use of chemicals, and an integrated plan of crop and livestock management combine to offer both producers and consumers environmentally friendly alternatives. Answer: TRUE 14) Nunavut is the most recently formed Canadian territory and is home to the Inuit people. Answer: TRUE 15) Historically, what crop has been the most important one in the Caribbean? A) sugarcane B) coffee C) bananas D) wheat E) cocoa Answer: A 16) What factor has prevented Caribbean countries from reaping the full benefits of their extensive investment in education? A) brain drain B) the continuing importance of the informal sector C) drug trafficking D) offshore banking and online gambling E) all of the above Answer: A 17) The Monroe Doctrine was the official United States policy that stated that the United States would not tolerate European military involvement in the Western Hemisphere. Answer: TRUE 18) What is the greatest threat to biodiversity in Latin America? A) deforestation B) grassification C) farmland degradation D) air pollution E) desertification Answer: A 19) Which Latin American country is most closely associated with deforestation? A) Colombia B) Brazil 3 C) Ecuador D) Peru E) Chile Answer: B 20) What is the name of the mountain chain that extends the length of South America's west coast? A) Alps B) Sierra Nevada C) Andes D) Himalayas E) Alta Answer: C 21) Where are the people of Latin America concentrated? A) in cities and on the coasts B) in cities C) along river valleys D) on the coasts E) along river valleys and on the coasts Answer: A 22) What material(s) provided the initial wealth of many countries in the Andes Mountains? A) silver B) gold C) copper D) iron E) all of the above Answer: E 23) What is El Niño? A) a political party in Peru B) the president of Mexico C) a distinctive weather pattern D) a lake in Nicaragua E) the highest peak in the Andes Mountains Answer: C 24) What evidence demonstrates the resilience of the Indian cultures in Latin America? A) the presence of Indian-run gambling casinos throughout the region B) architectural ruins C) Amerindian majorities in all countries of Latin America D) the survival of Amerindian languages in the region E) a thriving Amerindian movie industry Answer: D 25) What is the ethnicity of the majority of people in Latin America? 4 A) blanco (European) B) mestizo (mixed race) C) indo (Indian) D) negro (black) E) Asian Answer: B 26) What language is the second-most common in Latin America? A) Portuguese B) Spanish C) English D) Quechua E) Aymara Answer: A 27) What goal did the Treaty of Tordesillas accomplish? A) divided South America between Spain and Portugal B) ended the Spanish-American War C) established the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) D) ended the Mexican revolution of 1910 E) gave possession of Puerto Rico to the United States Answer: A 28) Why did the number of people employed in Mexican maquiladoras begin to drop after 2001? A) Pull factors in the U.S. caused many of the workers to migrate there. B) The Mexican government instituted tougher environmental standards for the maquiladoras. C) The terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement changed, making the maquiladoras less desirable. D) China became more popular for labor-intensive work because of its lower wages. E) The World Trade Organization changed its international labor policies. Answer: D 29) Squatter settlements in Latin America and elsewhere are unplanned and have no utilities. Answer: TRUE 30) The term "China proper" refers to A) the ethnic minorities located in the western provinces of the country. B) countries that lie within China's larger sphere of influence such as Korea and Japan. C) the populous eastern half of China. D) the citizens of Taiwan who believe that ethnically and politically they are the "true" Chinese. E) the geographic center of China. Answer: C 31) What single factor is most responsible for the severity of environmental problems in East Asia? A) the lack of environmental regulations in the region 5 B) the climate in the region C) the oil industry in the region D) the clearcutting of rainforests throughout the region E) the large population in the region Answer: E 32) What is China's rationale for constructing the massive Three Gorges Dam project? A) After several nuclear accidents, the Chinese government would like to reduce their reliance on nuclear power. B) China has embarked on a policy of monumentalism, attempting to prove that their public works projects can out-scale any others in the world. C) China's goal is to make a large reservoir to attract international recreational boaters in the region. D) China is trying to reduce its dependence on coal as a power source, which is causing