Deck 7: Human Populations

Question 1

Reductions in death rates in recent centuries are due more to better food and sanitation than modern medicine.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The demographic transition generally accompanies economic development.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Malthus contended that

A) by providing additional workers, human population growth enhanced economic development.
B) humans can produce babies faster than they can produce commensurate amounts of food.
C) poverty causes resource depletion rather than the reverse.

Answer 3

humans can produce babies faster than they can produce commensurate amounts of food.

Question 4

The world's population increases by about _____________ people per year.

A) 800,000
B) 8 million
C) 80 million
D) 800 million

Question 5

The economist Karl Marx believed that

A) human population growth is a consequence of poverty and other social ills.
B) improving social conditions will only make people consume resources faster, lowering the carrying capacity of the earth.
C) new technologies are the cause of explosive population growth.
D) None of these choices are correct

Question 6

Julian Simon was convinced that without fundamental social and economic changes, environmental damage will accelerate.

Question 7

After the year 1600, the human population began to grow more rapidly, owing to which of the following factors?

A) Increases in commerce and communication on a global scale
B) New agricultural developments
C) Better health care and improved hygiene
D) Increases in commerce and communication on a global scale, new agricultural developments, and better health care and improved hygiene
E) Increases in commerce and communication on a global scale and new agricultural developments

Question 8

In general, countries with the highest fertility rates are those

A) with the greatest untapped natural resources.
B) among the poorest on earth.
C) with the highest life expectancies.
D) with low infant mortality rates.

Question 9

Historical evidence shows that plagues and diseases:

A) Are highly effective at slowing population growth
B) Affect population growth for at least a century
C) Affect relatively few people in a population
D) Are devastating to human population growth
E) Cause only minor or temporary setbacks in population growth trends

Question 10

Worldwide, use of contraceptives in recent years has

A) stayed about the same.
B) increased dramatically.
C) decreased dramatically.

Question 11

Historically, up until the middle ages, populations were mostly limited by:

A) Low fertility rates
B) Culturally imposed family planning practices
C) Disease, famine and war
D) Religious restrictions on marriage
E) Infanticide

Question 12

In general, life expectancy

A) rises with increased annual income.
B) rises with increased annual income, but only up to about $4000.
C) bears no consistent relationship to annual income.
D) is greatest among country peasants.

Question 13

A belief that many poorer countries will not be able to complete the demographic transition without crash programs to reduce population growth is described as the

A) pessimistic view.
B) optimistic view.
C) social justice view.
D) ecojustice view.

Question 14

Neo-Malthusians feel aggressive birth control efforts should be our top priority.

Question 15

The greatest future growth in human numbers is expected to occur in the

A) rich countries of Europe and North America.
B) rich Asian countries including Japan.
C) developing nations.

Question 16

____________ are the most widely distributed vertebrate organisms on Earth.

A) Fishes
B) Insects
C) Rodents
D) Birds
E) Humans

Question 17

Age structure graphs express

A) whether a population is declining, growing, or stable.
B) the proportion of a population at various ages.
C) the proportion of people approaching reproductive age as well as those of reproductive age.

Question 18

Population momentum

A) leads to many years of continued population growth.
B) occurs when most of the population is young.
C) is commonly associated with abstinence.
D) leads to many years of continued population growth and occurs when most of the population is young.
E) leads to many years of continued population growth and is commonly associated with abstinence.

Question 19

Zero Population Growth (ZPG) occurs when

A) women in a given society are opting not to have children.
B) the birth rate equals the death rate plus the emigration rate.
C) birth rate plus immigration is equal to the death rate plus emigration.

Question 20

The natural increase of a population is defined as

A) the total number of individuals entering a population by birth or immigration per year.
B) the crude birth rate less the crude death rate.
C) the total number of children added to a population less the number who are adopted.
D) the number of additions to a population by any means.

Question 21

According to the graph, which region had the highest total fertility rate in 1998?

A) Africa
B) The Americas
C) Eastern Mediterranean
D) Europe
E) South-East Asia

Question 22

Malthus argued that ______________ is the ultimate cause of social and environmental problems, and Marx argued that population growth ____________ social and environmental problems.

