GEO 101
Introduction to Geography
Test Study Guides
  1. As geographers use the term, scale tells us

    2. a. the weight of a given commodity
    b. the intrinsic character of the object or the area studied
    c. the relationship between earth distance and map distance
    d. the length of a degree of longitude along different parallels
  2. The location of Chicago at 41 49’ N latitude and 87 37’ W longitude is an example of

    3. a. intensive location
    b. absolute location
    c. relative location
    d. remote location
  3. The location of a factory with good access to routes of transportation is an example of

    4. a. absolute location
    b. remote location
    c. relative location
    d. conformal location
  4. Which one of the following best identifies the cultural landscape?

    5. a. the natural resources of the earth
    b. the natural landscape as modified by human occupance
    c. the landscape as modified by recent catastrophic events such as hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes
    d. the sum total of all events that modify the earth’s surface
  5. Every map projection has some degree of distortion because

    6. a. a curved surface cannot be represented on a flat surface without distortion
    b. parallels and meridians never cross at right angles on a globe
    c. the grid system is two-dimensional but the earth is three-dimensional
    d. a sphere is a developable surface
  6. All of the following are key reference points in the grid system EXCEPT the

    7. a. North and South Poles
    b. polar circumference
    c. equator
    d. prime meridian
  7. Which one of the following correctly lists the four main properties of maps?

    8. a. area, distance, latitude, longitude
    b. equivalence, shape, latitude, longitude
    c. conformality, equivalence, direction, symbols
    d. distance, area, direction, shape
  8. Which of the following is the largest scale?

    9. a. 1:8,000
    b. 1:24,000
    c. 1:50,000
    d. 1:63,360
  9. A map scale of 1:25,000 means that

    10. a. one inch on the map represents 25,000 feet on the earth
    b. one inch on the map represents 25,000 inches on the earth
    c. one foot on the map represents 25,000 inches on the earth
    d. one foot on the map represents 25,000 miles on the earth
  10. A map drawn in which of the following scales would show the most detail?

    11. a. 1:500,000
    b. 1:250,000
    c. 1:63,360
    d. 1:24,000
  11. The federal agency that makes most of the topographic maps in the United States is the

    12. a. USCGS
    b. USGS
    c. NASA
    d. Census Bureau
  12. What is the representative fraction scale of a map in which one inch represents one quarter of a mile on the ground?

    13. a. 1:21,120
    b. 1:15,840
    c. 1:10,560
    d. 1:2,640
  13. An intrusive igneous rock is formed from

    14. a. lava that cools rapidly on the earth’s surface
    b. magma that cools slowly on the earth’s surface
    c. lava that cools rapidly beneath the earth’s surface
    d. magma that cools slowly beneath the earth’s surface
  14. The breaking up of rock by freezing and thawing is the result of

    15. a. chemical weathering
    b. gravity transfer
    c. erosion
    d. mechanical weathering
  15. Which of the following is NOT one of the three classes of rock?

    16. a. tectonic
    b. metamorphic
    c. sedimentary
    d. igneous
  16. Which of the following groups contains processes caused only by mechanical weathering?

    17. a. frost action, root action, development of salt crystals
    b. hydrolysis, oxidation, carbonation
    c. frost action, carbonation, root action
    d. development of salt crystals, oxidation, carbonation
  17. The intensity and duration of radiation that various places on the earth receive from the sun mainly depend on

    18. a. weather conditions
    b. the angle at which the sun’s rays strike the earth
    c. earth rotation
    d. the earth surface material
  18. The earth’s axis is tilted about _______ away from the perpendicular.

    19. a. 67.5
    b. 45
    c. 7.5
    d. 23.5
  19. The type of precipitation that is associated with hills and mountains is called

    20. a. convectional
    b. orographic
    c. frontal
    d. cyclonic
  20. Characteristic vegetation of the steppe climate is

    21. a. tundra
    b. deciduous forest
    c. coniferous forest
    d. grasses
  21. The name given to the zone to the north of the forested subarctic region is

    22. a. humid continental climate
    b. the tundra
    c. the savanna
    d. the steppe
  22. Precipitation is least reliable in

    23. a. steppes
    b. deserts
    c. rain forests
    d. savannas
  23. The term insolation refers to

    24. a. the rate of pressure change
    b. solar energy received by the earth
    c. distribution of temperature over land and water
    d. evaporation from both water surfaces and plants
  24. The specific place of an organism in an ecosystem is called its

    25. a. biome
    b. environment
    c. niche
    d. trophic level
  25. Which of the following does NOT place growing demands on water supplies?

