AP Human Geography

Firms try to locate their production facilities to

• maximize spatial accessibility

• maximize visibility and minimize transportation

• maximize agglomeration

• minimize costs and maximize profits

• minimize competition

Answer explanation

Firms try to locate their production and distribution facilities in ways that maximize their profit through cutting down on transportation costs

In the field of high-tech services, the primary advantage that India enjoys over other nations is

• its population of nearly one billion

• its tradition of hosting many diverse religions

• its traditional caste system

• its inability to manufacture textiles and other goods

• its English language heritage owing to its colonial past

Answer explanation

India was first an economic partner of English trading firms such as the British East India company, and then gradually became a political possession of the British government. The educated portion of the nation all still speak English, giving them a leg up in landing lucrative international contracts with tech firms such as Dell and Microsoft.

One common characteristic of FTZs (free-trade zones) is that they are

• responsible for a marked increase in theft

• organized around seaports, airports, and national frontiers

• found primarily in developed countries

• a new innovation in world trade

• subject to the same laws regarding immigration

Answer explanation

Free-trade zones are geographic areas where goods may be received, sent, manufactured, or reconfigured, usually under customs regulation and - most importantly - without having to pay any customs duty.

The least-cost theory, which tries to explain the location of manufacturing establishments, takes into account which of the following three factors?

• Labor, transportation, agglomeration

• Labor, agglomeration, climate

• Agglomeration, climate, investment

• Investment, transportation, labor

• Transportation, climate, supply chain

Answer explanation

The least cost theory was created by Alfred Weber in his 1909 book, The Theory of Inustrial Location. In it, he postulates that manufacturing sites are best determined by looking at the site's available transportation, labor, and agglomeration.

Silicon Valley is an example of a technopole because it

• Takes its name from the material used to make microchips

• demonstrates the concept of agglomeration economies

• is a center for developing new ideas that generate growth

• has attracted new universities to locate there

• reuses brownfield sites that were once industrial factories

Answer explanation

A technopole is a hub for information-based industry and high-tech manufacturing. The proximity of companies allows for benefits such as the sharing of certain services and attracting highly skilled workers to the area. Often, these technopoles are located near universities well known for their computer, mathematics, engineering, science, and entreprenerial business programs.

Which is most responsible for deindustrialization in highly developed countries?

• Easy capital financing available in developing countries.

• Low wages in developing countries

• Labor shortages in developed countries

• The lack of strong unions in developed countries

• The shortage of raw materials in developed countries

Answer explanation

Manufacturers in developed countries will often outsource work or move manufacturing to less developed countries because of the low labor costs. The impact on those developed countries is a move to the tertiary sector with a decrease in industrial jobs or deindustrialization.

The main benefit for countries that host export processing zones (EPZs) is that these zones

• create thousands of relatively high-paying jobs for their citizens

• increase availability of manufactured products for their citizens

• attract thousands of foreign workers, which results in millions of extra dollars in tax revenue

• increase opportunities for the citizens to work for American companies and to learn English

• provide an efficient way to increase imports from the United States

Answer explanation

While critics of EPZs believe that corportations are taking advantage of the workers by paying them less than workers in their own countries, proponents argue that the wages are reasonable for the region. They also argue that many of the workers are women which give them an advantage to earn income where previously there was none.

What often happens to an industrial site after many factories close?

• In older industrial areas, it often becomes a brownfield site.

• In EPZs, it is almost always reclaimed as a recreational site.

• In the Great Lakes region, it usually attracts new industry.

• In the South and West of the United States, it usually remains vacant.

• In most periphery countries, it often becomes an office park.

Answer explanation

A brownfield is a property that is potentially contaminated by hazardous substances , pollutants, or contaminants . Brownfields are often abandoned or underused industrial or commercial properties that may pose a risk to human health and the environment.

Which accurately explains a difference between the HDI composite index and GDP as measures of development?

• HDI is always reported as a per capita measure but GDP rarely is.

• HDI includes life expectancy and educational variables, while GDP focuses on only economic development.

• HDI does not include indicators of health, but GDP does.

• HDI is used mofe for analyzing less developed countries, while GDP is used mostly for more developed countries.

• HDI shows Latin Americas is more developed than Europe, while GDP shows the opposite.

Which of the following best explains a benefit of membership in the European Union?

• Member states are eligible to receive loans from the European Union, which protects states against recession.

  
  

• Member states receive equal numbers of international migrants, which ensures even distribution of resources.

  
  

• Member states receive annual payments from the European Union, which boosts gross national income.

  
  

• Member states have more secure borders, which guards against conflict.

  
  

• Member states form a single market, which creates a powerful economic bloc.

  
  

Answer explanation

The European single market allows for free trade within the European Union and enables member states to negotiate international trade agreements as a bloc. This gives member states more economic power than they would likely have independently.