Practice Test 71 - 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 excerpt on xenophobia explains that during an economic downturn, some political groups in a destination country blame immigrants for unemployment and crime, leading to discriminatory policies and occasional hate crimes. The excerpt also notes that fear of hostility can cause immigrants to cluster in ethnic enclaves and reduce interaction with host-society institutions. Which choice best identifies an effect of xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment in destination areas?
2. A secondary-source synthesis on religion notes that Christianity is widespread in the Americas and Europe, with significant presence in Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Oceania, reflecting both early diffusion from the Eastern Mediterranean and later European colonialism and missionization. It emphasizes that practice varies widely and that minority religions persist within predominantly Christian states. Which statement best explains this spatial pattern without oversimplifying it?
3. A secondary-source excerpt on brain drain/brain gain describes nurses trained in Ghana migrating to the United Kingdom for higher wages and better working conditions. The excerpt notes that Ghana may face staffing gaps in hospitals, while the UK gains trained health workers without paying the full cost of their education. Which choice best captures brain drain and brain gain effects in this case?
4. Secondary-source excerpt (embedded): In many agrarian regions, women provide substantial labor in planting, weeding, harvesting, and processing crops, while also managing water and fuel collection and caring for children and elders. Because much of this work is unpaid or performed on family plots, it may not appear in GDP or formal employment statistics. Development interventions that distribute land titles, extension services, or inputs primarily to men can therefore reduce women's productivity and bargaining power, even when overall agricultural output rises. Which option best captures the excerpt's key point about women in agriculture and economic measurement?
5. Secondary-source excerpt: Demographers describe total fertility rate (TFR) as the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime, given current age-specific fertility rates. A policy brief on the country of Norvia reports that TFR declined from 4.6 in 1995 to 2.1 in 2025, alongside increased female education and access to contraception. The brief emphasizes that TFR is not the same as crude birth rate (CBR). Which statement correctly interprets Norvia's 2025 TFR of 2.1?
6. Secondary source excerpt: City governments increasingly compete to attract mobile investment by promoting business-friendly regulations, flagship redevelopment projects, and global branding. Bidding for corporate headquarters, hosting mega-events, and expanding airports or convention centers are common strategies. Critics argue that such competition can prioritize elite-oriented projects and redirect public resources away from basic services, especially when benefits are unevenly distributed. Which policy action best exemplifies the interurban competition described in the excerpt?
7. A tariff, unlike an import quota, directly
8. Secondary source excerpt (assimilation): A century after migration to a metropolitan region, researchers find that descendants of an immigrant group overwhelmingly use the dominant language at home, intermarry at high rates, and rarely participate in heritage institutions. Traditional dress and religious practices are uncommon, and self-identification increasingly matches the national majority category. The study argues that economic mobility and schooling accelerated the shift, leading to minimal retention of the ancestral culture. Which effect of cultural diffusion is most evident?
9. Secondary source excerpt (Latin America/Mesoamerica hearth, 97 words): In Mesoamerica, domestication of maize, beans, and squash emerged through sustained experimentation with wild progenitors in varied elevations, from tropical lowlands to highland valleys. Researchers note that early maize was initially a minor dietary component and only later became central as processing methods (e.g., nixtamalization) and storage improved. Diffusion northward and southward followed trade and kin networks, yet adoption was uneven: some groups maintained mobile foraging alongside small plots, while others intensified cultivation where soils and seasonal moisture supported it. Which of the following best explains the spatial pattern of agricultural origins described in the excerpt?
10. In a midlatitude prairie region, farms are highly mechanized and cultivate wheat across extensive fields, often specializing in a single crop for export. Producers rely on combines, grain elevators, and rail or barge corridors to reach distant ports, while financial tools such as futures contracts and crop insurance reduce risk. Rural depopulation and farm consolidation have increased average farm size, and input suppliers provide standardized seed and chemicals. Yield is influenced by weather, but profitability depends on global commodity prices and logistics. The agricultural pattern described is most characteristic of which of the following regions?
