Geography Fall Spring CRT
Student Growth Assessment 1 of 4
Written: 2012-2013
Implemented: 2013-2014
DISTRICT #228 SOCIAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT
Authors: Eric Gomez, Chris Hennessy, Pete Luby
1. 1.Which of these is the best definition of
centripetal forces?
A. forces that pull people together
B. forces that promote urbanization
C. forces that reduce land use conflict
D. forces that improve living standards
2. How has the EU promoted economic
cooperation across Europe?
A. It has reduced trade barriers.
B .It has banned foreign imports.
C. It has raised workers' salaries.
D .It has ended business competition
3. European Russia is separated from Asian
Russia by the
A. Ural Mountains
B. Rhine River
C. Carpathian Mountains
D. Indus River
4. Italy has a total fertility rate of just over 1.
Nigeria has a total fertility rate of more than 5.
Which of these conclusions can be drawn from
these facts?
A. Italy has a larger population than Nigeria
B. Nigeria has a younger population than Italy
C. Men in Italy retire later than men in Nigeria
D. Women in Nigeria live longer than women in
Italy
5. Which of the following physical characteristics
of England fueled the Industrial Revolution?
A. oil reserves in the North
B. rich farmland in the Lowlands
C. natural gas deposits in the North Sea
D. coal resources in the Midlands
6. London became one of the greatest commercial and
shipping centers in the world mainly because
A. it is the city that lies closest to the mainland of
Europe
B. ships could sail directly into its port
C. of its location on the Atlantic Ocean
D. of the lasting influence of the Roman Empire over
European markets
7. The Nordic countries share all of the following
characteristics except
A.Viking heritage
B. similar terrain
C. the same religion
D. mixed economies and democratic systems
8. Which of the following is an important source of
energy in Iceland?
A. coal
B. oil and natural gas
C. forests
D. geothermal energy
9. Europe is known as a peninsula of peninsulas.
Which of the following is not a peninsula?
A. Italian peninsula
B. Switzerland peninsula
C. Greek Peninsula
D. Iberian Peninsula
10. The first major religion to teach that there
was only one God was
A. Judaism
B. Christianity
C. Islam
D. Sunni
11. The people who accept Muhammad as God’s
last messenger are
A. Muslims
B. Ashdenazims
C. Sephardims
D. Hindus
12. The formation of OPEC led to
A. a decline in the influence of the Muslim
religion in member countries
B. conflicts between member nations that
frequently ended in combat
C. greater control by member nations over the
price of oil
D. a decline in oil sales
13. The most important factor determining
population distribution in Southwest Asia is the
location of
A. oil reserves
B. reliable sources of water
C. Islamic houses of worship
D. centers of trade
14. The major export from the Middle East is
A. timber
B. fruit
C. wheat
D. oil
15. What is the major export crop grown in Nile
Basin?
A. wheat
B. cotton
C. wadi
D. all of the above
16. What impact did European Colonialism have
on Africa south of the Sahara?
A. broke up the tribal political systems
B. raised the standard of living
C. led to increased democracy
D. improved relations between Africans and
Europeans.
17. In the Republic of South Africa the races have
been separated by law. This is called a policy of
A. integration
B. apartheid
C. imperialism
D. nationalism
18. Which of these aspects of life in Egypt depends
most on the water stored in Lake Nasser?
A. annual flooding
B. sewage treatment
C. population growth
D. perennial irrigation
19. Which of these created barriers to river travel on
the Nile in ancient times?
A. Cataracts
B. Dams
C. Floodplains
D. Wadis
20. Which of these is a major difference between the
Sahara and the Sahel?
A. The Sahara has larger forests
B. The Sahel receives more rainfall
C. The Sahara has more cropland
D. The Sahel records higher temperatures
21. All of the following are major causes of
desertification except
A. Overgrazing
B. Deforestation
C. long-term drought
D. shifting agriculture
22. All of the following have contributed to
widespread poverty in Africa except
26. A cultural region is best defined as a region
whose people share the same
A. desertification
B. reforestation
C. disease
D. war
A. standard of living
B. life expectancy
C. climate zone
D. Way of life
23. In traditional societies with gender-based
division of labor, the kind of work a person does
depends mainly on the that person’s
27. Which of these is an important legacy of British
rule in Nigeria?
A. age
B. sex
C. income
D. religion
A. the movement of the national capital from Lagos
to Abuja
B. conflict between the Igbo and other ethnic groups
C. state legal systems based on Islamic law
D. the rapid shrinking of Lake Chad
24. Which term best describes African women
who set up street-side restaurants in caravans?
28. Which of these was most responsible for the
borders shown on the map below?