widespread air pollution in the country. E) China wants to create a reservoir for irrigation purposes. Answer: D 33) Why has East Asia come to occupy a central position in climate change debates? A) because the Kyoto Protocol originated in this region B) because South Korea leads the world in climate change research C) because it will be the hardest hit region as climate change continues D) because of Japan's leading role in the solar energy industry E) because of China's rapid increases in carbon emissions Answer: E 34) Korea is located on which type of landform? A) island B) isthmus C) land bridge D) peninsula E) strait Answer: D 35) Which country of East Asia has taken recent steps to acquire nuclear weaponry, triggering concern in the U.S.? A) China B) Japan C) North Korea D) South Korea E) Taiwan Answer: C 36) China's late-twentieth-century economic reform A) led to growth rates exceeding 10 percent per year. B) led to the strongest growth during the "Great Leap Forward." C) began in earnest in the mid-1990s. 6 D) has not embraced capitalist principles. E) has been a disaster. Answer: A 37) China's government is on which of the following paths of development? A) pure Marxist development B) modified socialist development C) pure capitalist development D) modified capitalist development E) pure socialist development Answer: D 38) China's economic expansion has created tensions with the United States. Answer: TRUE 39) What climatic factor dominates South Asia, often causing summer floods? A) blizzards B) droughts C) hailstorms D) monsoons E) tornadoes Answer: D 40) What is the rain-shadow effect? A) the area of high rainfall found on the windy side of a mountain range B) the area of low rainfall found on the windy side of a mountain range C) the area of high rainfall found on the leeward (downwind) side of a mountain range D) the area of low rainfall found on the leeward (downwind) side of a mountain range E) the snow-capped peak of a mountain, where the temperatures are too cold for rain to fall Answer: D 41) How were the Himalayas formed? A) by the rifting (pulling apart) of the Eurasian Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate B) by the collision of peninsular India with the Asian landmass C) by the upwelling of molten matter from a hot spot beneath the Indian subcontinent D) by the erosion of the landscape north and south of the region that would become the mountains E) by volcanic activity Answer: B 42) Which of the following phrases best describes the outcome of the Green Revolution? A) an agricultural disaster, as well as an ecological and social failure B) an agricultural success, as well as an ecological and social success C) an agricultural success, but an ecological and social failure D) an agricultural and ecological failure, but a social success E) an agricultural and ecological success, but a social failure Answer: C 7 43) The Green Revolution in South Asia A) had little effect on crop yields. B) relied in part on newly developed varieties of crops. C) originated in the early 1950s. D) was accomplished without the use of pesticides. E) has been a total success. Answer: B 44) What territory in South Asia is claimed by both India and Pakistan? A) Sri Lanka B) the Indian State of Goa C) Kashmir D) Madhya Pradesh E) Punjab Answer: C 45) What role does the Grameen Bank play in Bangladesh? A) It regulates interest rates in the country. B) It provides low-interest credit to fund small-scale enterprise. C) It is the largest commercial bank. D) It facilitates international financial activities . E) all of the above Answer: B 46) What type of climate dominates in most of insular Southeast Asia? A) occasionally hot and humid B) constantly hot and dry C) constantly cool and humid D) constantly cool and dry E) constantly hot and humid Answer: E 47) What is transmigration? A) It is a migration of refugees from one nation to another. B) It is a long period of migration stagnation, when a nation's population remains in one region for a significantly long period of time. C) It is a government-implemented policy forbidding emigration from a nation in any form. D) It is the forced movement of certain citizens to concentration camps. E) It is the relocation of a nation's population from one location to another within its national territory. Answer: E 48) Most of insular Southeast Asia is characterized by the constantly hot and humid climates of the equatorial zone. Answer: TRUE 8 49) The Philippines was a colony of Spain for 300 years. Answer: TRUE 50) Which of the following factors does NOT explain the environmental diversity of Europe? A) complex geology that produced some of the newest, as well as oldest, landscapes in the world B) the latitudinal