A) Excess population growth; results from
B) Poverty; results from
C) War; results from
D) Excess population growth; is also the ultimate cause of
E) Poverty; is the ultimate cause of

Question 23

Crude birth rates are measured in terms of the number of children born

A) In a single year
B) Per family
C) Per family per year
D) Per 1,000 people each year
E) Per 1,000 people in the general population

Question 24

The I = PAT formula says that our environmental impacts (I) are the product of rev: 11_14_2015_QC_CS-32888

A) The population size times affluence and the amount of time it took for the population to reach its current size
B) The population size times affluence and the technology used to produce goods and services consumed
C) The population size times and the amount of technology used
D) The percentage of affluence times and the percentage of technology produced
E) None of the above is correct

Question 25

According to the graph, which region has the greatest fertility reduction?

A) Africa
B) The Americas
C) Eastern Mediterranean
D) Europe
E) South-East Asia

Question 26

Why is Russia's population declining?

A) There is a one-child policy similar to the one in China and Thailand
B) There has been a massive education campaign to reduce births
C) The standard of living has decreased leading to lower infant mortality and lower birth rates
D) Russia's population is not declining
E) The standard of living has decreased leading to higher death rates and lower birth rates

Question 27

Most of the world's human settlements are clustered

A) In wide arable plains
B) In mountainous regions
C) Along coastlines and rivers
D) Between 30 and 50 degrees north latitude
E) In open valleys

Question 28

Disastrous famines in the past 200 years

A) Prove conclusively that Malthus was right
B) Have mostly resulted from politics and economics rather than from overpopulation
C) Prove conclusively that Malthus was mistaken
D) Have resulted from population overshoots based on overuse of resources
E) Prove conclusively that Marx was mistaken

Question 29

Malthus and Marx

A) Worked together to form their theories
B) Agreed about the root causes of overpopulation, poverty, and social upheaval
C) Disagreed about the root causes of overpopulation, poverty, and social upheaval
D) Held the same beliefs but worked on different issues
E) Disagreed about the severity of overpopulation, poverty, and social upheaval

Question 30

The world human population reached about 1 billion in _________ and passed ____________ in 2011.

A) 1400; 78 billion
B) 1500; 1 trillion
C) 1600; 78 million
D) 1700; 7 million
E) 1800; 7 billion

Question 31

Neo-Malthusians argue that

A) Malthus's eighteenth century theories apply to similar circumstances today
B) We should never return to the conditions observed by Malthus in his day
C) Malthus could be useful today if reinterpreted
D) Malthus was wrong from the start
E) None of these represents the viewpoint of Neo-Malthusians

Question 32

The total fertility rate is the number of children born

A) To the average woman per year
B) To the average woman during her lifetime
C) In the world during a single year
D) In a population during a single year
E) In a population during an entire generation

Question 33

The population theory held by Thomas Malthus was that the human population would:

A) Never reach its environment's carrying capacity
B) Develop a modern utopia
C) Reach its environment's carrying capacity and then maintain equilibrium
D) Maintain equilibrium with its carrying capacity
E) Outstrip its resources, then suffer starvation and misery

Question 34

Ninety percent of the world's population growth in the next century is expected to occur in

A) Less-developed countries
B) China
C) Developed countries
D) Moderately developed nations
E) India

Question 35

Human population growth most closely resembles:

A) Carrying capacity geometric increase
B) Irruptive growth
C) Malthusian growth
D) S-shaped growth curve
E) J-shaped growth curve

Question 36

Technological optimists argue that technological advances have:

A) Led to the increase in human population, but whether we can continue is of great concern
B) Proved Marx wrong in his predictions of famine and disaster
C) Proved Malthus wrong in his predictions of famine and disaster
D) Been developed because there are more people, supporting the view that more people are the "ultimate resource."
E) Been a neutral factor in the issue of population growth

Question 37

The zero population growth rate is slightly over two children per couple because

A) We always need slightly more young people
B) The older generation is dying
C) Some children die and some couples do not have children
D) That is as low as birth rates can reasonably be expected to get
E) The zero population growth rate is not slightly over two children per couple

Question 38

Human ingenuity and intelligence as the "ultimate resource" is the central theme in the argument of

A) Julian Simon
B) John Muir
C) Thomas Malthus
D) Neo-Malthusians
E) Marxism

Question 39

According to the graph, which region has had the highest total fertility rate in 1950?

