North America - Middle America - South America

QUIZ 2

NORTH AMERICA - MIDDLE AMERICA - SOUTH AMERICA

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NORTH AMERICA QUESTIONS

1. The terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” refer to all Spanish-speaking people from what region or regions of the world?

a)Latin America

b)Spain

c)Latin America and Spain

d)Southwestern U.S.

1. What name is given to the entire mountainous mass in western North America, including the Rocky Mountains?

a)Canadian Shield

b)Tehuantepec Zone

c)The Great Glacial Highlands

d)North American Cordillera

1. Which of the following is LEAST influential in determining the wide range of climate types found on the North American continent?

a)The vast latitudinal extent of the continent, which stretches from close to the arctic circle to within 25 degrees of the equator.

b)Physical disturbances, such as volcanoes and earthquakes.

c)The continent’s various landforms exert an influence on the movement and direction of air masses.

d)Different parts of the continent have access to differing amounts of moisture, depending on the proximity to large bodies of water, the movement of air, and the lay of the land.

1. The colonial economies in what region of North America depended largely on cotton and tobacco?

a)Mid-Atlantic

b)New England

c)Great Lakes

d)Southern

1. Which of the following is an accurate description of the area of North America known as the Economic Core in the late nineteenth century?

a)Most other areas of North America depended on its factories for a wide array of manufactured goods, ranging from locomotives to hand tools.

b)In recent decades, due to strong protective tariffs against foreign imports, the area has continued to prosper as a leading manufacturing region.

c)This area struggled behind the other regions of North America economically and politically during the late nineteenth century and well into the twentieth century.

d)This area produced much of the food for other regions of North America and received manufactured goods from the southern colonies in return.

1. Which of the following statements best describes the experience of those who began to migrate to the Great Plains in the United States during the late nineteenth century as other parts of the continent became more densely occupied?

a)The settlers found the land immediately west of the Mississippi to be similar to their homelands in the eastern U.S. and northwestern Europe.

b)Settlers who moved to the vast grasslands of the U.S. and Canada found that the soil was generally infertile compared to that of the Atlantic colonies.

c)Many settlers who founded homesteads on the Great Plains adapted relatively well to the lack of trees and shortage of water.

d)They developed deep plowing techniques that prevented the loss of soil to dust storms.

1. The largest concentration of Canadians is located in what part of Canada?

a)Atlantic provinces

b)Pacific Coast

c)Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River

d)Canadian plains

1. Approximately what percent of the North American population is employed in agriculture?

a)2

b)10

c)40

d)55

1. Which of the following groups constituted the larger share of immigrants to North America between 1880 and World War I?

a)British and French

b)South Asians

c)Central and South Europeans

d)Middle Americans

1. The followers of what version of Christianity predominate in the so-called “Bible Belt” of the United States?

a)Lutheran

b)Mormon

c)Baptist

d)Catholic

1. What is the fastest growing type of household unit in North America?

a)Nuclear

b)Extended

c)Unmarried couple

d)Single, living alone

1. Which of the following is true regarding hazardous waste production in North America?

a)Canada and the United States generate roughly the same amount of hazardous waste per capita per year.

b)Despite a smaller population, the United States generates five times more hazardous waste than the European Union.

c)Strict regulations accompany most national environmental laws regarding the management of household hazardous waste.

d)The European Union surpasses North America in hazardous waste production due to its dependence on nuclear power.

1. By what means does the western United States support farming?

a)The draining of large glacial lakes in the Rocky Mountains.

b)Huge desalinization plants that pipe water to the valley from the Pacific Ocean.

c)Federally constructed dams and canals that divert water into agricultural areas.

d)Canals that are used to draw off water from the Mississippi River Valley.

