Practice Test 19 - AP Human Geography

20 questions. Answer them in any order, then submit to see your score and every explanation.

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1. Secondary source excerpt (world-systems theory): World-systems theory emphasizes how a global division of labor places core regions in high-profit, decision-making activities (finance, R&D, management) while periphery regions are concentrated in low-profit extraction and labor-intensive production; semi-periphery regions occupy intermediate roles and can shift over time. A company's supply chain shows design in Country M, assembly in Country N, and mineral extraction in Country P. Profits are highest in M and lowest in P. Which classification best matches the theory?
2. Secondary source excerpt (preservation vs change): Cultural landscapes are continually negotiated between preservation and change. Historic districts, sacred sites, and traditional land uses may be protected through laws or community activism, while development pressures can introduce new housing, roads, and tourism infrastructure. Debates often center on whose heritage is preserved, who benefits economically, and what kinds of change are considered acceptable. Which situation best illustrates the preservation-versus-change tension described in the excerpt?
3. Secondary source excerpt (for context): Some nationalist movements seek to create a nation-state by redefining who belongs to the political community. Governments may use citizenship laws, language requirements, and symbolic landscapes (flags, monuments, renamed streets) to promote a dominant national identity. These policies can strengthen state legitimacy for some groups while intensifying minority grievances and separatist pressures. Which choice best links the excerpt to a political process that shapes internal cohesion rather than international borders?
4. A city museum exhibit explains: "People are not born knowing which foods are 'breakfast foods' or how to greet elders; they learn these expectations through family, school, media, and community." Which fundamental idea about culture is the exhibit emphasizing?
5. A secondary source on economic sectors defines the tertiary sector as services (retail, transport, health care), the quaternary sector as knowledge and information work (research, advanced computing, design), and the quinary sector as high-level decision-making and leadership (top government and corporate executives, major NGOs). In a national capital, the largest concentration of cabinet ministries and corporate headquarters is located in one district. Which sector best describes this cluster?
6. Secondary source excerpt (about 85 words): A comparative essay explains that primate cities often emerge where a single metropolis becomes the primary node for national and international flows. The essay contrasts Kenya—where Nairobi concentrates government ministries, corporate services, and in-migration—with the Netherlands, where Amsterdam is important but other cities (Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Eindhoven) share specialized functions and are linked by dense transportation networks. The essay argues that functional specialization across multiple cities can reduce primate dominance even when one city remains symbolically prominent. Which statement best matches the essay's reasoning?
7. Secondary source excerpt: The Demographic Transition Model (DTM) describes population change through five stages based on birth and death rates. In Stage 1, both birth and death rates are high, so total population grows slowly. In Stage 2, death rates fall rapidly due to improved sanitation, nutrition, and medicine while birth rates remain high, producing rapid growth. In Stage 3, birth rates decline as contraception, urbanization, and women's education spread, slowing growth. In Stage 4, both rates are low and population is stable or grows slowly. Some versions add Stage 5, where births drop below deaths, causing natural decrease. Which statement best summarizes the model's stage characteristics?
8. A secondary source describes a region where small towns host weekly produce auctions and cold-storage facilities. Farmers growing strawberries and leafy greens concentrate within a short drive of these towns, while areas farther away specialize in grains shipped by rail to distant processors. The author argues the towns function as market nodes that organize surrounding agricultural specialization. Which of the following best explains the spatial pattern of agriculture described in the excerpt?
9. A secondary source explains that internally displaced persons (IDPs) may face severe needs similar to refugees but often receive different legal protections because they have not crossed an international boundary. Which statement best captures this distinction?
10. Secondary-source excerpt (context): Cultural geographers describe relocation diffusion as the spread of a cultural trait when people physically move and carry their practices with them. For example, when Syrian refugees resettled in Berlin, some opened restaurants and community centers that introduced Levantine cuisine and Arabic-language cultural events to neighborhoods that previously had few such institutions. The key mechanism is migration: the cultural trait travels because its practitioners travel. Which option best identifies the diffusion type described in the excerpt?
11. A secondary-source excerpt on central place theory emphasizes that it is an idealized model used to generalize patterns of city spacing and service provision. The author cautions that applying the model requires attention to context and that perfect hierarchies rarely appear in practice. Which statement best reflects an appropriate use of the model when studying real city systems?
12. Secondary source excerpt (about 105 words): After a central government collapses, newly empowered regional leaders may claim sovereignty over territories that previously had autonomy within a larger state. Because administrative boundaries already exist, they can become the basis for international borders, even if populations are mixed. External recognition, control of military assets, and disputes over resource-rich areas influence which successor states consolidate power. The overall result is a multiplication of states and a reorganization of political space without overseas colonial rule being the primary driver. Which process is most directly described?
13. Secondary source excerpt (embedded): In maritime regions, boundaries such as Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) clarify who can fish, drill, or build wind farms within a designated distance from the coast. These lines do not necessarily stop ships from passing through, but they determine which state can license resource extraction and enforce environmental rules. Disagreements over EEZ boundaries often center on access to valuable offshore resources. Which option best describes the boundary function highlighted in the excerpt?
14. Secondary source excerpt (sequent occupance): Many places show sequent occupance—layers of cultural influence left by successive groups. Older street grids, place names, and religious buildings may persist even after new populations introduce different land uses and symbols. In a port city, students observe a colonial-era fort, later immigrant neighborhoods, and recent high-rise finance districts. Which concept best explains this layered landscape?
15. An agricultural economics review documents that consolidation in meatpacking and grain trading has increased buyer concentration in many regions. The review suggests that farmers facing few purchasers may accept contract terms that shift production risks onto producers, including strict quality specifications and costly facility upgrades. While consolidation can lower consumer prices through scale efficiencies, it can also reduce local processing options and weaken rural multiplier effects, contributing to the decline of independent family farms. The excerpt best illustrates which of the following challenges to contemporary agriculture?
16. An urban studies excerpt warns against conflating models: Burgess emphasizes distance-based rings; Hoyt emphasizes transportation-based wedges; Harris–Ullman emphasizes multiple specialized nodes. Which statement incorrectly conflates models by mixing their central ideas?
17. In a 110-word reading, students learn that culture is transmitted through socialization: children learn language, customs, and rules by observing and participating in daily life. The reading contrasts this with biological traits, which are inherited genetically. Which classroom example best illustrates cultural transmission (not biological inheritance)?
18. A textbook excerpt explains that a formal (uniform) region is defined by a measurable characteristic shared across space, such as a threshold of annual rainfall or a dominant language. A geographer maps counties where at least 60% of residents speak Spanish at home and labels the resulting area "Spanish-language counties." Which statement best applies the regional concept described in the excerpt?
19. An urban researcher overlays a city's floodplain map with parcel-level housing data and a layer showing locations of critical facilities (hospitals, shelters). GIS makes it possible to identify which facilities are within high-risk zones and to prioritize mitigation. Yet the analysis can be distorted if the floodplain layer is outdated or if parcel data omit informal housing. Which limitation of GIS-based urban analysis is most clearly illustrated here?
20. A transportation economist compares two counties with the same population (200,000). County A is compact and dense; County B is sprawling and low-density. The report finds County B requires more kilometers of roads, water pipes, and power lines per household to reach residents. Which consequence of population distribution does this illustrate?

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