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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does de Blij feel that American students need to study geography?
(a) To protect national security.
(b) To better understand plate tectonics.
(c) To receive a well-rounded education.
(d) To better understand history.

2. How did Dr. John Snow use maps to save lives in London during the 19th century?
(a) He used them to plot the locations of attacks during a crime wave.
(b) He used them to teach firefighters to find their way around London.
(c) He used them to decide where to put streetlights.
(d) He used them to plot new cases of cholera.

3. What caused the Younger Dryas?
(a) The Little Ice Age.
(b) A volcanic eruption.
(c) Ice sheets sliding into the oceans.
(d) The Mongol invasions.

4. What approach to foreign affairs is fostered by the decision not to teach geography in public schools?
(a) An international outlook.
(b) Paternalism toward developing countries.
(c) Isolationism and parochialism.
(d) Callous disregard for the welfare of other societies.

5. How long have people been making maps?
(a) At least 1,000 years.
(b) At least 100 years.
(c) At least 5,000 years.
(d) At least 500 years.

6. As the world's population increases, where does de Blij say the increase in population will go to live?
(a) To developed countries.
(b) To urban areas.
(c) To undeveloped countries.
(d) To more temperate regions.

7. What cultural group eventually introduced the bubonic plague to Europe?
(a) African slaves being sold in European markets.
(b) Indonesians fleeing volcanic eruptions.
(c) European merchants traveling to China.
(d) Mongol caravans traveling west.

8. What historical event may have given rise to the stories in many cultures of a Great Flood?
(a) The Medieval Optimum.
(b) The flooding of the Black Sea area.
(c) Seismic waves after the eruption of Thira.
(d) The Postglacial Optimum.

9. How far south did North American glaciers reach during the last Ice Age?
(a) As far south as the Equator.
(b) As far south as the Ohio River.
(c) As far south as the Gulf of Mexico.
(d) As far south as the Great Lakes.

10. Why has the United States been so slow to convert maps to the metric system?
(a) The metric system is not as efficient for mapmaking as the English system of measurement.
(b) Geographers prefer not to use the metric system in maps until it is used for other things too.
(c) The Ordinance of 1785 required land to be laid out in township squares measured in feet.
(d) U.S. geographers are not accustomed to the metric system and prefer not to use it.

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

12. When did China first begin to feel the impact of the Little Ice Age?
(a) During the Ming Dynasty.
(b) During the Han Empire.
(c) During the fall of the Roman Empire.
(d) During the Mongol Dynasty.

13. Why does de Blij say that it is problematic for urban areas to continue to expand?
(a) Because urban areas have higher crime rates.
(b) Because urban landscapes change local geography.
(c) Because urban populations get their food from rural areas.
(d) Because urban areas have high infant mortality rates.

14. How do scientists measure the movement of North America each year?
(a) In inches.
(b) In yards.
(c) In feet.
(d) In miles.

15. Which of the following maps has the smallest scale?
(a) A map of a city block.
(b) A map of a city.
(c) A map of the United States.
(d) A map of the world.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the following countries was never colonized by Europe?

2. Why does de Blij feel that Americans should care about worldwide population growth?

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

4. Which of the following statements is the best description of Earth's geologic history?

5. What other world does geography traditionally deal with, in addition to the human world?

(see the answer keys)

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