1. In addition to irrigation, farmers on the Great Plains have turned to using fossil water from the Ogallala, the largest of what type of feature in the region?

a)Aquifer

b)River

c)Crater lake

d)Qanat

1. What industry has helped “reinvent” the southern New England region?

a)Dairy

b)Timber

c)High tech

d)Vegetable crops

1. Which of the following statements best describes the long-lot field pattern of early French settlement in Quebec?

a)They were long, narrow strips of land extending a considerable distance back from the riverfront.

b)It was a tenure system whereby one living on unclaimed land could claim ownership of land with a guarantee to remain there for at least one generation.

c)It emerged from a technique of farming in which the farmer leaves the land fallow only after its yield declines in successive years.

d)A rectangular parcel of land was provided to a married couple.

17. According to the Text Box on “Meat Packing in the Great Plains,” the meat packing industry in this region is characterized by which of the following?

a)Labor is highly unionized and has won considerable disputes over work rules.

b)Most laborers are college-educated females.

c)It provides jobs that are stable and pay well.

d)Most laborers are immigrants from Asia, Mexico, and Central America.

18. According to the textbook, the Pacific Northwest economy has shifted towards high-tech industries from which of the following industries?

a)Coal mining

b)Hydroelectric power

c)Logging

d)Oil drilling

19. Which of the following statements describes a thermal inversion, of the type that exacerbates Los Angeles’s problem with smog.

a)Cool, humid air is lifted over a cold, swiftly advancing air mass.

b)Cold air is uplifted and displaced by a rising warm air mass.

c)Cool air is hemmed in by a stagnant warm air mass.

d)A warm mass of still air is trapped beneath cooler air.

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Middle and South America QUESTIONS

20. Despite much economic, political, and cultural diversity among the countries of Middle and South America, which one of the following characteristics do they have in common?

a)Type of physical environment

b)Experience as colonies of Europe

c)Type of natural resource exploited for economic growth

d)Ethnic composition of the population

21. What is the name of the tectonic process that has created many of the mountains in Middle and South America?

a)Subduction

b)Block faulting

c)Eustatic rise

d)Talusing

22. The extremely dry climate of the Atacama desert is the result of what two phenomena?

a)The Peru Current and the Andes rain shadow

b)El Niño and the Sierra Madre winds

c)La Nina and the Amazon chinook

d)The Patagonia Effect and the Magdalena tides

23. Which of the following significantly aided the Spaniards in their defeat of the Aztecs?

a)A smallpox epidemic brought by the Spaniards

b)The release of manufactured poisons into the Aztec water system

c)The miserable living conditions experienced by most in Aztec society

d)The eruption of two volcanoes that destroyed the largest Aztec cities

24. What city was the capital of Spanish South America?

a)Santiago

b)San Jose

c)Buenos Aires

d)Lima

25. What was accomplished by the enactment of the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494?

a)The peaceful division of Middle and South America between Portugal and Spain

b)The relinquishment by the Portuguese of all of their claims to land in the Americas

c)An end to the great wars between Native Americans and European invaders

d)The agreement between Britain and Spain to end the conflict over the Caribbean Islands

26. Which of the following describes the principal migration trend in Middle and South America.

a)North-to-south movements

b)Rural-to-urban movements

c)Island to mainland movements

d)Coastal to interior movements

27. Which of the following characterizes a main feature of the Curitiba’s effort to accommodate migrants to that Brazilian city?

a)Constructing satellite towns

b)Providing open space for shanty towns

c)Creating jobs in the public sector

d)Providing vouchers for automobile transport

28. Which of the following describes a hacienda?

a)A small Spanish-influenced city

b)A hat made famous by Spanish conquistadors

c)A large rural estate

d)A relatively small mud-covered dwelling

29. What type of shift occurred in the region’s economy as transport connections between inland areas and seaports were improved?

a)Plantation production was replaced by export production.

b)Specialized farming was replaced by self-sufficient farming.

c)Haciendas were replaced by plantations.

d)Subsistence farming was replaced by haciendas.

30. Why is export-oriented agriculture favored by many governments in Middle and South America?

a)It decreases the flow of profits from the region.

b)It brings in large amounts of foreign currency.

c)It improves the supply of food for local consumption.

d)It is an effective means of smuggling illegal drugs into other countries.