A) Africa
B) The Americas
C) Eastern Mediterranean
D) Europe
E) South-East Asia

Question 40

Demography is the science that describes

A) The earth's carrying capacity
B) Population changes and characteristics
C) Energy resources
D) Food production
E) Environmental factors that affect population sizes

Question 41

A population growing at one percent per year should double in about ___ years.

A) 30
B) 70
C) 10
D) 2
E) 0.2

Question 42

Pronatalist pressures are influences that lead people to

A) Increase fecundity
B) Have more children
C) Have fewer children
D) Prevent infant mortality
E) Wait until later in life to have children

Question 43

The doubling time for a population with an annual percentage growth rate of 7.0% is

A) 1 year
B) 5 years
C) 10 years
D) 50 years
E) 100 years

Question 44

Women who ________ are LEAST likely to have many children.

A) Cannot afford children
B) Live where many children die young
C) Are subordinate to their husbands
D) Are able to earn an income for themselves
E) All of these are correct

Question 45

Which of the following factors does not usually affect the crude death rates of a population?

A) Health care
B) Sanitation
C) Age structure of the population
D) Nutrition
E) All of these affect crude death rates

Question 46

The age-class histogram on the right could represent the population of

A) The United States
B) Western Europe
C) Uganda
D) Japan
E) Sweden

Question 47

The population represented by the age class histogram on the right will

A) Have a large population of old people soon
B) Not grow much in the coming years
C) Soon begin to decline
D) Grow substantially in the future
E) Grow slowly in the future

Question 48

A pyramid-shaped age structure histogram is characteristic of a(n) _________ population.

A) Stable
B) Expanding
C) Declining
D) Unpredictable
E) Diminishing

Question 49

There is some evidence that population growth today is ____________ rather than ______________.

A) Slowing slightly; continuing to accelerate
B) Continuing to accelerate; slowing slightly
C) Increasing; leveling off
D) Leveling off; decreasing
E) Leveling off; slowing slightly

Question 50

Which of the following is NOT a factor contributing to decreased life expectancy?

A) Disease
B) Improved sanitation
C) Poverty
D) Famine
E) Warfare

Question 51

The average age that a newborn can expect to attain in a given society is referred to as

A) Life expectancy
B) Infant mortality
C) Life span
D) Survivorship
E) Life age

Question 52

The difference between "total growth rate" and "natural increase" is that total growth rates

A) Include only the number of births and deaths
B) Include immigration and emigration as well as births and deaths
C) Include only immigration and emigration
D) Include infant mortality as well as adult deaths
E) Are not expressed as percentages

Question 53

A dependency ratio is a comparison between the numbers of

A) Working and nonworking people
B) Parents and children
C) Old people and young people
D) Young infants and older adults
E) Middle aged people and infants

Question 54

The histogram on the left represents a population whose birth rates

A) Have not changed for many years
B) Have recently decreased
C) Are gradually increasing
D) Are sharply increasing
E) None of these. Birth rates cannot be determined by the age class histogram

Question 55

Which of the following is considered a TRUE pronatalist pressure?

A) Legitimate needs for support in old age
B) The need for hands to help in farm work and to watch younger siblings
C) Macho pride in men who have many children
D) Woman's status determined by the number of children she has
E) All of these are correct

Question 56

The main cause of world population growth in the past 300 years has been

A) Increasing fecundity
B) Rising fertility
C) Higher birthrates in developing countries
D) Increasing immigration
E) Falling mortality due to longer life expectancy.

Question 57

The best title for the vertical axis on the graph is

A) Life expectancy
B) Average dietary protein intake per day
C) Female literacy
D) Infant mortality
E) Rate of infectious diseases

Question 58

Demographers usually measure mortality in terms of

A) Deaths per 1,000 persons per year
B) Deaths per person per year
C) The number of children who die per year
D) The total number of deaths per generation
E) Total deaths in a population per year

Question 59

The age-class histogram on the left could represent the population of

A) China
B) Mexico
C) Uganda
D) India
E) Sweden

Question 60

You were in a discussion with a classmate who complained that immigrants were taking away jobs and abusing social services. In response, another classmate who is a proponent of the open door policy explained that immigrants can actually be a bonus to a country. Someone supporting an open door policy would NOT use which of the following statements?

