GEOG 220

“The Human Environment: Place, Space and Identity”

Final Exam
SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Alan Nash

NOTE: The following are sample questions only – the real exam will be similar, but
obviously different in exact content. The real exam will have a few more questions
(around 90), and 5 options per question.
The map questions will have the same format as in Test 2 (i.e. they will be multiple
choice) and will be based on places, regions or countries we have focused on during the
last part of the term.

Instructions

 Please be sure to write your name and ID on the computer coding sheet provided.
 You may use a dictionary if English is not your first language.
 Good luck

1. Even if you were not moving and just standing still on the Equator, you would in fact
be moving due to the daily rotation of the Earth. How fast would you be moving? {Hint –
recall Erastothenes’ calculations about the size of the Earth and think about the time
involved)

(a) 1,666 km/hour

(b) 166 km/hr
(c) 16 km/hr
(d) 16,660 km/hr

2. The textbook’s definition of shock city includes a word that was questioned in our
class on this topic. Which word was it
(a) shock
(b) disturbing
(c) surprising
(d) awe

3. Mackinder’s theory of the heartland drew attention to the strategic weakness of Eastern
Europe. Why did he ignore the Russian/Japanese border?

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 (a) He was a British imperialist and undervalued Asian strength
(b) The Russian-Japanese war took place a year after Mackinder published his
theory
(c ) Japan depended on naval power, but Mackinder was increasingly worried
about the revival of land-based power
(d) Japanese is not an Indo-European language so Mackinder could not
understand it.

4. According to Thomas Homer-Dixon, which group’s uprising (or rebellion) in 1994 was
caused by environmental scarcity?
(a) the Zapatistas
(b) the Tupamaros
(c ) the Lord’s Resistance Army
(d) The Shining Path

5. The house design known as the “Quebec farmhouse” (with its distinctive “bell-shaped”
roofline) was originally introduced from which area?
(a) Ireland
(b) Louisiana
(c) Senegal
(d) France.

6. When encountering the Grand Canyon for the first time, Spanish explorers led by
Coronado:
(a) were so impressed with what they had seen that they named it in honour of the
Spanish king.
(b) were so disappointed not to find gold that they refused to admit to the Spanish
king they had wasted their time going there.
(c) had no cultural frame of reference to comprehend what they had seen and so
said little about it to the king in the description of their travels.
(d) Were so convinced of the superiority of the Spanish landscape that they could
not admit to themselves or to the Spanish king that they had seen anything
more magnificent.

7. By the year 2015, what will be the population of Lagos?

(a) between 2 and 3 million people
(b) between 2 and 3 billion people
(c) between 12 to 13 million people
(d) between 23 to 24 million people

8. The Park and Burgess model of urban ecology was based on which city?
(a) San Francisco
(b) Chicago
(c) London
(d) St Louis

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9. In Park and Burgess’s “ecological model of urban land use”, the city is divided into:
(a) concentric circles (like a bagel or certain types of donut)
(b) radial sectors (like the slices of a pie)
(c) rectangles (like a grid, or matrix)
(d) alternating zones of public and private space (like a chess board)

10. In its most extreme form, the system of apartheid used in South Africa denied
citizenship to its black population by:
(a) restricting their rights of employment
(b) forbidding intermarriage with the white population
(c) declaring their “homelands” to be separate countries
(d) limiting their choice of religion

11. According to the textbook, postmodern urban design:

(a) is only a slight refinement of “modern” urban design
(b) stresses absolute uniformity in architectural styles and elements
(c) stresses diversity in architectural styles and elements between different
buildings
(d) stresses diversity in architectural styles and elements, often in the same
buildings

12. Which city, according to the textbook, was the “shock city” of European
industrialization in the nineteenth century:
(a) Vienna, Austria
(b) Manchester, England
(c) Paris, France
(d) Berlin, Germany

13. The Baron Georges Haussmann was notable, according to the textbook, because he:
(a) was a friend of von Humboldt’s
(b) redesigned the streets of Paris between 1853 and 1870
(c) redesigned the area of Vienna’s Ringstrasse in the mid 1800s
(d) carved the faces on Mount Rushmore in the 1930s and 40s.

