1.Off Each Coast of a Continent Lies a Plateau Called A(N)

World Geography Exam Study Guide( Each question worth ½ point for 50 total pts)

1.Off each coast of a continent lies a plateau called a(n)

island. / continental shelf.
isthmus. / trenches.

2.Plates that form the earth’s crust float on liquid rock in the

magma. / mantle.
atmosphere. / tsunami.

3.Weathering is a process that

causes people to move from one place to another.
causes the movement of tectonic plates.
causes earthquakes.
breaks surface rocks into gravel, sand, or soil.

4.The special computer software geographers use to gather different information about the same place is the

meridian.
grid system.
geographic information systems (GIS).
Global Positioning System (GPS).

5.What two characteristics do geographers study about a place?

physical and human / GPS and GIS
latitude and longitude / maps and globes

6.The tilt of the earth and its travel around the sun cause changes in the

seasons. / Tropic of Cancer.
equinoxes. / Tropic of Capricorn.

7.Undersea earthquakes can cause huge waves called

straits. / tsunamis.
peninsulas. / isthmuses.

8.A narrow body of water between two pieces of land is a

peninsula. / river.
strait. / stream.

9.The lowest spots in the earth's crust are called

channels. / mountains.
valleys. / trenches.

10.Deposits of sand and soil at the mouth of a river form a

delta. / trench.
plateau. / swamp.

11.What term means the constant movement of the earth’s water from oceans to air to land and back to oceans?

water cycle / air shadow
groundwater / condensation

12.A region’s climate is determined by movement of air, the movement of water currents, and

latitude. / longitude.
the water cycle. / weather.

13.Broad areas of grassland with few trees are called

rain forests. / savannas.
the Amazon Basin. / canopy.

14.The greatest variety of climates are found in

high latitude regions. / mid-latitude regions.
tropical regions. / dry regions.

15.Subarctic climate, tundra climate, and ice cap climate are in what major climate region?

tropical / dry
mid-latitude / high latitude

16.The climate on the windward side of coastal mountain ranges is

the same as the climate on the leeward side.
cool and dry.
humid and foggy.
hot and dry.

17.The often destructive seasonal winds that bring much-needed rain to South Asia are called

typhoons. / hurricanes.
monsoons. / thunderstorms.

18.The dry area on the leeward side of coastal mountains is called a

monsoon. / tropical climate.
rain shadow. / natural landform.

19.Huge evergreen forests called taiga grow in what region?

subarctic / Arctic Circle
Mediterranean / tropics

20.What term refers to the partly dry grasslands that surround many deserts?

tundra / rain forest
savannas / steppes

21.Economic decisions based on customs or beliefs are found in a

market economy. / traditional economy.
free enterprise system. / socialism.

22.River-valley cultures spread their knowledge and skills by

emigrants. / demography.
cultural diffusion. / urbanization.

23.When chemicals combine with precipitation, the result is

precipitation. / oil spills.
acid rain. / untreated sewage.

24.The process of cutting down forests to get land on which to grow food is

conservation. / erosion.
deforestation. / precipitation.

25.The birthrate and death rate determine a country’s

population density. / population growth.
population distribution. / demography.

26.The government controls decisions about what goods and services will be produced in a

command economy. / market economy.
traditional economy. / free enterprise system.

27.Countries that are working toward industrialization are called

emerging countries. / developing countries.
foreign countries. / service countries.

28.Free trade means taking down barriers so that

goods flow freely among countries. / quotas are enforced.
natural resources are depleted. / natural resources are increased.

29.A tax that is added to the price of imported goods is a

quota. / free trade law.
tariff. / regulation.

30.Crop rotation is used by farmers to avoid using up all the

organic material. / ecosystems.
minerals in the soil. / groundwater.

31.The fertile soil and flat lands of the Midwest help make it the United States’s

Sunbelt. / farm belt.
service industry center. / world trade center.

32.The largest part of the U.S. economy is

farming. / manufacturing.
mining. / service industries.

