Practice Test 24 - AP Human Geography

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

Start practice test

1. Secondary source excerpt (about 100 words): In many countries, people cluster in a few favorable zones—coastal plains, river valleys, and temperate metropolitan corridors—while mountains, deserts, and interiors remain sparsely settled. This uneven distribution concentrates jobs, schools, and hospitals where population is already dense, reinforcing migration toward those hubs. Meanwhile, peripheral regions often experience slower investment, fewer specialized services, and longer travel times to markets. Over time, the national economy can become spatially polarized: core regions accumulate infrastructure and political attention, while outlying areas face depopulation, aging populations, and reduced tax bases. Which consequence is most directly described in the excerpt?
2. A UNESCO-style summary notes that a small Indigenous language is losing speakers as younger people shift to a national language used in schooling, jobs, and digital media. The excerpt adds that without intergenerational transmission, the language may become endangered and eventually extinct, even if some cultural traditions continue. Which option best identifies the key diffusion-related concept?
3. A development studies review notes that in many low- and middle-income countries, women are overrepresented in the informal economy—street vending, home-based piecework, and domestic services—because these jobs offer flexible hours but often lack contracts, legal protections, childcare support, or access to benefits. The author argues that informality can provide income and entry into markets, yet it also increases vulnerability to harassment, income volatility, and exclusion from credit and social insurance. Which statement best reflects the author's argument about women's informal work and economic development?
4. Secondary source excerpt (about 90 words): In 1990, two states that had been divided after a major twentieth-century war negotiated a rapid political merger. The process involved currency conversion, the extension of one state's legal system over the other, and international agreements addressing security concerns of neighboring powers. The unified state retained existing alliance ties and became the sole internationally recognized government over the combined territory. Which political process best explains this map change?
5. A planning journal excerpt describes sprawl as low-density, automobile-oriented expansion with separated land uses, while compact development concentrates growth in denser areas and often supports transit and walkability. Which observation most strongly indicates a region is experiencing sprawl rather than compact development?
6. Secondary-source excerpt (advantages/disadvantages of different systems): Federal systems can increase regional representation and allow policy experimentation, but they may produce uneven services and jurisdictional conflict. Unitary systems can standardize laws and simplify coordination, but they may overlook local needs or concentrate power too strongly at the center. No system guarantees outcomes; effects depend on institutions, political culture, and how powers are implemented. Which option identifies a commonly cited trade-off of federal systems mentioned in the excerpt?
7. A planning report notes that minimum parking requirements and large minimum lot-size rules can encourage lower-density development by consuming land and limiting how many housing units can be built per acre. Which policy would most likely increase urban residential density in already-developed areas?
8. A 100-word secondary-source excerpt explains comparative advantage: even if one country can produce everything more efficiently, two countries can both gain from trade when each specializes in the good with the lower opportunity cost. In a simplified example, Country M can produce either 10 tons of wheat or 5 cars per month; Country N can produce either 6 tons of wheat or 4 cars per month. Which specialization best reflects comparative advantage?
9. A secondary source notes that reference maps answer "Where is it?" while thematic maps answer "What is the spatial pattern of this variable?" A student compares two maps of the same city: Map 1 shows streets, rail lines, and rivers; Map 2 shows the percent of commuters using public transit by neighborhood. Which pairing is correct?
10. A secondary source describes a government that bans regional political parties, restricts minority-language media, and uses security forces to suppress protests. The author notes that the state may appear unified in the short term, but these methods can create grievances and deepen identity-based opposition. Which consequence of strong centripetal forces is being emphasized?​
11. A secondary-source article on export-crop expansion explains that as households shift land from subsistence crops to commercial production (e.g., coffee or horticulture), men often gain control over sales income and contracts. Women may still provide much of the labor (weeding, harvesting, sorting) while also maintaining food crops on smaller plots, increasing their time burdens. Which of the following best describes women's role in the agricultural system described?
12. A police department proposes using a GIS-based "predictive policing" map built from past incident locations to allocate patrols. Civil rights advocates argue the historical data reflect over-policing in certain neighborhoods, which could create a feedback loop if used uncritically. Which choice best identifies a key limitation and ethical risk in using geographic data for decisions?
13. Secondary source excerpt (about 100 words): Political boundaries can intensify or reduce conflict by allocating territory in ways that place strategic infrastructure under one state's control. When a boundary assigns a mountain pass, river crossing, or pipeline corridor to a particular government, that state gains leverage over transit fees, security, and regional connectivity. Boundary commissions and treaties attempt to clarify these allocations, but competing historical claims may persist. Even without changing the boundary line, new roads, dams, or energy projects can raise the stakes by increasing the value of the territory being governed. Which option best matches the function emphasized?
14. A secondary source excerpt describes how access to freshwater (rivers, lakes, aquifers) is a key factor in population distribution because it supports drinking water, irrigation, industry, and transportation. The excerpt notes that arid regions can still support large populations when water is imported or managed, but such solutions are costly and unevenly available. Which statement best reflects the excerpt's reasoning?
15. A secondary-source note (about 90 words) says that culture includes "the stories people tell, the rules they follow, and the objects they make," and it stresses that these are learned through interaction. It also cautions that assuming a group has one unchanging culture can hide internal diversity. Which statement best avoids that mistaken assumption while still using the concept of culture correctly?
16. A secondary source on shifting cultivation notes that women often decide when to plant mixed crops and manage intercropping patterns that reduce risk, while men more often clear forest and burn fields. The author emphasizes that women's knowledge of soils and crop mixtures is critical to sustaining yields over time. Which of the following best describes women's role in the agricultural system described?
17. In the 1990s–2020s, thousands of nurses and physicians left the Philippines to work in the United Kingdom and Gulf States, where wages were higher and hospitals actively recruited foreign staff. Philippine medical schools continued to graduate new cohorts, but some rural clinics reported persistent shortages of experienced specialists. Which concept best describes the combined effect of this migration on the origin and destination countries?
18. A secondary-source excerpt on globalization argues that transnational corporations (TNCs) coordinate production networks across borders, shaping where jobs and investment go. Which example best illustrates TNC-driven global production networks?
19. A scholarly review of organic farming contrasts reduced reliance on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides with greater dependence on crop rotations, composts, and biological pest control. The author notes that these practices can lower some forms of chemical contamination and support on-farm biodiversity, yet yields may be lower or more variable in certain crops and climates, potentially requiring more land to meet the same output. The review emphasizes that outcomes differ by management skill, local pest pressure, and market access, rather than following a single trajectory. The excerpt best illustrates which of the following consequences of the practice described?
20. A 2024 secondary-source excerpt on globalization argues that even in an era of high connectivity, political boundaries remain central to controlling movement. The author notes that digital systems (advance passenger information, watchlists, and electronic travel authorizations) can approve or deny entry before departure, while trusted-traveler programs speed up low-risk mobility. The excerpt emphasizes that borders increasingly operate through data-driven sorting of flows rather than only through visible fences. Which choice best captures the boundary function described?

Practice tests