A. pastoral nomads
B. migrant workers
C. indigenous peoples
D. micro-entrepreneurs
25. What does the graph below illustrate?
A. Nigeria’s ethnic diversity
B. Nigeria’s spatial inequality
C. Nigeria’s migration streams
D. Nigeria’s economic activities
A. colonialism
B. nationalism
C. immigration
D. desertification
29. The heavy rains in South Asia are due to the
A. summer monsoons that pickup moisture from
the Indian Ocean
B. winter monsoons that bring cold air and low
temperatures
C. continental air that blows from Asia’s mainland
D. scorcher temperatures that can reach as high as
110 F
30. The government of mainland China can best
be described as
A. Democratic
B. Socialist
C. Communist
D. Atheist
31. Most of the people in South Asia make their
living from
A. mining
B. herding
C. farming
D. weaving
32. Which tem best describes hiring someone
outside a company to do work that was once done
by the company’s own workers?
A. recycling
B. outsourcing
C. smart growth
D. division of labor
33. How many standard time zones are there in the
world today?
A.12
B. 24
C. 30
D. 60
34. What comparative advantage does India have
over many other countries in attracting IT jobs
from the United States?
A. India’s brain drain
B. India’s caste system
C. many Hindi speakers
D. many English speakers
35. The Three Gorges Dam is expected to provide
all of these benefits except
A. clean energy
B. flood control
C. safer river shipping
D. more steel production
36. What is the main goal of China’s one-child
policy?
A. less spatial inequality
B. lower infant mortality
C. zero population growth
D. increased life expectance
37. Which conclusion is best supported by this
population pyramid?
A. There were more boys under age 5 than girls
B. There were more people over 70 than under 20
C. There were more children under age 14 than adults
D. There were more retired people than working people
38. Special economic zones attract more foreign
business than other parts of China because they
offer companies that locate there
42. The circle graphs below show where foreign
investment went in two different years.
A. cleaner air
B. greater freedom
C. cheaper energy
D. warmer weather
39. Less than a fifth of Japan is arable land. Which
of the following is the best definition of
arable land?
A. land that is flat
B. land that is forested
C. land that can be mined
D. land that can be farmed
40. Which statement best describes the impact of
high population density on Japan’s public
transportation system?
A. Subways and trains seldom run on time
B. Subways and trains are overcrowded at rush hour
C. Subways and trains are dirty and unpleasant to
ride
D. Subways and trains do not go where people want
to go
42. Which region of the world received the most
foreign investment in 1914?
A. Western Euprose
B. Latin America
C. Africa
D. Asia
41. Globalization has led to a rapid increase in which
of the following?
43. According to the graphs above, which
part of the world doubled its percentage of
foreign investment between 1914 and 1998?
A. water stress
B. international trade
C. transboundary pollution
D. arithmetic population density
A. the United States
B. Canada
C. Eastern Europe
D. Africa
Match the following to the above map of Europe
44. Italy is
A. 1
B. 7
C. 5
D. 6
45.United Kingdom is:
A. 16
B. 10
C. 17
D. 13
46. Germany is:
A.14
B. 11
C. 9
D. 19
47. Mediterranean Sea is:
A. 5
B. 7
C. 8
D. 6
48. France is:
A. 10
B. 15
C. 14
D. 9
Match the number on the map on the last page to the locations listed below:
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
Russia
a. 36
B. 17
C. 20
D. 11
Sudan
A. 20
B. 8
C. 10
D. 26
Atlantic Ocean
A. 33
B. 30
C. 22
D. 34
Saudi Arabia
A. 2
B. 33
C. 24
D. 6
Persian Gulf
A. 3
B. 11
C. 10
D. 9
Iraq
A. 7
B. 35
C. 31
D. 33
Egypt
A. 33
B. 32
C. 22
D. 34
India
A. 32
B. 33
C. 24
D. 15
South Africa
A. 29
B. 28
C. 60
D. 22
Nigeria
A. 17
B. 18
C. 19
D. 5
Japan
A. 21
B. 5
C. 4
D. 3
China
A. 1
B. 19
C. 4
D. 3
A Leader of Her Country
By the 1990s, people had become accustomed to seeing women in high government posts.
People were not so accustomed to this in the 1960s, however. Yet that is when Golda Meir
became prime minister of Israel.
Meir was born in the Ukraine. However, she emigrated to the United States with her
family as a young child. She grew up in Milwaukee, where her mother ran a grocery store. Meir
trained to be a schoolteacher and married when she was about twenty.
As a young woman, Meir heard stories of the struggles to establish a Jewish homeland. In
1921, she and her husband moved to Palestine to work with the Jewish groups there. She was
instrumental in helping Israel become an independent state in 1948. When the new government
was formed, Meir was the only woman to belong to the provisional council of state, the
legislative part of the government. She took an active role in establishing policy.
In 1969, the Israeli prime minister died suddenly, and Meir was chosen as a compromise
candidate for the position. She remained prime minster until 1974.
Seventy-one years old when she took office, Meir was a plain-looking, plain-dressing
woman. She reminded some people of a kindly grandmother. But it was a mistake to
underestimate her strength and will. She let her country through peace and war. After her death
in 1978, Meir was called “one of the great women in Jewish and world history”.
