Practice Test 48 - 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 class discussion highlights that some high-income countries still have regions where commercial fishing, forestry, or agriculture remain major employers, often due to climate, soils, coastal access, or longstanding cultural practices. Which statement best captures this idea about economic sectors?
2. Secondary source excerpt (critiques of modernization theory): Critics argue modernization models often assume a universal, Western path to development, downplay colonial histories, and treat poverty as mainly internal (tradition, low savings) rather than shaped by unequal global power. In a debate, one student says, "If poorer countries adopt the same institutions and consumer culture as wealthy countries, they will develop; colonial extraction is mostly irrelevant today." Which response best reflects a major critique of modernization theory?
3. A methods chapter on urban data warns that "big data" from mobile phones and social media often overrepresents wealthier, younger, and more connected residents. It notes that using these datasets alone can misidentify where demand for transit or clinics is greatest. Which choice best states the limitation described?
4. A cultural geographer explains that Hinduism remains heavily concentrated in South Asia because it is closely tied to specific sacred landscapes, pilgrimage networks, and community traditions. The excerpt notes that Hindu communities abroad often maintain practices within diaspora neighborhoods rather than actively seeking converts. Which option best matches the diffusion pattern described?
5. A university recruited professors from France to teach in a Middle Eastern city. After relocating, some faculty opened French bakeries, organized French film nights, and helped start a French-language immersion school. Which type of diffusion is most evident?
6. A secondary source on gender wage gaps highlights that women may be overrepresented in part-time or informal jobs due to caregiving expectations and limited access to childcare. The author argues that these constraints can reduce lifetime earnings and contribute to persistent income inequality even when hourly wages appear similar. Which claim best aligns with this reasoning?
7. Secondary-source excerpt (population dynamics—focus on RNI vs PGR): Analysts distinguish between natural change and total population change. In Country I, the crude birth rate is 11 per 1,000 and the crude death rate is 9 per 1,000, but net out-migration is 6 per 1,000 in the same year. Which statement correctly compares the country's RNI and PGR?
8. Secondary source excerpt (geographic perspective): Industrialization transformed environments through intensified coal burning, expanded mining, and the concentration of factories along rivers used for power and waste disposal. Urban air pollution and contaminated waterways became common in industrial cores, while deforestation and land subsidence appeared near extraction zones. These changes were spatially uneven: industrial districts bore the heaviest local burdens even as distant regions benefited from manufactured goods. Which option best matches the excerpt's geographic interpretation of environmental change?
9. A teacher explains: "Culture shapes how people interpret the world, but it is not the same thing as a country's economy or political system—though those can influence cultural practices." Which statement best reflects this definition of culture without conflating concepts?
10. Secondary source excerpt (embedded): Under international refugee law, asylum is a form of protection granted by a state to individuals who meet the refugee definition and cannot safely return home. The principle of non-refoulement generally prohibits returning a person to a territory where they face serious threats such as persecution or torture. Which policy action most directly aligns with the principle of non-refoulement?
11. Secondary source excerpt: In the DTM, Stage 2 has high birth rates and rapidly declining death rates, creating rapid natural increase. Stage 3 begins when birth rates fall, reducing the rate of natural increase. Stage 4 has low birth and low death rates, resulting in slow growth or stability. Some versions include Stage 5, where births fall below deaths, producing natural decrease. A country has a crude birth rate of 12 per 1,000 and a crude death rate of 9 per 1,000, with slow population growth. Which DTM stage best fits these rates?
12. Secondary source excerpt (embedded): Some scholars highlight globalization's uneven impact on non-global cities. When corporate functions and producer services concentrate in a few top-tier hubs, smaller industrial cities may lose headquarters, experience out-migration of educated workers, and become more dependent on lower-wage logistics or routine back-office work. Yet these cities remain connected to globalization through supply chains, remittances, and regional specialization rather than global command functions. Question: Which interpretation best aligns with the excerpt?
13. A secondary source on cash crops versus food crops in developing countries describes a country expanding sugarcane and palm oil for export after new roads and port facilities are built. As land shifts to plantations, local staple production declines and the country imports more rice, exposing consumers to global price swings. The system described most directly results from which of the following?
14. A secondary-source excerpt explains that the informal economy (unregistered jobs and cash-based transactions) can be large in many low- and middle-income countries. Because informal work is often not counted in official statistics, GDP per capita may underestimate actual livelihoods, while tax revenue and labor protections may also be limited. Which inference is most consistent with the excerpt?
15. Secondary source excerpt (about 90 words): A state constitution requires districts to be compact, but the term is not precisely defined. One proposal measures compactness using geometric formulas, while another prioritizes keeping neighborhoods intact even if shapes become less regular. Advocates argue that compactness reduces opportunities for strategic boundary manipulation, though opponents note that geographic features and settlement patterns can also produce irregular districts. The debate demonstrates that internal electoral boundary criteria are contested and can shape political power. Question: Why do compactness rules matter in the context described?
16. A secondary-source report on remittances describes how many migrants from the Philippines working in Gulf States send a portion of their wages home each month. The report notes that these transfers can raise household income for families in the origin country, while also creating dependency and sometimes increasing local price levels in remittance-receiving communities. Which statement best summarizes the effects of remittances on both origin and destination areas?
17. A 2010 earthquake led thousands of Haitians to migrate to South Florida. In neighborhoods where Haitian migrants settled, new Creole-language churches opened, Haitian restaurants appeared, and konpa music became common at local festivals. This scenario best illustrates which type of cultural diffusion?
18. A scholar observes: "As farms consolidated and adopted labor-saving methods, many smallholders and landless laborers lost traditional access to land and seasonal work. Some migrated to cities or emigrated, while others became wage laborers on larger farms." Which option best identifies the key process described in this excerpt about the Second Agricultural Revolution?
19. Secondary source excerpt (self-sufficiency vs international trade models): A self-sufficiency approach prioritizes domestic production, protective tariffs, and reduced dependence on imports, while an international trade approach emphasizes export-oriented growth, foreign direct investment, and integration into global markets. A government considers two plans: Plan 1 raises tariffs on imported food and subsidizes local farmers; Plan 2 creates export-processing zones and reduces tariffs to attract multinational manufacturers. Which pairing correctly matches the plan to the model?
20. Secondary source excerpt (geographic perspective): Industrial diffusion followed networks rather than borders. Regions with capital, skilled labor, and access to coal or imported fuel adopted mechanized production sooner, while other areas remained primarily agrarian. Even within industrializing countries, development was uneven: rail-connected corridors and port regions tended to modernize faster than interior areas with weak infrastructure, reinforcing regional inequality. Which statement best summarizes the diffusion pattern described in the excerpt?

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