Practice Test 84 - 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 explanation of globalization highlights rising trade volumes, containerization, and digital logistics that allow firms to fragment production across multiple countries. Which outcome best demonstrates this increased trade flow and production fragmentation?
2. Millions of Indian professionals work in the United States and maintain frequent contact with relatives in India through video calls, social media, and regular visits. Some invest in businesses in India, sponsor community projects, and organize cultural associations in U.S. cities that coordinate with hometown organizations. Which concept best captures these cross-border social and economic connections?
3. A short academic summary describes post-industrial economies as places where manufacturing employment declines relative to services and knowledge work, often due to automation, offshoring, and rising productivity, while high-skill producer services and innovation clusters expand in major metros. A former steel city now has fewer factory jobs but growing employment in healthcare, universities, and software. Which statement best characterizes this transition?
4. A secondary-source excerpt on water supply describes Bayport's growing demand: "As the metropolitan area expands, groundwater pumping has outpaced recharge, causing land subsidence and saltwater intrusion near the coast. Aging pipes lose significant volumes through leakage, and intermittent service pushes households to store water, raising health risks. New desalination capacity is debated because it is energy-intensive and can increase utility bills. The report emphasizes that scarcity is shaped by infrastructure maintenance, pricing, and unequal access as much as by rainfall variability." Which policy package best aligns with the excerpt's framing of the water-supply challenge?
5. A secondary source focused on food miles and transportation describes apples grown in the Southern Hemisphere shipped to Northern Hemisphere supermarkets during winter. The analysis highlights containerization, cold-chain logistics, and low per-unit shipping costs, while noting hidden costs such as emissions, packaging, and infrastructure expansion. Which of the following best explains the global agricultural pattern described in the excerpt?
6. Secondary source excerpt (about 100 words): In many democracies, internal political boundaries are not just administrative lines; they can shape who wins power. Electoral districts translate votes into seats, so how district lines are drawn affects representation. When mapmakers concentrate opponents into a few districts ("packing") or spread them thinly across many districts ("cracking"), a party can win more seats without winning more votes. Because district boundaries are periodically redrawn after censuses, debates often center on whether redistricting follows neutral criteria (compactness, equal population) or is manipulated for partisan advantage. Which concept best explains the process described in the excerpt?
7. A development guide explains that GNI per capita differs from GDP per capita because it accounts for net income flows across borders. It notes that in some resource-exporting countries, foreign-owned companies repatriate profits, meaning domestic production is high but residents receive less income. In that case, which pattern is most likely?
8. A demographic methods excerpt separates the youth dependency ratio (0–14 per 100 working-age 15–64) from the elderly dependency ratio (65+ per 100 working-age). Country B has 25% ages 0–14, 65% ages 15–64, and 10% ages 65+. Which statement correctly compares the two dependency ratios?
9. A 85-word secondary-source excerpt on distance and distance decay notes that as travel cost rises with distance, people and firms often substitute nearer options unless a strong pull factor offsets the cost. A student chooses between two grocery stores: Store 1 is 1 km away with average prices; Store 2 is 12 km away with slightly lower prices. The student usually shops at Store 1 but goes to Store 2 only once a month for bulk items. Which interpretation best uses distance decay?
10. Secondary source excerpt (city size distributions): "In France, Paris dominates the national urban system, concentrating political power, corporate headquarters, and cultural institutions. In Germany, by contrast, multiple large cities (e.g., Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne) share national functions, producing a more even hierarchy." Which concept best explains the contrast described?
11. Secondary-source excerpt (context): Reverse hierarchical diffusion describes cases where a cultural practice spreads from less powerful or marginal groups upward to elites and major institutions. For example, a grassroots music style developed in low-income neighborhoods gains local popularity, then is adopted by mainstream pop stars, and eventually appears in national advertising campaigns. The direction of diffusion runs from the periphery to high-status cultural gatekeepers. Which option best identifies the diffusion type described?
12. Secondary source excerpt (about 95 words): A court reviews a state's redistricting plan and notes that several districts are noncontiguous, consisting of separate pieces connected only by shared water boundaries. The mapmakers argue they were following municipal borders, but emails reveal an intent to separate college precincts from nearby rural precincts to reduce the impact of student voters. The case illustrates that legal-sounding justifications can mask strategic boundary choices aimed at shaping who is represented. Question: Which redistricting principle is most clearly being violated in the court's critique?
13. A secondary-source critique highlights limitations of the von Thünen model: real regions have multiple markets, varied soils and topography, government policies, and modern transportation networks that distort ring patterns. In a metropolitan area, specialty crops appear in distant pockets near highways, while nearby land is used for low-intensity grazing due to zoning and land prices. According to the von Thünen model, which of the following best explains the agricultural pattern described?
14. Secondary source excerpt (18th–19th c.): Intensified farming increased output but also altered rural environments. More land was brought under cultivation, hedgerows and drainage reshaped habitats, and heavier manure use and livestock concentrations changed local nutrient cycles. The excerpt argues that productivity gains carried environmental trade-offs. Which choice best captures the environmental impacts described?
15. Secondary source excerpt (global economy—special economic zones/export processing zones, 90 words): To attract foreign direct investment, a coastal government designates a fenced industrial district near a deep-water port. Firms inside the zone receive tax holidays, streamlined customs, and relaxed rules for importing components. Most output is exported, and many workers are young migrants from inland provinces living in dormitories. Officials promote the zone as a way to integrate into global markets, but critics argue it can create uneven development by concentrating infrastructure and services in the zone while surrounding rural areas see fewer gains. Which term best fits the industrial district described?
16. Secondary-source excerpt (contemporary patterns vs historical origins—metes and bounds): In a rapidly growing exurban county, new subdivisions are inserted into a patchwork of oddly shaped parcels whose edges follow creeks, stone walls, and century-old tree lines. Planners note that these irregular boundaries complicate infrastructure extension and often preserve unequal landholding patterns rooted in early claims and exclusionary practices. Despite modern GIS mapping, the older cadastral logic persists in deed descriptions and in the jagged outlines of lots visible from the air. Which of the following best explains the settlement pattern described in the excerpt?
17. A secondary source on European family farms in the mid-20th century describes women as heavily involved in dairying, bookkeeping, and seasonal fieldwork, but often categorized as "helpers" rather than farmers in official statistics, affecting eligibility for benefits and recognition. Which of the following best describes women's role in the agricultural system described?
18. A secondary-source account of Caribbean migration explains that Haitians moving to Montreal created Creole-language radio programs, introduced Haitian food businesses, and organized cultural festivals that became annual events in the city. Which type of cultural diffusion is most directly shown?
19. A city planning office compares two datasets about neighborhood change: (1) a 2023 municipal property-tax roll listing parcel values and ownership changes; (2) a 2024 report written by a local university that summarizes those tax records alongside interviews with long-time renters about displacement. Both are used to map gentrification patterns across census tracts. Which statement best distinguishes the data sources described?
20. A retail analyst observes that a specialty bookstore draws many customers from within a 3 km radius but very few from 20 km away, even though the store advertises online citywide. The analyst concludes that the store's influence weakens with increasing distance from the store. Which statement best reflects this concept?

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