61. The subject of this passage is (A1)
A. the career of Gold Meir
B. how people learn to accept responsibility
C. discrimination against women leaders
D. remaining active even when elderly
62. Gold Meir became prime minister (B1)
64. The passage is basically a
(E1)
A. biography of Golda Meir
B. history of Israel
C. discussion of emigration
D. description of life in Milwaukee
A. right after Israel won independence
B. by winning a landslide election
C. as a compromise candidate
D. but was quickly pushed out of power
65. In this passage, instrumental means
(D1)
63. When Israel became a state, the people
in power (C2)
A. musical
B. very helpful
C. useless
D. recognized
A. were mostly young
B. had a lot of experience running a country
C. were an equal mix of men and women
D. included few women
The World's Largest Diamond
In 1907 King Edward VII of England received an extravagant present for his 66th
birthday: a diamond that weighed 3,106 carats.
This raw, rough diamond was found on January 25, 1905, in South Africa,
where a mine superintendent named Frederick Wells stumbled across it while
inspecting the Premier Mine before closing it down for the day. The diamond,
named after Thomas Cullinan, the founder of the mine, turned out to be the largest
diamond ever discovered. Wells not only picked up a gigantic precious stone that
day, he also garnered for himself a $10,000 reward.
South Mrica still being part of the British Commonwealth at that time, the
government purchased the huge uncut stone as a fitting gift for its monarch. When
King Edward finally received his priceless present it was still in its original form, so
he had to have the diamond properly cut and polished. After a lengthy search,
Joseph Asscher, a Dutch craftsman, was chosen to perform the delicate operation.
In 1908 after weeks of study and inspection, Joseph Asscher finally concluded
that the best plan was to cleave the Cullinan diamond into nine major stones, 96
lesser gems, and 10 carats of polished fragments.
The most magnificent of the nine major stones cut from the Cullinan is the
530-carat, pear-shaped gem known as the Great Star of Africa. Today this stone is
part of the royal scepter of the British crown jewels, which are carefully guarded in
the Tower of London.
66. What is the main subject of the passage?
(A1)
A. King Edward VII
B. Joseph Asscher
C. the British crown jewels
D. the Cullinan diamond
67. The Cullinan diamond was found in the
(B1)
A. South African Mine.
B. Premier Mine.
C. Nile Mine.
D. Wells Mine.
68. You can assume from this passage that
(E1)
A. King Edward VII was fond of diamonds.
B. the Cullinan diamond was hard to find.
C. Frederick Wells liked King Edward VII.
D. Joseph Asscher was skilled at cutting
diamonds
69. In the first sentence, the writer calls attention
to the subject by telling about an incredible (C2)
A. piece of rock
B. birthday gift
C. sparkler
D. crown jewel
70. In this passage extravagant means
(D1)
A. rare
B. very impractical
C. extremely nice
D. tasteful
Portugal: A Seafaring Country
The fifteenth century was a time of great discovery in Europe. The city of Venice was rich and
powerful. Part of its wealth came from selling spices to the rest of Europe. The spices came from
islands in the Far East. Other countries wanted to grow and prosper from the spice trade. There
was a race to find and conquer the islands where the spices came from, and Portugal led the race.
Portugal is located on the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Spain on the north, east, and south.
Scientists in Portugal had perfected the tools needed to navigate the seas. If the country wanted
to build an empire, it would have to be by sea.
Prince Henry of Portugal was known as "the navigator." He started a school to train sailors and
sent out ships to find new trade routes. His sailors explored the coast of Africa and sailed as far
as the Canary Islands. Prince Henry died in 1460. Following his death, Bartolomeu Dias sailed to
the tip of Africa, known as the Cape of Good Hope. For the first time, people saw that it was
possible to sail around Africa. Later Vasco da Gama sailed all the way to India. Portugal had
won the spice race. These explorers conquered the East Indies and ruled over the spice trade for
many years.
71. Find the word prosper in the passage.
One definition below is closest to the meaning
Of that word. Choose that word:
(D1)
A. survive
B. succeed
C. Fail
D. Decrease
72. Two of the statements below present
Facts, which can be proved. The other
Statement is an opinion, which expresses
Someone’s thoughts or choose beliefs.
Choose the statement that is an opinion.
(E2)
A. Prince Henry sent out ships to find new trade routes
B. Portugal is on the Atlantic routes.
C. Portuguese sailors were the best sailors in Europe
D. The tip of Africa is the Cape of Good Hope
73. Which event happened first?
(C2)
A. Vasco da Gama reached India
B. Prince Henry died in 1460
C. Bartolomeu Dias sailed to the tip of Africa
D. Portugal won the spice race
74. Three of the statements below are correct
inferences, or reasonable guesses. They are based
on information in the passage. The other statement
is an incorrect, or faulty, inference. Choose the
statement that is an incorrect inference.
(B1)
A. The Portuguese knew a great deal about sailing
B. Portuguese explorers made many important
discoveries
C. The Portuguese were the only people in Europe
making important discoveries during the fifteenth
century.
D. Spices were in great demand in Europe
75. Choose the statement below that expresses
the main idea of the passage.
(A1)
A. Prince Henry started a school to train sailors
B. In the fifteenth century, Portugal led the race
to conquer the islands of the Far East
C. Portugal was a seafaring nation
D. Spain and Portugal compete for the spice trade