extent of Europe C) El Niño D) the interaction of land and sea E) A long history of human settlement has transformed the land. Answer: C 51) Which part of Europe is the region's unquestionable focus of intensive agriculture, large cities, and major industrial activities? A) the Alpine mountain region B) the Central Uplands C) the Iberian Peninsula D) the European Lowland E) the Western Highlands Answer: D 52) How does the environment of Eastern Europe compare to that of Western Europe? A) The environment in Eastern Europe was much more polluted than that of Western Europe, until recent efforts to rectify the situation, with the help of the European Union. B) The environment in Western Europe was much more polluted than that of Easter Europe, until recent efforts to rectify the situation, with the help of the European Union. C) The environment in Eastern Europe is much more polluted than that of Western Europe. D) The environment in Western Europe is much more polluted than that of Easter Europe. E) The environment in Eastern Europe has more air pollution, but less water pollution than that of Western Europe. Answer: A 53) What are the current impacts of climate change in Europe? A) Sea ice is dwindling. B) There is sparse snow cover in arctic Scandinavia. C) There are frequent droughts in the water-starved Mediterranean region. D) A and B above E) A, B, and C above Answer: E 54) Probably the most striking characteristic of Europe's demography is A) that almost 40 percent of the population is illiterate. B) the continued 10 percent more women than men in most of the countries. C) the high rural population. D) youthfulness of its population. E) the lack of natural growth. Answer: E 9 55) What event has been an important cause of the surge of immigration to European countries such as Germany since the beginning of the 1990s? A) the release of the last German colony in Africa in 1989 B) the expulsion of many foreign-born immigrants from France C) an environmental disaster in the Balkans D) Germany's mild climate E) the collapse of the Soviet Union Answer: E 56) Why have many European countries encouraged immigration of foreign populations into their borders in the recent past? A) They want to increase the diversity of their ethnic composition. B) It is a requirement of the European Union. C) They were experiencing low or negative growth, and needed immigrants to fill gaps in their labor force. D) Many feel it would be a way to make up for the transgressions they committed against these people during World War II. E) all of the answer choices are correct Answer: C 57) One of the major characteristics of Europe's population and settlement patterns is its high level of A) urbanization. B) crime. C) drug use. D) corruption. E) integration. Answer: A 58) Which country of Europe has the region's largest percentage of Muslims? A) Germany B) England C) Spain D) France E) Italy Answer: D 59) What do the letters in NATO stand for? A) National Anti-Terrorism Organization B) North Austrian Transportation Organization C) Norway-Austria Treaty Organization D) North Atlantic Treaty Organization E) Netherlands Against Terrorism Organization Answer: D 60) What was the metaphorical name given to the policy of separation that divided Europe into two separate geopolitical and economic blocs after World War II? 10 A) Berlin Wall B) Iron Curtain C) Kremlin D) Autobahn E) buffer zone Answer: B 61) What was the Cold War? A) armed warfare between Eastern Europe and Western Europe from 1968-1973 B) the nickname given to efforts by the cold, northern countries of Europe to resolve their energy crisis in the 1990s in order to avoid deaths caused by hypothermia C) an armed conflict between the United States and the USSR that lasted from 1946-1991 and included occupation of several European countries by the United States D) an ideological struggle between the United States and the former Soviet Union that lasted from 1946-1991, and included Soviet occupation of several European countries E) armed warfare between Eastern Europe and Western Europe that lasted from 1986-1991 Answer: D 62) When did the Industrial Revolution emerge? A) from 1258-1492 B) from 1540-1680 C) from 1730-1850 D) from 1870-1920 E) from 1940-1970 Answer: C 63) What kind of organization is the European Union? A) an international organization working toward the improvement of Europe's transportation network B) a regional organization working toward the integration of professional athletics in Europe C) a supranational organization working toward economic, political, and cultural integration in Europe D) an international labor union working to retain jobs in the region E) a supranational organization focusing on the common