14. The “Dreamtime” describes the mythic history of the landscape according to the
traditions of the original inhabitants of which region or country:
(a) Andalucia
(b) Australia
(c) Albania
(d) Austria

15. Colonists from which of these countries were the principal white settlers of South
Africa:
(a) Belgium and Britain
(b) Holland and Britain

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 (c) Holland and Belgium
(d) Germany and Holland

16. According to ideas of gendered space, the North American suburbs of the 1950s
were considered to be:
(a) male space
(b) female space
(c) male and female space
(d) genderless space

17. The French style of landscape gardening, most well-known from the palace of
Versailles, is an example of which tradition of landscape gardening:
(a) the “informal” (or “municipal’)
(b) the “decorative”
(c) the “formal”
(d) was heavily influenced by French ties with its Asian colonies

18. The textbook defines “geopolitics” as “the … power to control space or territory and
shape the foreign policy of individual states and international political relations”. What is
the missing word?
(a) sovereign’s
(b) people’s
(c) American’s
(d) state’s

19. Which nineteenth-century political geographer said that the state [or country] behaved
like a biological organism?
(a) Ellen Churchill Semple
(b) Vidal de la Blache
(c) Charles Darwin
(d) Friedrich Ratzel

20. Which famous theory of geopolitics was first stated by Sir Halford Mackinder:
(a) the domino theory
(b) the heartland theory
(c) the Monroe doctrine
(d) The Iron Curtain

21. According to Mackinder’s theory, which country was strategically in the best position
to make a bid for world domination:
(a) Britain
(b) Russia
(c) United States
(d) Japan

22. Makinder’s theory is now outdated because:

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 (a) it ignored the importance of air power
(b) it ignored the importance of sea power
(c) it ignored the importance of land power
(d) it ignored the importance of propaganda

23. Benedict Anderson’s idea of the “imagined community” describes:

(a) Why “Utopian” communities are always found near the frontier;
(b) How countries are “constructed” by individuals;
(c) the concept of “placelessness”
(d) Why “Chinatowns” form in North American cities.

24. The textbook defines the term “sovereignty” as “the exercise of state power over …
and territory, recognized by other states and codified by international law”. What is the
missing word?
(a) sovereign
(b) people
(c) America
(d) state

25. Which of these is an “Indo-European” language?

(a) Japanese
(b) Cree
(c) Basque
(d) Icelandic

26. The potato first reached Ireland in which century?

(a) the fourteenth
(b) the fifteenth
(c) the sixteenth
(d) the seventeenth

27. The diffusion of HIV/AIDs across the USA is an example of which kind of
diffusion?
(a) relocation
(b) expansion
(c) hierarchical
(d) domestication

28. The Montreal metro map is an example of a

(a) a typographical map
(b) a topographic map
(c) a topological map
(d) a tautological map

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29. There are three important urban structure models. If you add that number to the total
for the number of senses we are have (according to modern western beliefs), the result
(the grand total number) would be:
(a) 6
(b) 7
(c) 8
(d) 9

30. The practice of “ethnic cleansing” is a very sad result of ensuring that
(a) Globalization achieves hegemony
(b) The nation state expands territorially
(c) The nation state is destroyed
(d) A nation state is created

31. Geography is now paying attention to the world of the senses, however historians tell
us that over time, modern western cultures have tended to place more value on some
sense rather than others. If this is so, which senses have urban planners been most
concerned to highlight in their plans
(a) Sight and sound
(b) Sound and touch
(c) Smell and sight
(d) Touch and taste

32. The World System model was developed by:

(a) W.W. Rostow
(b) Buckminster Fuller
(c) Immanuel Wallerstein
(d) Wilbur Zelinsky

33. Postmodernism, when applied to human rights and political geography, means that
we should:
(a) Recognize that Western values are the most important values in the world
(b) Recognize that non-Western values are the most important values in the world
(c) Recognize that no set of values are more important than any other in the world
(d) Only allow the United Nations to make decisions about world affairs.

34. Feng shui is an example of:

(a) geophagy
(b) geomancy
(c) geology
(d) geography

35. Approximately how far is it from the North Pole to the South Pole?
(a) 10,000 kms
(b) 20,000 kms
(c) 40,000 kms

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 (d) 360 degrees

36. According to the textbook, which person first invented the word “geography”?
(a) Ptolemy
(b) Humboldt
(c) Erastothenes
(d) Mercator

37. The word “sublime”, often used to describe a landscape, means:

(a) the ability to inspire awe and wonder
(b) a sense of perfection
(c) a feeling of home
(d) a longing for the past

38. The word “geomancer” comes from the same root as the word “geography”. What
does a “geomancer do”?
(a) Collects geodes
(b) Builds geodesic domes
(c) Interprets landscapes
(d) Designs map projections

39. What is the main reason the study of geography has gone through so many changes
over the last 4,000 years:
(a) Rising sea levels have changed the shape of the continents
(b) Explorers have discovered new lands
(c) The development of new technologies
(d) Knowledge is a social and cultural construct

