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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What technological development revolutionized cartography?
(a) The invention of the airplane.
(b) The invention of the printing press.
(c) The invention of the compass.
(d) The invention of the ruler.

2. What did Gilbert Grosvenor , the grandson of the National Geographic Society's 1950 president, do to improve geographic literacy in the United States?
(a) He raised money for geography education and testified in Congress.
(b) He traveled the country giving seminars in public schools.
(c) He founded a map publishing company.
(d) He began writing books about geography for children.

3. Why is a compass rose more useful in the United States than in Europe?
(a) American cities were laid out with the compass rose in mind.
(b) European countries use the metric system.
(c) The United States is oriented north to south.
(d) Europeans do not learn how to use a compass rose in school.

4. What does a geostationary satellite do?
(a) It produces maps of changing weather conditions.
(b) It sends data to GPS devices in cars.
(c) It can discern features of tiny objects on Earth's surface.
(d) It remains stationary over a particular point on Earth's surface.

5. About what percentage of American students have studied geography in school?
(a) Less than 30 percent.
(b) Less than 10 percent.
(c) Less than 50 percent.
(d) Less than five percent.

6. What does de Blij mean when he refers to a mental map?
(a) He means that the brain changes structurally as a result of studying cartography.
(b) He means the map of the brain that is being developed by neuroscientists.
(c) He means the brain's ability to visualize maps mentally when no map is available.
(d) He means the map of each person's individual universe: one's neighborhood, school, and community.

7. When were the boundaries of nation-states in Africa drawn?
(a) When Europe colonized Africa.
(b) When African countries became independent.
(c) When developed countries began sending foreign aid to Africa.
(d) When World War II ended.

8. How did Earth's Moon form?
(a) An asteroid orbiting the Sun came too close to Earth.
(b) A large section of Earth split off to become the Moon.
(c) A passing comet began orbiting Earth.
(d) A planet-sized object collided with the newly formed Earth.

9. How long ago did the glaciers from the last Ice Age begin to recede?
(a) The glaciers began to recede 100 years ago.
(b) The glaciers began to recede 18,000 years ago.
(c) The glaciers began to recede 10 million years ago.
(d) The glaciers began to recede 2 billion years ago.

10. What kind of location must be given in degrees, minutes, and seconds of longitude and latitude?
(a) Prime meridian location.
(b) Relative location.
(c) USGS location.
(d) Absolute location.

11. How wide is each coastal country's territorial sea?
(a) Each territorial sea is five miles wide.
(b) Each territorial sea is 12 miles wide.
(c) Each territorial sea is 188 miles wide.
(d) Each territorial sea is 50 miles wide.

12. Where would you expect to find the highest infant mortality rates?
(a) In Sweden.
(b) In the United States.
(c) In Japan.
(d) In Angola.

13. Which of the following countries was never colonized by Europe?
(a) South Africa.
(b) Kenya.
(c) Ethiopia.
(d) Egypt.

14. What does de Blij say that the Snowball Earth theory explains?
(a) It explains how Earth's oceans formed.
(b) It explains Earth's first deep freeze.
(c) It explains why glaciers form during Ice Ages.
(d) It explains the extinction of the dinosaurs.

15. What do geographers mean when they use the abbreviation "B.P."?
(a) Before the Pleistocene.
(b) Before the Present.
(c) Before the Postglacial Optimum.
(d) Before the Past Era.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does de Blij feel that Americans have an obligation to be well informed?

2. Which of the following revolutions occurred during the time period in which the nation-state was becoming popular?

3. What caused the second Agricultural Revolution?

4. What country has a "one child only" policy for families?

5. What continent will decline in population by 2050, according to the United Nations?

(see the answer keys)

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