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Study Guide

Sample Selected-Response Questions
Field 04: Geography

Practice Questions

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Subarea I–Geographic Concepts and Skills

Objective 0001: Understand basic geographic terms, themes, and specialized fields of geography.

1. An economic geographer is planning a study to test the validity of the profitmaximization theory of industrial location. The geographer can best ensure the study's credibility by focusing attention on which of the following matters when developing a research design?

  1. the average distance firms in the research sample traveled to relocate
  2. the range of industries represented by firms in the research sample
  3. the average capitalization of firms in the research sample
  4. the variety of regions represented by firms in the research sample
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 0003: Understand the basic natural processes that shape the earth.

2. The theory of plate tectonics can best be used to explain which of the following geographic phenomena?

  1. the distribution of climate types
  2. the growth of continents
  3. the location of major mountain ranges
  4. the organization of ecosytems

  1. I and II only
  2. I and IV only
  3. II and III only
  4. III and IV only
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 0006: Locate, organize, analyze, and interpret geographic information.

3. Which line on the chart correctly matches a geographic reference work with the type of information likely to be found in that work?

Line Reference Work Type of Information
1 globe locations of various types of natural resources
2 geographic dictionary population pyramids for specific nations and world regions
3 atlas analyses of changes in global trade patterns
4 almanac statistics on industrial production and energy consumption
  1. Line 1
  2. Line 2
  3. Line 3
  4. Line 4
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.

 

Subarea II–World Geography

Objective 0009: Understand global and regional patterns of resource distribution.

4. Use the passage below about aquaculture in Asia to answer the question that follows.

Throughout Asia, people have long known the benefits of aquaculture. Pond farming techniques allow traditional mainland farmers to raise a rich source of dietary protein as well as produce an excellent natural fertilizer from harvested fish droppings. In land-poor Japan, the shallow coastal areas become the pond. Today, Japanese farmers of the sea, or mariculturalists, grow increasing amounts of the sea plants and shellfish that are a regular part of the Japanese diet.

The pattern of resource distribution and exploitation described in the passage affects regional development mainly by:

  1. increasing the percentage of regional income derived from exportable goods.
  2. encouraging economic overdependence on a single resource.
  3. increasing the self-sufficiency of regional food suppliers.
  4. encouraging investment by outside developers.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 0008: Understand global and regional climatic patterns.

5. Because air masses have a limited capacity to carry moisture, people living in which of the following areas are likely to experience the greatest problems obtaining sufficient water for supporting plant and animal life?

  1. an inland country with much of its land below sea level
  2. a country located in a region with few forest lands
  3. an inland country surrounded by mountains
  4. a country located in a middle latitude temperature zone
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 0009: Understand global and regional patterns of resource distribution.

6. Which of the following best describes the relationship between resource distribution, economic organization, and political authority in Japan?

  1. To prevent shortages of vital raw materials, the Japanese government regulates the inputs used to produce certain manufactured goods.
  2. To ensure a reasonably equitable distribution of national resources, the Japanese government places sharp limitations on the size and investment practices of major economic enterprises.
  3. To obtain scarce resources, the Japanese government creates state-run purchasing organizations that operate throughout East Asia.
  4. To achieve important national economic aims, the Japanese government helps provide enterprises with the resources to undertake major projects without worrying about short-term returns.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
Objective 0014: Understand global and regional patterns of economic self-sufficiency and interdependence.

7. Two adjoining nations will most often become economically interdependent when:

  1. each country specializes in the production of different types of goods.
  2. the labor force of each country is well educated and highly productive.
  3. each country has similar topographical conditions and material resources.
  4. the government of each country is committed to economic diversification.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.

 

Subarea III–United States and Arizona Geography

Objective 0015: Understand major climatic and physical features of Arizona and the United States.

8. An individual driving from Kansas City to Phoenix would pass through which of the following North American ecosystems?

  1. prairie—mountain—desert
  2. steppe—mountain—broadleaf forest
  3. prairie—broadleaf forest—desert
  4. steppe—desert—needle leaf forest
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
Objective 0016: Understand patterns of natural resource distribution within Arizona and the United States.

9. Which of the following statements best describes the resource base of the United States?

  1. The United States possesses major reserves of important raw materials, but the projected costs of extraction are so high that many of these resources are of limited value.
  2. The United States has a broadly diversified resource base, though high depletion rates and uncertain energy prospects could cause problems in the future.
  3. Long-standing disregard for the environmental consequences of economic activity has sharply reduced the U.S. resource base and made the country almost completely dependent on other nations for its raw material needs.
  4. Although the United States has a relatively narrow resource base, the raw materials that it does possess are likely to be extremely valuable in a postindustrial economic world.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 0017: Understand patterns of population growth, distribution, and movement within Arizona and the United States.

10. Which of the following factors strongly influenced the patterns of spatial mobility of African Americans during the first half of the twentieth century in the United States?

  1. the development of transportation facilities linking the Southwest to national markets
  2. the mechanization of agricultural operations throughout much of the South
  3. the changing labor needs of manufacturing industries in northern industrial centers
  4. the growing diversification of economic activity along the Pacific Coast

  1. I and II only
  2. I and IV only
  3. II and III only
  4. III and IV only
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 0019: Understand patterns of land use and development within Arizona and the United States.

11. Which of the following have strongly influenced contemporary land use and development patterns in the southwestern states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas?

  1. ample supplies of coal, iron ore, and other minerals used in manufacturing industries
  2. widespread automobile ownership to minimize transportation problems associated with low-density settlement patterns
  3. easy access to timber resources suitable for use in residential construction
  4. development of ways to make groundwater resources available for crop irrigation and human consumption
  1. I and III only
  2. I and IV only
  3. II and III only
  4. II and IV only
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.

 

Subarea IV–Contemporary Issues and Future Trends

Objective 0021: Understand the relationship of geography to contemporary issues in human-environment interactions.

12. Which of the following contemporary environmental problems poses the greatest threat to the earth's biological diversity?

  1. the pollution of lakes and streams by the acid rain caused by smoke and soot released from the chimneys of factories and power plants in industrial nations
  2. the destruction of tropical rain forests as a consequence of developmental activities in parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America
  3. the inadequacy of the various means used to dispose of the growing accumulation of rubbish and solid wastes in urban areas of the United States and other industrial nations
  4. the spread of desertlike landscapes in arid environments as a consequence of overgrazing and the destruction of vegetation
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.