Practice Test 68 - 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 secondary-source disaster-risk summary (75–125 words) describes a city with combined sewer systems where heavy rainfall overwhelms pipes, causing sewage overflows into rivers and occasional basement flooding. The summary notes that climate change is increasing the frequency of intense storms, and that neighborhoods with less political influence have seen slower upgrades such as green infrastructure and sewer separation. Which choice best connects utilities infrastructure to unequal urban risk? A. Sewer overflows are solely caused by household water use and not by system design or investment. B. Climate-driven storm intensity interacting with aging sewer systems can create uneven risks when upgrades are distributed unequally. C. Because floods affect water, all parts of the city experience the same frequency and severity of impacts. D. Combined sewers are found only in newly built planned capitals, not in older cities. E. The key solution is improving wastewater chemistry, not changing capacity or stormwater management.
2. A secondary-source excerpt explains that borders are not just lines on a map; they are institutions that can be "thick" (multiple layers of checks and documentation) or "thin" (minimal friction). The excerpt adds that a border can become thicker during disease outbreaks or security crises. Which inference best follows from the excerpt?
3. Secondary source excerpt (state fragmentation and dissolution, 1990s): As the Cold War ended, the Yugoslav federation unraveled when republic governments asserted sovereignty and organized referendums amid economic crisis and competing nationalist projects. International recognition of breakaway republics, along with armed conflict and ethnic cleansing, hardened new borders and produced successor states such as Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and later North Macedonia and Serbia. The resulting political map was not an inevitable outcome of "ancient hatreds," but a contingent product of institutional collapse, elite strategies, and external diplomatic decisions. Which political process best explains the map changes described in the excerpt?
4. A secondary-source excerpt describes the von Thünen model's concentric rings: in an isolated state, the most perishable and transport-costly goods locate closest to the market, with less perishable and lower-value land uses farther out. A region has one dominant market town, and farmers near town specialize in milk and vegetables, while grain and ranching occur farther away. According to the von Thünen model, which of the following best explains the agricultural pattern described?
5. A secondary source describes a state where a wealthy coastal region dominates trade and investment while interior provinces face high unemployment and poor infrastructure. The author argues that resentment over uneven development fuels protests and demands for greater regional control of tax revenue, sometimes escalating into separatist politics. Which factor is functioning as a centrifugal force in this scenario?
6. A labor economist's secondary source observes that when women in Metro F gained access to higher-paying formal jobs, many postponed childbearing to invest in careers, contributing to lower completed family size. However, the author notes that in nearby informal settlements, women's work remained precarious and fertility decline was slower. Which statement best aligns with this analysis of women's economic opportunities and demographic change?
7. A geography excerpt applies Malthusian reasoning to policy by stating that societies can reduce the risk of subsistence crises through "preventive checks," such as later marriage, contraception, and investments in women's education that lower fertility. Which choice best identifies the type of check described in the excerpt?
8. A study guide describes von Thünen's bid-rent idea for agriculture: land users compete for locations, and the amount they can pay declines with distance because transport costs reduce net profit. According to the von Thünen model, which of the following best explains why intensive market gardening can outbid grain farming for land near the market?
9. Secondary-source excerpt (18th–19th c.): Improved tools and breeding raised output, but historians stress that these changes depended on institutions (property rights, leases), capital, and access to expanding urban markets. In places where these conditions were weaker, adoption lagged and older systems persisted longer. Which factor best explains why the Second Agricultural Revolution advanced faster in some areas than others?
10. A planning memo explains that a city's "urban growth rate" changed after the national statistics office updated its definition of urban from settlements of 2,000+ people to 5,000+ people. The memo notes that the change affects trend comparisons over time even if the population did not move. Which conclusion best follows?
11. A secondary source excerpt describes multi-scalar analysis: geographers often explain a phenomenon by linking processes across local, regional, national, and global scales. A coastal city's rising rent is tied to neighborhood rezoning, a state-level tourism boom, national mortgage rates, and global investment in real estate. Which research plan best reflects multi-scalar analysis?
12. A planning brief summarizing recent research notes that compact development clusters housing, jobs, and services near frequent transit, using mixed-use zoning, reduced parking minimums, and pedestrian-oriented street design. The brief cautions that simply adding density is not sufficient; successful transit-oriented development (TOD) depends on reliable service, safe last-mile connections, and policies that prevent displacement as land values rise near stations. Based on this description, which policy package best aligns with a TOD approach that addresses both mobility and equity?
13. Secondary source excerpt (analyzing landscapes to understand culture, 75–125 words): Geographers analyze cultural landscapes as evidence of how people organize life and express meaning. The placement of homes, the size of lots, the presence of fences, and the location of public buildings can reveal ideas about privacy, family structure, and social hierarchy. Commercial signage and language use can indicate migration patterns and cultural diffusion. Because landscapes are shaped by rules and resources, they can also reveal inequality—for example, which neighborhoods receive parks, transit access, or environmental protection. Landscape analysis therefore links everyday visible features to deeper cultural and political processes. A student wants to use landscape analysis to infer cultural values. Which observation would be most useful?
14. Secondary source excerpt (sequent occupance): Sequent occupance highlights how later cultural groups reuse and reinterpret earlier landscape features—sometimes preserving them, sometimes repurposing them to project new identities. In a city, a former industrial warehouse district becomes an arts neighborhood, with old brick factories converted into galleries and lofts. Which explanation best matches the excerpt?
15. Secondary source excerpt (about 95 words): Major world religions exhibit broad spatial patterns shaped by diffusion, state power, and historical trade routes. Christianity is dominant in much of Europe, the Americas, and parts of sub-Saharan Africa, reflecting centuries of missionary activity and colonial-era settlement. Islam forms a wide belt from North Africa through Southwest and Central Asia into parts of South and Southeast Asia, reinforced by early caliphates and long-distance commerce across deserts and seas. Hinduism remains concentrated in South Asia, where it developed with deep historical roots. These distributions overlap in cities and borderlands. Question: Which statement best captures the spatial pattern described for Islam in the excerpt?
16. Secondary source excerpt (elements): Geographers identify cultural landscapes by interpreting features such as architecture, land-use patterns, transportation infrastructure, and sacred or commemorative sites. Together, these elements reveal how a community organizes daily life and assigns meaning to space. A teacher asks students to choose the best set of observations to document a town's cultural landscape. Which option best matches the excerpt?
17. A 90–120 word secondary-source note on limitations and biases in geographic data explains that "data gaps" may occur when certain populations are less likely to be counted or when sensors fail, and that analysts should document uncertainty rather than silently filling missing values. A public health team maps asthma rates but has no clinic data for two rural ZIP codes and replaces them with the county average. What is the best critique?
18. A secondary-source account of rice cultivation in a river-delta region describes a consistent pattern: men plow and prepare paddies using draft animals and handle irrigation gate repairs, while women transplant seedlings, weed, harvest, and perform most threshing and drying. Community members explain the arrangement as "custom," but also note it shifts when male out-migration increases. Which of the following best describes women's role in the agricultural system described?
19. In an AP Human Geography class, students compare a city street map used for navigation with a map that shades counties by unemployment rate. The teacher reminds them that maps are simplified representations that reflect choices about what to include. Which statement best distinguishes a reference map from a thematic map in this scenario?
20. A short secondary-source paragraph (about 85 words) states that culture includes shared values and norms that guide behavior, such as expectations about politeness, family roles, and acceptable clothing. It also includes artifacts—tangible objects people produce—like religious buildings, tools, and artworks. Which choice is the best example of an artifact as the term is used in the paragraph?

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