40. The locational analysis (or “spatial analysis”) approach to geography was adopted in
the period 1950-1980 because it was
(a) more scientific
(b) less scientific
(c) more easily understood by the public
(d) promoted by The National Geographic

41. Where did the “shotgun” house style originally come from?
(a) France
(b) Brazil
(c) Nova Scotia
(d) Africa

42. The “shock city” of Lagos has been the focus of study by
(a) the American urban theorist, Richard Florida
(b) the French urban designer, Le Corboisier
(c ) the French geographer, Henri Lefebvre
(d) the Dutch urban theorist, Rem Koolhaas

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43. It is widely believed that Canadian cities are different from American cities. Why?
(a) It is much colder on average in Canada, so the downtowns are quieter in
winter.
(b) On average, Canadian governments spend more money on social programs
than American governments do.
(c) There is more space in Canada.
(d) Environmental legislation is stronger in Canada than in the USA

44. The city planners for the city of Detroit are thinking about a radical step to solving
some of the city’s problems. What is it?
(a) moving the border, so they become part of Canada.
(b) twinning the city with Paris, France.
(c) demolishing abandoned parts of the city.
(d) inviting Ubisoft to develop a games park in the downtown.

45. “An ideal form consisting of a homogenous group of people governed by their own
state” – What term does this definition define?
(a) The United States
(b) the nation-state
(c) The European Union
(d) Utopia

46. Bophuthatswana is
(a) One of the South African “homelands”
(b) The construction company building one of Turkey’s new bridges over the
Bosphorus
(c) A variety of lichen that only grows on the northern sides of trees
(d) A suburb of Lagos

47. Liminal spaces can be best defined as

(a) absolute space
(b) boundary spaces
(c) topographical spaces
(d) aesthetic spaces

48. The tomato is one of many plants introduced into Europe by returning explorers to the
Americas. What term is used to describe that process?
(a) Ecological Imperialism
(b) The Columbian Exchange
(c) Bilateralism
(d) Neo-colonialism

49. Postmodern urban theory places great emphasis on experiencing or celebrating the
city. One example is the activity of a flâneur – an individual who celebrates the city in
which way?:

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 (a) writing poems about its past glory
(b) creating new deserts in downtown cafés
(c) watching movies about old cities
(d) enjoys the random pleasure of walking the city streets

50. According to the textbook, the “Garden City Movement” spread to Canada from
(a) France
(b) Japan
(c) USA
(e) England

51. According to the cultural geographer, Yi-Fu Tuan, the term “topophilia” means:
(a) The love of home
(b) The love of place
(c) The love of house
(d) The love of landscape

52. Subaltern theory describes one way in which the core maintains its control over the
periphery. Which of the following words best describes that way?
(a) economic
(b) environmental
(c) cultural
(d) military

53. According to the text book, approximately what proportion of the world’s population
today speak a language that is originated from the Indo-European family of languages?
(a) 5%
(b) 25%
(c) 50%
(d) 75%

54. Early Italian gardens, such as those in Padua and on the Isola Bella, were designed to
show:
(a) nature triumphant
(b) nature subdued
( c) nature domesticated
(d) nature destroyed

55. What was is a “ha-ha’

(a) a species of tree frog now most endangered by global warming
(b) a circular symbol once used on pre-metric topographic maps
(c ) a sunken garden fence designed to keep animals out of the house
(d) the interior wall in a “shot gun” house

56. The theory known as “Orientalism” owes its origins to a book of the same name
written by whom?

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 (a) Salman Rushdie
(b) Kevyn Arthur
(c) Carl Sauer
(d) Edward Said

57. According the text book, which of the following present-day European languages is
NOT an Indo-European language:
(a) Icelandic
(b) Romanian
(c) Catalan
(d) Basque

58. Compared with the modern day French language spoken in France, the type of French
now spoken in Quebec
(a) has a much smaller number of words in total
(b) uses words that have died out in France
( c) uses words that were only spoken in Paris
(d) is mainly based on aboriginal American languages.

59. The Staples thesis was first developed to describe the pattern of economic
development of which country
(a) China
(b) Argentina
( c) Canada
(d) . Mexico

60. The annexation of the Crimea by Russia could be interpreted following the theory of
(a) The Baron Haussmann
(b) Alexander von Humboldt
(c) Carl Sauer
(d) Sir Halford Mackinder

61. The “world-system” model says that countries in the “periphery” will eventually
become:
(a) just as developed as the core countries
(b) more developed than the core countries
(c ) as undeveloped as they are now
(d) completely isolated from the core.