11. Secondary source excerpt (embedded): Economic inequality across regions can function as a centrifugal force when wealth and investment concentrate in a core region while peripheral areas experience unemployment and poor infrastructure. Political movements in disadvantaged regions may argue that the central government extracts resources without fair redistribution, increasing demands for fiscal autonomy or even independence. Which situation best illustrates the excerpt's claim about economic inequality as a centrifugal force?
12. Secondary source excerpt (embedded): Scholars of the global city emphasize the clustering of producer services—finance, specialized law, accounting, advertising, and management consulting—in select urban cores. These firms sell expertise that helps multinational corporations operate across borders, navigate regulations, and manage risk. As a result, the city's global role is reinforced even when manufacturing is located elsewhere, because high-level coordination and deal-making remain concentrated in these service hubs. Question: Which scenario best illustrates the process described in the excerpt?
13. Secondary source excerpt (about 90 words): Cultural geographers link globalization to increased cosmopolitanism in certain cities. International migration, tourism, and transnational media introduce new languages, cuisines, and religious practices, reshaping urban public space. Ethnic neighborhoods, global festivals, and multilingual service economies can emerge, making some cities symbolic "meeting places" of the world. However, cosmopolitanism is uneven: it is often most visible in central districts and commercial corridors tied to global consumption. Which statement best matches the excerpt's focus?
14. A secondary-source article contrasts folk culture and popular culture: folk culture tends to be more spatially clustered and tied to place-based traditions, while popular culture spreads rapidly through mass media, corporate distribution, and digital networks, often producing similar landscapes across distant places. Which option best matches this distinction in spatial distribution?
15. A secondary source argues that the Green Revolution increased food production by raising cereal yields per hectare and allowing some regions to harvest multiple crops per year. The author notes that these gains reduced the likelihood of famine in several countries even as populations grew, but emphasizes that the biggest output increases occurred in irrigated, high-potential zones. Which of the following best explains the Green Revolution pattern described in the excerpt?
16. A regional mall tracks customer visits from three suburbs. In a 95-word secondary-source description of distance and distance decay, analysts note that interaction between places typically decreases as distance (or travel time/cost) increases, even when the mall offers the same stores and prices to everyone. Last month, Suburb A (5 km away) generated 4,200 visits, Suburb B (18 km) generated 1,600 visits, and Suburb C (42 km) generated 300 visits. Which spatial concept best explains the sharp drop in visits with increasing distance?
17. A linguist notes that English became widely used in Nigeria during British colonial rule in administration and schooling. After independence, English remained the main language of federal government and higher education because it served as a neutral medium among many ethnolinguistic groups, even as local languages persisted in daily life. Which concept best explains English's continued role?
18. A reading on political geography argues that when a state's borders include multiple nations, strong centrifugal forces can emerge if one region believes it could govern itself more effectively than the central state. The excerpt notes that these pressures often appear as secession referendums, regional party dominance, or parallel institutions. Which option best identifies a likely consequence of strong centrifugal forces in such a multinational state?
19. Secondary source excerpt: Scholars of globalization note that global cities are linked through networks of flows—air routes, fiber-optic cables, financial transactions, and professional travel. These connections create a functional hierarchy in which some cities exchange information and capital more intensely with one another than with nearby regions. As a result, a city's global importance is often measured by the density of its connections rather than by its local hinterland. Which option best applies the excerpt's idea of global city networks?
20. Secondary-source excerpt (Neolithic transition, Fertile Crescent region): Zooarchaeological data indicate that early herd management reduced hunting pressure on certain wild ungulates, while plant remains show increasing reliance on stored cereals. Yet settlement patterns reveal continued seasonal mobility and broad-spectrum foraging in many communities, suggesting that cultivation was one option among several rather than a uniform endpoint. Over generations, some groups intensified farming as storage, land tenure, and community labor became more feasible, while others maintained flexible strategies in marginal environments. The transition therefore appears uneven and contingent, not a single rapid shift. Which of the following best explains the spatial pattern of agricultural origins described in the excerpt?

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