31. Which of the following illustrates the term contested space?

a)A nature preserve protected by strict environmental regulations

b)A debate between political leaders regarding re-election to office

c)Native American leaders attempting to stop development on their ancestral lands

d)The conflicting views of Middle and South American leaders regarding space exploration

32. Which of the following family types constitutes the basic social institution in Middle and South America?

a)Nuclear families

b)Single mother-headed families

c)Extended families

d)Social communes

33. Which of the following is the best characterization of the spatial arrangement of domestic life for many people living in Middle and South America?

a)Small two-room units in public housing projects

b)Detached single-family homes in growing suburban areas

c)Compounds of several houses surrounded by walls

d)Large high rise multiple bedroom apartments

34. What was the major cause of Cuba’s economic decline that began in the 1980s?

a)The institution of the Kennedy-Boxer Act

b)Fidel Castro outlawed foreign investors in Cuba

c)The failure of Cuba’s tourism industry

d)The dissolution of the Soviet Union

35. What is Puerto Rico’s official political status?

a)A state of the United States

b)An independent nation-state

c)A commonwealth of the United States

d)A colony of the United States

36. Where does most manufacturing take place in Mexico?

a)In the Mexico City area

b)On the Yucatan Peninsula

c)In coastal zones

d)Along the U.S. border

37. In Central America, virtually all land is owned by which of the following types of enterprises?

a)Large plantations and ranches

b)Wildlife reserves

c)Small subsistence farms

d)Foreign industrial plants

38. Which of the following constitutes the prominent population group in both Venezuela and Colombia?

a)Creoles

b)Mestizos

c)Native Americans

d)South Asians

39. What has been a major source of income for rural, poor farmers in addition to funding the ongoing civil war in Colombia?

a)Coca crops

b)Sugar plantations

c)High-tech industries

d)Colombian governmental aid

40. Which of the following describes the settlement pattern in Brazil?

a)Scattered throughout the Amazon Basin

b)Concentrated along the Atlantic seaboard

c)Clustered along the western reaches of the Amazon River

d)Grouped in the zone along the Pacific coast

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FROM THE LECTURE / ACTIVITIES

41. A region…….

a) Is a standardized area that is easily recognized by everyone.

b) isbased on common attributes that dominate the region.

c) usually changes quickly into the next region.

d) can only be based on physical characteristics.

42. According to the in-classactivity, Natural Hazards in North America include all except…..

a) Earthquakes

b) Flooding

c) Typhoons

d) Tornadoes

43. Buildings in Middle America…..

a)are always light colored everywhere because white reflects heat.

b)are usually made out of concrete blocks because the rain erodes adobe.

c)often are painted with a dark colored bottom trim because of rain splash.

d)often have basements where the family sleeps because it is cooler.

44. Altitudinal Zones….

a)become warmer as the elevation increases.

b)reflect where vegetation and crops change.

c)are always at the same elevation range.

d)get higher in elevation the further away from the equator.

45. What is ‘Amazonia Legal’?

a)The Amazon River Basin found only in Brazil.

b)Every river and water basin that drains into the Amazon River.

c)The area that Environmental Laws apply to the Amazon region that has not yet been greatly disturbed.

d)The enacted United States laws that restrict imports into the United States from the cleared Amazonia forest.

ESSAY QUESTIONS ON NEXT PAGE

ESSAY QUESTIONS:

ANSWER THREE OF THE QUESTIONS – USE 3-5 SENTENCES FOR EACH

-Why are plantation crops, such as coffee, found at different elevations throughout Middle and South America?

-Give an example and describe how Colonialism impacted Latin America.

-Climatic Regions, which in turn influence agriculture, are created by what four general factors? Briefly describe them.

-What is the general internal migration pattern for Latin America? Describe.

-How is the layout and organization of a Latin America city different as compared to a North America city?

-Why did the “Rust Belt” (or the industrial core) come to be located where it did in North America?

-Explain why Quebec wants to cede from the rest of Canada.