defense and the development of a nuclear arsenal Answer: C 64) The long history of human settlement has transformed and modified Europe's natural landscapes in fundamental ways over thousands of years. Answer: TRUE 65) Today residents of EU countries cannot move about as they please to travel, study, and work. Answer: FALSE 66) Industrialization did little to alter the landscape of European cities. Answer: FALSE 11 67) Historically, Europe spread its cultures worldwide through aggressive colonialization. Answer: TRUE 68) As the acknowledged birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Europe in many ways invented the modern economic system of industrial capitalism. Answer: TRUE 69) The European Union is a supranational organization working toward economic, political, and cultural integration in Europe. Answer: TRUE 70) When Soviet domination over eastern Europe collapsed, so did the economic integration of the region. Answer: TRUE 71) Western Europe has historically been less developed economically than its eastern counterpart. Answer: FALSE 72) What makes Russia distinctive? A) It has the largest land area of any country on Earth. B) It has the largest quantity of oil reserves of any country on Earth. C) It has the largest population of any country on Earth. D) It has the lowest altitude of any country on Earth. E) It has the strongest economy on Earth. Answer: A 73) What is the one element that helps us to understand geographies of climate, vegetation, and agriculture in the Russian Domain? A) the northern latitudinal position of the Russian Domain B) the legacy of the Soviet era C) globalization and its influence on the Russian Domain D) the Cold War E) climate change Answer: A 74) What are the primary characteristics of a high-latitude continental climate, as illustrated by the Russian Domain? A) slight variation in seasonal temperature, medium growing season B) uniformly cold temperatures, extremely short growing season C) seasonal temperature extremes and short growing season D) uniformly warm temperature, and long growing season E) unpredictable temperatures and growing season that is too short for farming Answer: C 75) Why is development in Siberia limited? 12 A) The mountainous terrain of the region makes it virtually impossible to create a transportation infrastructure there. B) Most of the area is a barren, dry desert leaving little available water to support human life. C) In order to protect the fragile environment of this region, the Russian government has limited the number of settlers into the region. D) Indigenous groups of Siberian peoples will not allow development in their sacred ancestral burial grounds. E) Unstable ground resulting from permafrost makes it extremely difficult to place permanent structures on the land surface. Answer: E 76) Which part of the Russian Domain has historically provided the most productive agricultural areas of the region? A) Ukraine B) Belarus C) Latvia D) Moldova E) Siberia Answer: A 77) What is the primary reason why European Russia has a higher population than Asian Russia? A) Asian Russia lost much of its population in World War II. B) European Russia is better suited for agriculture. C) Communist government policies forced millions to move to European Russia from Asian Russia. D) Devastating diseases killed off much of the population of Asian Russia. E) European Russia has historically had an extremely low death rate. Answer: B 78) Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, what has become of the policy of Russification within former Soviet republics? A) Russification has decreased, with fewer Russians settling in these regions. B) Russification has increased greatly, with greater numbers of Russians settling in these regions. C) Russification has remained relatively the same. D) Russification has been reversed, where greater numbers of Russians are encouraged to leave these regions. E) Russification continued to rise in the 1990s, but has decreased since 2000. Answer: D 79) In what region of the Russian Domain was the Soviet Union's Gulag Achipelago located? A) Siberia B) Ukraine C) Belarus D) Georgia E) Armenia 13 Answer: A 80) What happened to the economy in the Russian Domain after the demise of the former Soviet Union (USSR)? A) After a decade of political and economic instability, Russia has made impressive progress in the 21st century. B) Steady economic growth, that continues today. C) Unprecedented economic decline, followed by explosive growth in 2000-2001 that has improved the economies of all countries in the region. D) Unprecedented economic growth throughout the region. E) There has been no change in Russia's economy since the demise of the Soviet Union. Answer: A 14