33.Port cities such as Boston, Philadelphia, and New York make the Northeast a

government center. / car manufacturing center.
mining center. / major shipping center.

34.The oldest mountain range in the United States is the

Sierra Nevada. / Appalachian Mountains.
Coastal Range. / Rocky Mountains.

35.In the U.S. free enterprise system, businesses are privately owned and run

to earn money. / to make social changes.
by the government. / as nonprofit organizations.

36.Much of the western Great Plains has a

tropical climate. / marine west coast climate.
dry steppe climate. / subarctic climate.

37.The Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains separates streams flowing

toward the Pacific Ocean and toward the Mississippi River.
north toward Canada and south toward Mexico.
into the Northern and the Southern Hemispheres.
into the Great Lakes.

38.The area of the United States known as America's "breadbasket" is the

Midwest. / South.
Interior West. / Great Plains.

39.In the Interior West, one of the main economic activities is

ranching. / growing cotton and tobacco.
raising poultry. / fishing.

40.The document that set the form of government still used in the United States today is the

U.S. Constitution. / Emancipation Proclamation.
Senate. / Bill of Rights.

41.Southeastern Canada, the country’s most heavily populated area, has a

humid continental climate. / steppe climate.
high latitude climate. / marine west coast climate.

42.Canada is made up of three territories and

one national government. / two provinces.
sixteen states. / 10 provinces.

43.The soil of the Canadian Shield is poor, but it is rich in

fossil fuels. / wildlife.
mineral resources. / vegetation.

44.In Newfoundland and the Maritime Provinces, manufacturing and mining have largely replaced

service industries. / ranching.
farming. / fishing.

45.The size of Canada’s land area makes it the world’s

second-largest country. / tenth-largest country.
largest country. / third-largest country.

46.The city that is Canada's main Pacific port is

Vancouver. / Winnipeg.
Ottawa. / Montreal.

47.Many in Quebec’s large French-speaking population want the province to

become part of the United States. / join NAFTA.
become an independent country. / become English-speaking.

48.To open the Great Lakes to ocean shipping, Canada and the United States built

the St. Lawrence Seaway. / Hudson Bay.
Lake Ontario. / the St. Lawrence River.

49.Canada's first people were the

British and French. / British and Germans.
Viking explorers. / Native Americans and the Inuit.

50.The Canadian government is based on

a British-style parliamentary democracy.
the free enterprise system.
a dictatorship.
a federal democracy.

51.Mexico’s mountain ranges create three

latitudes. / economic regions.
altitude zones. / population groups.

52.Large farms that raise a single crop for money are known as

colonies. / plantations.
haciendas. / mestizos.

53.Tenochtitlán, the site of present-day Mexico City, was built by the

Maya. / mestizos.
Spanish. / Aztec.

54.The altitude zone in Mexico’s coastal lowlands is the

tierrafría. / tierratemplada.
tierracaliente. / high altitude.

55.The large, flat center of Mexico is the

Plateau of Mexico. / Sierra Madre Occidental.
Sierra Madre Oriental. / Sierra Madre del Sur.

56.The long peninsula along Mexico’s west coast is

California. / Baja California.
Florida. / Popocatépetl.

57.Modern Mexico's government is a

dictatorship. / socialist republic.
federal republic. / Communist state.

58.In the center of Mexico’s cities, you often find large public squares called

town squares. / adobes.
plazas. / haciendas.

59.Many homes in Mexico are made of sun-dried clay bricks called

tortillas. / murals.
fiestas. / adobe.

60.The Mexican national holiday celebrated on September 16 is

Independence Day. / Day of the Dead.
Labor Day. / Cinco de Mayo.

61.The Central American country with the largest population is

Belize. / Panama.
Guatemala. / Honduras.

62.The smaller islands of the southern Caribbean are part of the

Lesser Antilles. / Greater Antilles.
Caribbean Lowlands. / Bahamas.

63.A musical instrument developed in Trinidad is the

steel drum. / mariachi.
bauxite. / calypso.

64.The Central American country with one of the highest standards of living in Latin America is

Guatemala. / Panama.
Costa Rica. / El Salvador.