    26. a. hydrologic cycle
    b. urbanization
    c. industrialization
    d. agriculture
  26. The most common method of disposing of municipal solid waste in the United States is

    27. a. by incineration
    b. in open dumps
    c. by recycling
    d. in sanitary landfills
  27. In the food chain, the only organisms that produce their own food are

    28. a. carnivores
    b. herbivores
    c. bacteria
    d. plants
  28. The hydrologic cycle involves

    29. a. evaporation, condensation, and precipitation
    b. decimation, concentration, and precipitation
    c. transpiration, vaporization, and decimation
    d. vaporization, perturbation, and declination
  29. The chief factor contributing to acid rain is

    30. a. burning fossil fuels
    b. use of nuclear energy
    c. cloud seeding
    d. ozone emissions
  30. What gas in the stratosphere prevents dangerous intensities of ultraviolet radiation from reaching the earth’s surface?

    31. a. ozone
    b. hydrogen
    c. argon
    d. nitrogen
  31. Which one of the following occurrences is most typical after the clearing of a tropical rain forest?

    32. a. high crop yields are maintained for many decades
    b. biotic diversity is increased
    c. soils soon lose their fertility
    d. the natural environment is permanently improved
  32. Carrying capacity is

    33. a. the maximum biomass an environment will produce
    b. a function of distance decay
    c. the maximum number of people that can be supported by resources and technology available
    d. a reflection of cultural subduction
  33. The systematic study of human population is

    34. a. ecology
    b. ekistics
    c. geography
    d. demography
  34. The first stage of the demographic transition is marked by

    35. a. high birth rates, and high but fluctuating death rates
    b. high birth rates, and low and stable death rates
    c. declining birth rates, and continuing high death rates
    d. high birth rates, and declining death rates
  35. The Malthusian Theory is based on which of the following assumptions?

    36. a. as urbanization occurs, the rate of population growth decreases
    b. population tends to increase more rapidly than do the food supplies to support that population
    c. growth in productive capacity generally exceeds population increases
    d. food production increases geometrically, while population grows arithmetically
  36. Some 90% of the world’s population resides on less than _____ % of its land area.

    37. a. 10
    b. 20
    c. 30
    d. 40
  37. Which of the following does NOT describe a characteristic of world population distribution?

    38. a. people congregate in lowland areas
    b. people congregate along continental margins
    c. the majority of the world’s population resides in developing countries of the Southern Hemisphere
    d. the majority of the world’s population is rural
  38. Which of the following characteristics of a national population is NOT evident from its population pyramid?

    39. a. age structure
    b. sex structure
    c. dependency ratio
    d. infant mortality rate
  39. The smallest distinctive item of culture is called a

    40. a. culture norm
    b. culture complex
    c. culture trait
    d. culture phoneme
  40. Change within culture groups is induced by

    41. a. creativity and cultural spontaneity
    b. diffusion and diffraction
    c. innovation and implementation
    d. diffusion and innovation
  41. The world’s oldest major religion is

    42. a. Buddhism
    b. Shintoism
    c. Judaism
    d. Hinduism
  42. Which of the following religions has remained dominant in its area of origin?

    43. a. Christianity
    b. Islam
    c. Buddhism
    d. Nihilism
  43. Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity have been called "universalizing" religions because each

    44. a. is widely distributed with many adherents on all continents
    b. proclaims the divine origin of the universe
    c. claims universal applicability and seeks converts
    d. promises a universally accessible afterlife for all humanity
  44. Which one of the following items is an example of a cultural trait?