A) Immigrants are usually of a different racial or ethnic background and add cultural diversity
B) Immigrants usually perform dangerous work that citizens are unwilling to do
C) Immigrants usually perform work at a pay scale that citizens are unwilling to accept
D) Immigrants are usually welcomed by other immigrants or descendants of immigrants
E) All of these would probably be used by someone supporting an open door policy

Question 61

Less developed countries can best argue that developed countries are primarily responsible for overpopulation problems because

A) Developed countries grow most of the global food resources
B) Less developed countries have no population-based environmental problems
C) Less developed countries have recently drastically reduced their fertility rates
D) Developed countries do not understand a global society
E) Less developed countries were many times impoverished by colonialism

Question 62

The world population began growing rapidly during the Middle Ages.

Question 63

Proponents of social justice believe that environmental and social problems will decrease if

A) We can educate poor people about family planning
B) Resources are distributed fairly
C) Better ethics are taught to poor, uneducated populations
D) We just reduce the number of people on Earth
E) We concentrate on population control

Question 64

Which of the following is not required for a demographic transition to occur?

A) Increased confidence that children will survive to maturity
B) Improved standard of living
C) Improved social status of women
D) Increased military strength
E) Increased availability and use of birth control

Question 65

Birth rate would tend to decrease with a

A) Decrease in education
B) Decrease in affluence
C) Decrease in infant mortality rate
D) Decrease in average marrying age
E) Decrease in sanitation

Question 66

One of the _________ effective ways to stabilize populations is to _________.

A) Most; provide free contraceptives
B) Least; provide free contraceptives
C) Least; decrease child mortality
D) Most; decrease child mortality
E) Most; expect mandatory sterilization

Question 67

The message from author Garret Hardin's "lifeboat ethics" is that

A) Helping poor people will, in time, reduce their rate of reproduction
B) The poorer countries of the world are caught in a demographic trap
C) Economic growth will reduce the birth rate of poor nations
D) The world has enough resources for everybody
E) Helping poor people will simply increase their rate of reproduction

Question 68

"Birth dearths" can be a problem because they cause

A) Labor shortages
B) Military weakness
C) A decrease in workers
D) A decrease in taxpayers
E) All of these are correct

Question 69

Which of the following demographic categories best identifies Country "A"?

A) Developed
B) Moderately developed
C) Less developed
D) Developing
E) Third World

Question 70

The world's highest current population growth rate is in the United Arab Emirates.

Question 71

Which of the following is a mechanical barrier to conception?

A) Abortion
B) Condoms
C) Birth control pills
D) Vasectomies
E) IUD

Question 72

A demographic transition is expected to accompany

A) Colonization, as in Africa and Asia
B) Economic development and stabilization
C) The development of capitalism
D) The introduction of modern medicine
E) All of these

Question 73

Country "C" probably has __________ rate of female literacy when compared to the other two countries.

A) The highest
B) An intermediate
C) The lowest
D) An equal
E) It is impossible to use the data in the table to identify the rate of female literacy

Question 74

The graph indicates that more children die

A) In the last stage of demographic transition
B) In the first stage of demographic transition
C) When their mothers are illiterate
D) When their mothers are literate
E) When their mothers are poor

Question 75

The demographic transition refers to a country's change from

A) High birth and death rates to low birth and death rates
B) High to low birth rates and low to high death rates
C) Low to high birth rates and high to low death rates
D) A majority of young people to a majority of elderly people
E) A majority of elderly people to a majority of young people

Question 76

The most industrialized country listed is

A) Country "A"
B) Country "B"
C) Country "C"
D) None of the countries listed are likely to be industrialized
E) It is impossible to use the data in the table to identify an industrialized country

Question 77

The graph indicates that there is

A) A strong relationship between infant mortality and education of women
B) Little relationship between infant mortality and education for women
C) A relationship between infant mortality and education in general
D) More importance for female rather than male education
E) A relationship between birth rate and education for women

Question 78

Family planning means enabling people to

A) Have fewer children so that the population growth rate can reach ZPG
B) Have no children
C) Have many children
D) Decide in advance how many children they should have
E) Have more children if they live in a country with a birth dearth

Question 79

Breast-feeding children for long periods

A) Is a luxury that mainly wealthy women enjoy
B) Increases fertility when caloric intake is low
C) Can be a successful population control strategy
D) Is a luxury that mainly wealthy women enjoy and it also limits fertility when caloric intake is low
E) Limits fertility when caloric intake is low and can be a successful population control strategy

Question 80

As compared to China, India's population control programs have not been as successful as China's.