65.In Haiti the ancestry of more than 90 percent of the population is

Native American. / African.
Asian. / Spanish.

66.The Central Highlands of Central America are actually

high-tech industries. / isthmuses.
a range of volcanic mountains. / coastal plains.

67.What crops are grown on plantations in Central America?

sugarcane, bananas, coffee, and cotton
sugarcane, chicle, and rice
rice and beans
mahogany, balsa, and teak

68.The most important economic activities in the West Indies are

fishing and raising cattle. / light industry and mining.
farming and tourism. / manufacturing and mining.

69.A mineral used to make aluminum and mined in Jamaica is called

quartz. / bauxite.
gold. / silver.

70.The capital and largest city of Puerto Rico is

Kingston. / San Juan.
Havana. / Port-au-Prince.

71.Venezuela is one of South America’s wealthiest countries because it is a leading producer of

bananas. / oil.
coffee. / sisal.

72.The large plains region in Paraguay is the

Andean Highlands. / Asunción.
Río de la Plata. / . / Gran Chaco.

73.Patagonia is located in

Suriname. / Argentina.
Brazil. / French Guiana.

74.Brazil’s culture is largely

Spanish. / Guaraní.
Portuguese. / European.

75.Brazil is one of the world’s leading producers of

cola. / tea.
coffee. / holly.

76.Argentina's chief exports are food products and

oil. / beef.
lumber. / fish.

77.In northwest Argentina, heavy summer rains support great forests in the area called

the Gran Chaco. / the Andes.
the pampas. / the Río de la Plata.

78.Guaraní culture influences the art of

Uruguay. / Paraguay.
gauchos. / Europe.

79.In Uruguay, the gauchos work on

huge ranches. / large farms.
plantations. / open pit mines.

80.Paraguay is divided into two distinct regions by the

Río de la Plata. / Paraguay River.
Orinoco River. / Gran Chaco.

81.The capital city of Chile is

Lima. / Santiago.
Quito. / Buenos Aires.

82.In the late 1400s, Peru was the center of the

Aztec Empire. / Inca Empire.
Maya Empire. / British Empire.

83.What country borders both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean?

Colombia / Peru
Chile / Bolivia

84.Chile is the world’s leading producer of

tin. / copper.
leather. / beef.

85.A group of mountains in western Colombia is called the

cordillera. / campesino.
llanos. / Cartagena.

86.Colombia’s leading cash crop is

coffee. / lumber.
emeralds. / cotton.

87.Ecuador’s name comes from the Spanish word meaning

equal. / Equator.
emerald. / Andes.

88.Peru’s biggest export is

copper. / fish.
emeralds. / bananas.

89.Bolivia’s location in South America makes it

landlocked. / a coastal country.
a buffer country. / a land bridge.

90.What two cities are the capital cities of Bolivia?

Lima and Santiago / La Paz and Sucre
Santiago and Cape Horn / La Paz and Santiago

91.The method of drawing the earth on a flat paper is called:

relief / projection
Mercator / pictograph

92.The shortest distance between two places on the earth is shown by a(n):

longitude / Arctic Circle
line graph / great circle

93.Which of these tells you the distance east or west of the Prime Meridian

longitude / parallels
latitude / great circles

94.Which of the following uses lines to show the elevation of places?

political map / physical map
elevation profile / contour map

95.Which of these is used to summarize and present information visually, on axes?

graph / flow chart
diagram / elevation profile

96.Which of these is a combination of a line graph and a bar graph?

circle graph / climograph
pictograph / flow chart

97.Which word is used to describe how flat, or rugged the land is?

relief / elevation
elevation profile / contour map

98.Northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest are:

cardinal directions / compass rose
parallels / intermediate directions

99.At 23 1/2 degrees north of the Equator, you will find the:

Equator / Arctic Circle
Tropic of Cancer / Tropic of Capricorn

100.Which map projection is used for sea travel because of good direction?

Goode / Robinson
Mercator / Winkel-Tripel