    45. a. race
    b. head shape
    c. technology
    d. climate
  45. The spread of culture traits from one area to other areas is called

    46. a. diffusion
    b. innovation
    c. civilization
    d. modernization
  46. Most of the people in the Middle East speak

    47. a. Hindi
    b. Arabic
    c. Turkish
    d. Yakut
  47. Which one of the following languages belongs to the same language subfamily with English?

    48. a. German
    b. Spanish
    c. French
    d. Russian
  48. A religion that teaches that a person’s status in this life is determined by his/her existence in previous lives is

    49. a. Shintoism
    b. Islam
    c. Confucianism
    d. Hinduism
  49. Monotheistic religions include

    50. a. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
    b. Buddhism, Shintoism, and Hinduism
    c. Taoism, Confucianism, and Secularism
    d. Shamanism, Animism, and Sikhism
  50. An individual’s activity space is primarily affected by

    51. a. age, mobility and opportunity
    b. income, sex and ethnicity
    c. politics, religion and nationality
    d. health, education and employment
  51. When the effort involved in travel exceeds the willingness to travel, the principle in operation is

    52. a. distance decay
    b. activity space
    c. critical distance
    d. territoriality
  52. Among the reasons for migrating, push factors

    53. a. draw migrants to specific locations
    b. reflect assessments of action space attraction
    c. affect international migration but not domestic relocation
    d. encourage relocation away from original residence areas
  53. Distance decay implies that

    54. a. long distances erode hierarchical diffusion
    b. short distances erode hierarchical diffusion
    c. short-distance contacts are more likely than long-distance contacts
    d. long-distance contacts are more likely than short-distance contacts
  54. The value that an individual places on each known, potential migration site is called

    55. a. return migration
    b. channelized migration
    c. place utility
    d. spatial search
  55. Areas that dominate a locale’s in- and out-migration patterns constitute the

    56. a. place utility of an area
    b. spatial search required
    c. channelized pattern of flow
    d. migration field
  56. Determination of the critical distance can be affected by

    57. a. health, education and welfare
    b. innovation, diffusion and acculturation
    c. cost, effort and time
    d. innovation decay
  57. The area in which people move about and carry on their daily activities is known as

    58. a. territoriality
    b. activity space
    c. cognition
    d. the area of critical mobility
  58. The Rio Grande, which forms part of the boundary between Mexico and the United States, is an example of

    59. a. an artificial boundary
    b. a water divide
    c. a relict boundary
    d. a natural boundary
  59. An identification with the state and an acceptance of national goals is called

    60. a. regionalism
    b. nationalism
    c. iconography
    d. ethnocentrism
  60. Countries such as Poland and Uraguay, which are almost round in shape, are described as

    61. a. attenuated
    b. enclaved
    c. buffered
    d. compact
  61. The original nucleus of a state that contains the capital city and the area of densest population is called the

    62. a. domain
    b. primary area
    c. core area
    d. tributary area
  62. Intensive subsistence agriculture is characterized by

    63. a. equal emphasis upon crops and animals
    b. farms that specialize in producing a single crop
    c. high first-year yields, followed by production declines and land abandonment
    d. high yields per unit of cultivated land
  63. The Green Revolution

    64. a. refers to rebellions of Third World peasant farmers
    b. increases output through the use of high-yielding crop varieties and altered management practices
    c. has initiated a reverse flow of population from urban slums to newly productive farmlands
    d. has made traditional peasant agricultural practices more secure and scientific
  64. The totality of physical facilities and public services existing at a place are known as that locale’s

    65. a. service framework
    b. operational medium
    c. infrastructure
    d. support base
  65. Which of the following is NOT a primary activity?

    66. a. agriculture
    b. forestry
    c. mining
    d. education
  66. The category of agriculture that involves "burned clearings" and rotation of fields, instead of crops, is called

    67. a. perestroika
    b. swidden
    c. nomadism
    d. commune farming
  67. Which one of the following types of farming is classified as extensive commercial?

    68. a. livestock-grain farming
    b. livestock ranching
    c. dairying
    d. truck farming
  68. What are the three most important considerations determining the optimal location of a manufacturing plant, according to Weberian analysis?