62. Which term is defined by the text book as the “regional variation in a standard
language”?
(a) accent
(b) creole
(c) dialect
(d) patois

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63. Compared with the modern day English language spoken in England, the type of
English now spoken in Newfoundland
(a) has a much smaller number of words in total
(b) was heavily influenced by French spoken in Acadia
( c) developed unique words for its new environment
(d) is mainly based on aboriginal American languages.

64. According to geographers such as Yi-Fu Tuan, “place” can be more important than
“time” to us because
(a) “place” is real, “time” is imaginary
(b) “time” is personal, “place” is general
(c ) “place” concretizes memory.
(d) “place” cannot change, memories change with time.

65. The pineapple has now spread across the whole tropical world but it originally came
from:
(a) Tahiti
(b) Hawaii
(c ) Brazil
(d) Goa.

66. After the arrival of the Spanish, the indigenous native population of many parts of
Central and South America declined (due to diseases). As an example, if the population
of an area fell to 10,000 after the Spanish arrived, approximately how big was it
BEFORE the Spanish arrived?
(a) 15,000
(b) 25,000
(c) 100,000
(d) 1,000,000

67. There were perhaps several thousand native languages spoken in North and South
America before European contact. Yet, as the text book’s map of indigenous languages
shows, experts in linguistics believe that these can all be grouped into a very small
number of “major language families” (such as Na-Dene). What is the size of this small
number?
(a) 2
(b) 3
(c) 4
(d) 5

68. According to many scholars, the word “penguin” was first used to describe birds in:
(a) Mauritius
(b) New Zealand
(c ) South Africa

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 (d) Newfoundland

69. The term “language islands” is used in Canada to describe:

(a) small isolated areas of English or French speakers surrounded by areas of
those speaking the other official language
(b) parts of Vancouver in which the city’s school boards pay for classes in English
as a Second Language (ESL)
(c ) those parts of Canada in which Aboriginal languages (such as Cree) will be
still spoken in 50 years
(d) those parts of New France in which the type of French originally spoken on
the Ile de France can still be heard.

70. Which model of urban structure is most consistent with the reality of the
decentralization of the city and the “flight to the suburbs”?
(a) the concentric zone model
(b) the sector model
(c ) the multiple nuclei model
(d) the garden city movement

71. “More than half of all people in the world now live in …….” What are the last words
of this sentence?
(a) urban areas
(b) slums
(c) the cities of the Third world
(d) extreme poverty

72. The theory of “public and private space” is one example of how modern Western
society:
(a) “genders” space
(b) divides space into “sacred” and “profane”
(c) applies the ideas of Ratzel
(d) still believes in environmental determinism

73. In its three-page feature (or “box”) about this city, the textbook calls Lagos, Nigeria:
(a) a shock city
(b) a postindustrial city
(c) a megacity
(d) an unintended metropolis

74. The word “aesthetics” is best defined as:

(a) The appreciation of the “spectacular”
(b) A culturally determined standard of “beauty and good taste”
(c) the appreciation of the beautiful
(d) the appreciation of the “everyday landscape”

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75. The federal government has decided to increase the number of MPs in the Canadian
House of Commons, and a number of provinces – such as British Columbia – will receive
additional MPs. To accommodate this increase, the existing riding boundaries within BC
will have to be redrawn. What is the name of this process?
(a) reapportionment
(b) redistricting
(c) realigning
(d) rezoning

76. To manipulate the redrawing of electoral units for partisan or personal gain, is known
as:
(a) vote splitting
(b) robo-calling
(c) gerrymandering
(d) cherry-picking

77 In his work on environmental scarcity and political conflict, Thomas Homer-Dixon

identifies three types of environmental scarcity. Two are “demand-induced scarcity”, and
“supply-induced scarcity”. What is the third type?
(a) ecological marginalization
(b) structural scarcity
(c ) resource capture
d diminished carrying capacity

MAP QUESTIONS
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Examples include questions similar to:

Where On the World Map are

(a) the Maldives [likely to be flooded if sea level rises]

(b) Berlin {important city blockaded and divided during the Cold War}
(c) Ayers Rock {or Uluru), a sacred indigenous site in Central Australia
(d) Martinique (Caribbean island that is considered part of France)
(e) Nunavut (largest parliamentary riding or constituency in Canada)
(f) Madagascar (African island where Austronesian languages spoken)
(g) The region some know as Kurdistan
(h) Niagara Falls (important example of place marketing)
(i) Hong Kong (Ex British colony that was used as a an example of voting by
occupation, rather than by riding (space))
(j) Manchester, England (one of the shock cities)

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