Unit 1: Thinking Geographically

The flow lines on the map most likely represent the movement of

• tourists.

• refugees.

• guest workers.

• illegal drugs.

• petroleum.

A formal culture region differs from other regions in that it

• has a focal point or node.

• is one that people believe exists.

• has a selected feature or internal uniformity.

• does not contain gradations such as core, domain, and sphere.

• applies only to linguistic and religious regions.

A student who lives in Minneapolis chooses to spend her spring break in Florida rather than in Jamaica because Florida is closer and the plane fare is cheaper. This type of decision-making best illustrates the concept of

• intervening opportunities.

• human capital.

• time-space compression.

• the rank-size rule.

• central place theory.

According to the theory of environmental determinism, which of the following areas would have the most productive settlements?

• Tropical regions

• Temperate regions

• Mountainous regions

• Arctic regions

• Arid regions

Based on the population pyramid above, which of the following will pose the greatest demographic challenge to China beginning in 2029?

• Providing for the needs of an aging population.

• Finding enough teachers to educate the youth.

• Limiting out-migration of the 60-64 year old age cohort.

• Providing prenatal medical care.

• Controlling population growth.

Every map projection has some degree of distortion because...

• Earth is not a perfect sphere.

• parallels and meridians never cross at right angles on a globe.

• the grid system is two-dimensional, while the real world is three-dimensional.

• a curved surface cannot be represented on a flat surface without distortion.

• latitude lines are shorter than meridian lines.

In descriptions of interaction between people and the environment, the term “environmental determinism” implies that...

• humans, by their actions and technologies, alter their physical environment to suit their needs.

• the physical environment exclusively shapes humans and their actions.

• determination of environmental limitations is a primary task of geographers.

• capitalist economies do not contribute to the global environmental degradation.

• there exists no interacting relationship between people and their surrounding physical environment.

Latitude and longitude may be used to determine which of the following characteristics of a place?

• Its site features

• Its relative location

• Its absolute location

• Its situation

• Its elevation

The "why of where" refers to

• geography's emphasis on landscape features.

• spatial patterns on the landscape.

• a definition of geography that is simply locational.

• the idea that the explanation of a spatial pattern is crucial,

• the depiction of a region's physical features.

The above map shows von Thünen’s model applied to a map of the contiguous United States. Which of the following realities would NOT be accounted for by the theoretical predictions shown on the map?

• Wyoming is a major cattle-ranching area.

• Oregon has established a Forest Resources Institute.

• New Jersey's nickname is the Garden State.

• Florida's government has a Department of Citrus.

• The first cheese factory in the United States was near Rome, New York.