Practice Test 99 - 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 von Thünen's bid-rent theory explains that each land use has a different maximum rent it can pay at each distance; the land use with the highest bid at a given distance occupies that location. In a region, improved rail service sharply reduces shipping costs from a distant valley to the city. Soon, higher-value vegetable production expands outward into areas previously dominated by grain. According to the von Thünen model, which of the following best explains the agricultural pattern described?
2. One official language in a diverse state may trigger which centrifugal effect?
3. Secondary source excerpt (loss of indigenous culture/language): A national development plan relocates rural communities to new towns near mining sites. In the new settlements, elders report fewer opportunities for land-based ceremonies tied to specific sacred places, and younger residents increasingly adopt national popular culture through smartphones and wage work. Researchers document declining intergenerational transmission of oral histories and ecological knowledge, noting that displacement and state regulation constrain cultural practice. Which effect of cultural diffusion is most directly reflected?
4. A customs union goes beyond a free trade area by requiring members to
5. Secondary source excerpt (about 105 words): In world-city research, New York, London, and Tokyo are frequently cited as top-tier command centers because they host dense clusters of corporate headquarters, major stock exchanges, and specialized producer services that coordinate global capital. These cities shape international investment decisions and set standards in finance and media. Other large cities may be economically important within their countries or regions but lack the same concentration of global decision-making institutions. Which option best applies the excerpt's definition of a top-tier world city?
6. Secondary source excerpt (about 100 words): Linguists group the world's languages into families based on shared origins, and these families show clear spatial clustering shaped by migration and empire. Indo-European languages dominate most of Europe and extend into South Asia, reflecting long-distance diffusion and later colonial expansion. Sino-Tibetan languages are concentrated in China and adjacent uplands, while Niger-Congo languages span much of sub-Saharan Africa with notable internal diversity. Austronesian languages form an island-and-coastal arc from Madagascar through Southeast Asia into the Pacific, evidence of seafaring settlement. Which statement best interprets these global patterns without oversimplifying culture? Which choice best answers the question?
7. Secondary-source excerpt embedded for context (energy consumption, 103 words): Urban energy studies report that cities concentrate electricity demand for buildings, transit, and industry, and peak loads are rising as incomes increase and cooling becomes more common. Because older housing stock and informal settlements often have inefficient appliances or unsafe connections, energy transitions can deepen inequality if upgrades are unaffordable. Researchers argue that reducing urban energy demand requires combining efficiency standards, building retrofits, and transit-oriented land use with grid modernization and pricing that protects low-income households, rather than relying only on new generation capacity. Which option best reflects the excerpt's recommended approach?
8. A secondary-source summary of von Thünen's bid-rent theory notes that a land use's net profit declines with distance because transport costs rise, shifting which activity can pay the highest rent. Suppose a city's new refrigerated rail line reduces transport costs for dairy shipped from 60–120 km away. According to the von Thünen model, which of the following best explains the agricultural pattern described?
9. A school announcement says students may choose to wear clothing reflecting their "cultural background," including traditional garments or symbols. In AP Human Geography terms, which choice best describes why clothing can be considered part of culture?
10. Secondary source excerpt (sequent occupance): Sequent occupance describes how successive cultural groups leave layers on a place's landscape. Older features—such as street patterns, religious buildings, or field boundaries—may persist and be repurposed, while new groups add their own structures and land uses. Reading these layers helps explain how a place's identity and functions have changed through time. Which scenario most clearly demonstrates sequent occupance?
11. A secondary source describes a country where prime irrigated land is increasingly used for export flowers and coffee because they earn foreign exchange. Meanwhile, staple grains are imported, and poor households become vulnerable to global price spikes when import costs rise. The system described most directly results from which of the following?
12. Secondary source excerpt (geographic perspective): Early industrial districts in Britain and later in continental Europe often formed dense clusters around coalfields, ironworks, and canal-linked river valleys. These areas attracted factories because heavy inputs were costly to move overland, while ports and navigable waterways lowered friction of distance for both raw materials and finished goods. The result was a landscape of industrial cores and peripheral rural zones, with production and investment concentrated in a few nodes rather than spread evenly across national territory. Which option best explains the spatial pattern described in the excerpt?
13. Secondary source excerpt (about 90 words): A state legislature redraws congressional districts. Analysts find that one party wins 60% of seats while receiving only 48% of the statewide vote. The new map creates several oddly shaped districts that connect distant neighborhoods by thin corridors, while splitting a large urban minority community among multiple districts. Reformers argue the map violates "communities of interest" and dilutes minority voting power, even though each district meets equal-population rules. Question: Which term most directly describes the strategy used to split the urban minority community?
14. A secondary source on refugee crises notes that most refugees are hosted in neighboring countries because crossing the nearest border is often the fastest way to reach safety. Which statement best describes this spatial pattern?
15. Secondary source excerpt (analyzing landscapes to understand culture): Geographers analyze cultural landscapes to infer cultural values, social organization, and historical processes. The arrangement of housing, the location of services, and the visibility of monuments can reveal inequality, cultural priorities, and who has power to shape public space. Landscapes are therefore evidence of both everyday life and political-economic decision-making. A researcher uses the excerpt's approach when they conclude that a city's landscape reflects power because
16. A secondary-source excerpt from a municipal solid-waste audit explains that a coastal city of 2 million residents sends 65% of its waste to a landfill nearing capacity, while informal waste pickers recover much of the recyclable material without stable income or safety protections. The audit notes that rapid consumption growth and limited source separation increase methane emissions and leachate risks, and that solutions must integrate formal infrastructure with existing informal recycling networks. Which approach most directly addresses the sustainability challenge described?
17. A secondary-source excerpt on Andean potato cultivation describes women as seed selectors and keepers of varietal knowledge, choosing tubers for storage and exchange and deciding which varieties to plant in different microclimates. Men more often handle transport to distant markets. The author argues that women's expertise is central to maintaining agrobiodiversity. Which of the following best describes women's role in the agricultural system described?
18. A scholarly overview of biotechnology adoption observes that genetically engineered crops can reduce certain pesticide applications and stabilize yields, but public debates often hinge on trust in regulatory institutions, corporate control over seed patents, and perceived risks to local crop diversity. The overview notes that benefits and concerns vary by crop, trait, and farming system; for example, smallholders may value yield stability yet worry about seed saving restrictions. These disputes persist even when scientific risk assessments find low direct toxicity. The excerpt best illustrates which of the following challenges to contemporary agriculture?
19. A teacher summarizes Malthusian theory as a long-run tendency for population to expand faster than agricultural production when growth is unchecked. A student claims: "If population doubles every 30 years, food must double every 30 years too, or society will face increasing pressure." Which option best captures the core theory behind the student's claim?
20. Secondary-source excerpt (about 100 words): In the global agricultural system, many foods move through long commodity chains linking farms, processors, shippers, and retailers across multiple countries. A soybean harvest may be financed by foreign banks, processed by a multinational firm, shipped through major ports, and sold under a supermarket's private label. Decisions about seeds, chemicals, grading standards, and contract terms are often set far from the farm, shaping what is grown and how risks and profits are distributed. Which of the following best explains the global agricultural pattern described in the excerpt?

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