    69. a. land costs, taxation, cost of living
    b. financial inducements, construction costs, capital intensity
    c. transportation costs, labor costs, agglomeration economies
    d. raw material costs, energy costs, industrial water supply
  69. In free market economies, the location of industry is primarily determined by

    70. a. transportation costs
    b. profit-maximizing considerations
    c. governmental goals
    d. market locations
  70. A maquiladora is a Mexican

    71. a. industrial crop
    b. border industry
    c. coastal industry
    d. ubiquitous industry
  71. Renewable resources are materials that

    72. a. have a renewal cycle of hundreds of years
    b. can be both used and restored or replenished after use
    c. can satisfy future as well as present demands
    d. are accessible, highly concentrated, and close to markets
  72. Nonrenewable resources

    73. a. are scarce
    b. may become renewable resources as a result of technological advances
    c. exist only in finite amounts
    d. are price controlled
  73. The Industrial Revolution was characterized by the

    74. a. shift from renewable energy to fossil fuels
    b. invention of the internal combustion engine
    c. use of electricity to power trains and streetcars
    d. efficient use of metallic minerals for the first time in human history
  74. Which of the following is an example of a nonrenewable resource?

    75. a. iron ore
    b. forests
    c. water power
    d. fish
  75. Electricity generated from heat energy beneath the earth’s surface is called

    76. a. hydroelectric power
    b. geothermal power
    c. tidal power
    d. biomass power
  76. The selective breeding of fish in freshwater bodies or coastal bays is called

    77. a. horticulture
    b. sericulture
    c. monoculture
    d. aquaculture
  77. Threshold refers to

    78. a. the number of people in a central place
    b. the minimum number of consumers necessary for the supply of a product or service
    c. the number of people in a hinterland region
    d. the population of a central place
  78. Social areas of large, complex American cities show residential segregation based upon

    79. a. social status, income status, and ethnicity
    b. income status, family status, and ethnicity
    c. socioethnic status, income status, and family status
    d. social status, family status, and ethnicity
  79. The rank-size rules tells us that the second largest urban area in a region will be _______ the size of the largest urban area.

    80. a. one-quarter
    b. one-half
    c. one-eighth
    d. twice
  80. The movement of middle-class people to deteriorated portions of the inner city is called

    81. a. displacement
    b. exurbanization
    c. gentrification
    d. homelessness
  81. Megalopolis is the term used to describe

    82. a. a huge metropolitan area such as New York
    b. a coalescence of several metropolitan areas
    c. a new city mainly of suburban character, such as Los Angeles
    d. an ancient city of Greece having many of the characteristics of present-day cities
  82. A city has a total of 100,000 workers, with 50,000 engaged in nonbasic activities. What is the basic/nonbasic ratio?

    83. a. 1 : 1
    b. 1 : 2
    c. 2 : 1
    d. 1 : 1.5
  83. The three most dominant world cities are

    84. a. New York, Paris, Shanghai
    b. Tokyo, London, Singapore
    c. London, Tokyo, New York
    d. Los Angeles, Tokyo, Berlin
  84. Regions have in common all of the following characteristics EXCEPT

    85. a. relative location
    b. derived location
    c. spatial extent
    d. boundaries
  85. Formal regions are

    86. a. legally defined
    b. areas of essential physical or cultural uniformity
    c. bounded by distinct landscape changes or features
    d. named to reflect their relative or absolute locations
  86. Functional regions are

    87. a. dynamic and organizational
    b. static and structural
    c. marked by political boundaries
    d. have internal uniformity but no defined boundaries
  87. The ecosystem approach to regional geography is an example of

    88. a. controlled empirical analysis
    b. dichotomous structural analysis
    c. spatial systems analysis
    d. area congregate analysis
  88. All of the following features are common to all regions EXCEPT

    89. a. location
    b. spatial extent
    c. symmetry
    d. boundaries
  89. Functional regions

    90. a. have no boundaries
    b. are multifactor formal regions
    c. display uniformity of characteristics
    d. are defined by interactions
  90. Formal regions are

    91. a. usually expressed in the form of urban regions
    b. areas of basically physical or cultural uniformity
    c. always legally defined
    d. are seldom used by geographers