Practice Test 27 - AP Human Geography

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

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1. A common currency among regions may become centrifugal rather than centripetal if it
2. A secondary source excerpt describes maritime boundaries, emphasizing that different zones grant different rights. It notes that the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) allows a coastal state to control resource exploration and extraction (such as fishing and offshore energy) out to 200 nautical miles, while full sovereignty is limited closer to shore. Which option correctly identifies the maritime zone described?
3. Secondary source excerpt: Many contemporary decentralization crises can be traced to colonial-era borders and administrative units that grouped diverse peoples into a single state or split cohesive communities across jurisdictions. After independence, these inherited boundaries often became fixed, even when they poorly matched linguistic, religious, or pastoral territories. Disputes over representation, land, and resource control may then emerge along the old colonial lines, prompting demands for new provinces, federal arrangements, or regional autonomy to better align governance with local identities and conflict patterns. Which devolutionary factor is the excerpt primarily describing?
4. A secondary source on economic motivations notes that migrants may relocate to diversify household income through remittances when local employment is unstable. In a mining town, periodic shutdowns make earnings unpredictable; some workers migrate seasonally to a larger city with steadier service-sector jobs and send money home. Which choice best states the economic motivation described?
5. A secondary-source summary of social factors in migration emphasizes chain migration: earlier migrants help later migrants by providing information, housing, and job leads, reducing the perceived risks of moving. In City Z, a neighborhood with many earlier arrivals from Island Q continues to receive new migrants from Island Q who stay with relatives while job hunting. Which choice best explains this pattern?
6. Secondary-source excerpt: A study of smallholder households notes a gender division of labor: men more often plow fields, negotiate sales of cash crops, and attend cooperative meetings, while women plant, weed, harvest, fetch water, and process food crops for home use. This division shapes who receives training and who controls income. Which of the following best describes women's role in the agricultural system described?
7. A summary of the DTM emphasizes its prediction about population growth: the fastest natural increase typically occurs when death rates drop quickly but birth rates remain high, producing a large gap between the two. In which stage does the DTM predict this most rapid population growth will usually occur?
8. Secondary-source excerpt (population policies—regional variation): Comparative research shows that population policies vary widely by region. Some European countries emphasize universal childcare, paid leave, and gender-equality measures to support higher fertility, while other states rely more on cash payments or tax incentives. In parts of Asia, governments have shifted over time from anti-natalist family planning to pro-natalist supports as fertility fell below replacement. These differences reflect distinct welfare systems, labor markets, and cultural expectations. Which option best captures the excerpt's emphasis on regional variation?
9. A scholarly overview of monoculture in export-oriented agriculture describes landscapes dominated by a single genetically uniform crop over large areas. The author argues that such uniformity can simplify mechanization and marketing but may also reduce soil nutrient diversity and increase the likelihood that a specialized pest or pathogen spreads rapidly across contiguous fields. The analysis notes that these vulnerabilities vary with rotation practices, integrated pest management, and the spatial scale of planting, but become more consequential when farms synchronize planting and rely on the same inputs. The excerpt best illustrates which of the following consequences of the practice described?
10. Secondary source excerpt: The DTM suggests that the timing of declines in death rates and birth rates matters for population growth. When death rates fall first (Stage 2), population growth accelerates. When birth rates later fall (Stage 3), growth slows. Stage 4 has low rates for both births and deaths. Some versions add Stage 5, where births fall below deaths and population can decline. Which statement best reflects the DTM's prediction about when a country experiences its highest rate of natural increase?
11. A labor economist's secondary-source overview of gender wage gaps and employment discrimination argues that women may earn less than men due to occupational segregation, unequal access to higher-paying sectors, discrimination in hiring/promotion, and penalties associated with motherhood. The author also notes that legal reforms can help but may be weakly enforced in informal or subcontracted work. Which statement best matches this explanation of women's roles in economic development?
12. A secondary source argues that higher-income countries import large volumes of animal feed, coffee, and tropical fruit, while lower-income countries devote land and labor to producing those exports. Profits and processing tend to be captured by firms and consumers in wealthier markets, even when environmental burdens occur in producing regions. Which of the following best explains the global agricultural pattern described in the excerpt?
13. A secondary source excerpt states that Green Revolution crops contributed to sharp increases in cereal production in parts of Asia and Latin America, reducing the frequency of famine and allowing some countries to become grain self-sufficient. The author adds that production gains were closely tied to expanded irrigation and heavy fertilizer use, rather than to seed improvements alone. Which of the following best explains the Green Revolution pattern described in the excerpt?
14. Secondary-source excerpt (boundary disputes and conflicts, 75–125 words): Boundary conflicts can emerge from unclear legal definitions. Definitional disputes occur when treaties or laws use imprecise terms—such as "the foothills," "the watershed," or "the middle of the river"—that can be interpreted in multiple ways. These disputes are distinct from locational disputes, which involve disagreement about the boundary's surveyed position, and from operational disputes, which concern how the boundary is administered. Definitional disputes often precede later conflicts because ambiguous language can produce competing maps and claims. A colonial-era treaty sets the boundary at "the crest of the mountains," but the range has several ridgelines. What type of dispute is most likely?
15. A city report states: "Neighborhood A is two subway stops from downtown and adjacent to the university district." The report is identifying the neighborhood by referencing other places and connections rather than giving coordinates. Which concept is being used?
16. Secondary-source excerpt (internal city structure): Urban geographers use the Burgess concentric zone model to describe early industrial North American cities as rings expanding outward from a central business district (CBD). The innermost ring is the CBD, surrounded by a zone of transition with older housing and mixed industry; beyond that are working-class residences, then better-quality middle-class homes, and finally a commuter zone at the edge. The model emphasizes how land values and accessibility shape competition for space over time, while acknowledging that real cities may deviate due to topography, planning, and later suburbanization. Which option best identifies the zone most likely to contain warehouses, rooming houses, and recent immigrant housing in this model?
17. A 87-word secondary-source excerpt notes that even in high-income countries, primary-sector activity can persist in specific regions due to resource endowments and path dependence (e.g., commercial fishing coasts, ranching interior basins, timber regions). The author argues that development does not eliminate primary work everywhere; instead, it can become more capital-intensive and regionally concentrated. Which option best aligns with the excerpt?
18. In a metropolitan region, a planner notes that residents are far more likely to visit a grocery store within 2 km than one 10 km away, even when prices are similar. A short survey shows weekly visits drop from 5,200 at the nearest store to 1,100 at a store 8 km away. Which spatial concept best explains this pattern of declining interaction with increasing distance?
19. Secondary source excerpt (about 100 words): In a metropolitan region, suburban voters are distributed across many districts, while central-city voters are concentrated into a small number of districts. Even when the city casts a large share of the region's total votes, it wins relatively few seats because its voters are "wasted" in landslide districts. Researchers describe this as an efficiency gap: the difference between each party's wasted votes. The case shows how internal electoral boundaries can translate geographic clustering into disproportional representation without changing any individual's right to vote. Question: Which boundary-related explanation best fits the excerpt?
20. Secondary-source excerpt (population dynamics): Demographers estimate total fertility rate (TFR) to compare family size across places. In Country D, surveys show that age-specific fertility has shifted later: fewer births among women ages 15–19 and more among ages 30–34, but the summed lifetime births per woman remains about 2.1. Analysts note that replacement-level fertility does not guarantee zero population growth in the short term. Which statement best describes TFR and why Country D might still grow even with TFR near 2.1?

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