Unit 1 Test Questions for Midterm

Toponyms in southern California reflect which of the following?

• Importance of time-space convergence

• Significance of locational theory

• Role of popular culture in American society

• Cultural heritage of the settlers

• Growing influence of globalization

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

• The physical environment exclusively shapes humans and their actions

• Humans by their actions and technologies alter the physical environment to suit their needs

• Determination of environmental limitations is a primary task of geographers

• Capitalist economies do not contribute to global environmental degradation

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

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

Every map projection has some degree of distortion because

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

• Parallels and meridians never cross at right angles on a globe

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

• Earth is not a perfect sphere

• Latitude lines are shorter than meridian lines

The absolute location of a place can be determined by use of

• Situation description

• Latitude and Longitude

• Mental Maps

• Distance Decay

• Possibilism

Which of the following scales is represented in the map shown above?

• State or province, showing the counties or parishes

• Regional, showing the states or provinces in one part of a country

• Block, showing the property lines and names of owners

• Local, showing the towns and township areas in a county

• Neighborhood, showing the block along street boundaries

The images show a topographic map and a geographic information systems (GIS) representation of Mount Shasta in California. Which of the following statements best explains why these printed images are geometrically distorted representations of Earth’s surface?

• Some maps do not show the actual coloration of Earth’s surface and vegetation

• GIS can only display two-dimensional layers

• The planet’s gravitational poles are not located at the poles of Earth’s axis.

• The three dimensions of Earth’s surface are displayed on a two-dimensional page.

• Printed maps alter the sense of place that people can have about a location.

Which of the following is a characteristics of the Mercator projection?

• The size and shape of countries in the higher latitudes are greatly exaggerated.

• The size of all countries is accurate, but the shape is distorted.

• Countries near the Equator appear 50 percent larger than countries in the middle latitudes.

• The projections is designed to maintain undistorted outlines of landmasses.

• Distances on the Mercator projection are real and accurate.

Which of the following statements about the Robinson projection is correct?

• It is more useful for long-distance navigation than the Mercator projection.

• It is better for making topographical maps than the Mercator projection.

• It is more accurate than the Mercator projection in showing the sizes of countries in higher latitudes.

• It is more useful for showing the distribution of human populations than the Mercator projection.

• It is better for estimating territorial waters in lower latitudes than the Mercator projection.

Why would a town planner use a map at the 1:24,000 scale rather than a map at the 1:250,000 scale?

• The map at the 1:24,000 scale shows a much larger area.

• The map at the 1:24,000 scale is easily converted to non-metric measurements.

• The map at the 1:24,000 shows the town close-up in more detail.

• The map at the 1:250,000 scale shows the town in too much detail.

• The map at the 1:250,000 scale shows too small of an area to see the whole town.