Deck 5: The Caribbean

Question 1

What area of the Caribbean is the most biologically diverse ecosystem of the marine world?

A) river systems
B) coral reefs
C) the deepest parts of the Caribbean Sea
D) the western edge of the Caribbean Sea
E) the Bermuda Triangle

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Agriculture in the Caribbean colonies had all of the following characteristics, EXCEPT

A) mono-crop production.
B) dependence on slave and indentured labor.
C) large plantations.
D) lack of European markets for its products.
E) it caused the soils to become overworked.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

What was the most common number of crops grown under the plantation system of agriculture?

A) one
B) two
C) five
D) seven
E) ten

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What element of plantation life was missing from the Caribbean when Europeans established the plantation economy there?

A) labor
B) land
C) market for the plantation crop
D) a suitable commodity crop
E) All of the choices are correct answers.

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT a factor that has contributed to deforestation in the Caribbean?

A) the accidental introduction of exotic caterpillars that killed forests throughout the region
B) population growth
C) commercial harvesting of lumber
D) sugarcane plantations
E) provide fuel

Question 6

In which Caribbean country has contamination from sewage made half of its coastline unfit for swimming?

A) Cuba
B) Jamaica
C) Haiti
D) Puerto Rico
E) Guyana

Question 7

Beginning in the seventeenth century, the Caribbean forests were removed for all of the following purposes, EXCEPT

A) ship building.
B) to clear land for sugarcane cultivation.
C) fuel for sugar processing.
D) timber for home building.
E) the export of tropical hardwoods.

Question 8

Why hasn't the Caribbean Sea supported large commercial fishing operations?

A) Contamination of the water by raw sewage has made the fish in the Caribbean Sea too dangerous to eat.
B) The presence of sharks in the Caribbean Sea makes it too dangerous to fish there.
C) Other resources are much more valuable.
D) The quantity of any one species in the Caribbean Sea is limited.
E) A regional environmental agreement prohibits commercial fishing.

Question 9

According to the World Bank, ________ percent of Haiti's rural population has access to improved water sources.

A) 10
B) 25
C) 50
D) 75
E) 100

Question 10

Which Caribbean country is the site of a sanctuary for black howler monkeys created by local farmers?

A) Jamaica
B) Puerto Rico
C) Guyana
D) Cuba
E) Belize

Question 11

How much of its original forest cover has Haiti lost?

A) none of it
B) a little of it
C) half of it
D) most of it
E) all of it

Question 12

What effects are predicted for the Caribbean as global climate change increases average temperatures?

A) sea level rise
B) increased intensity of storms
C) variable rainfall leading to both floods and droughts
D) loss of biodiversity
E) All of the choices are correct.

Question 13

Which of the following islands is NOT part of the Greater Antilles?

A) Cuba
B) Hispaniola
C) Bahamas
D) Jamaica
E) Puerto Rico

Question 14

Which of the following crops is NOT one with which local Caribbean farmers have been experimenting as a substitute for bananas?

A) tomatoes
B) peanuts
C) marijuana
D) okra
E) avocados

Question 15

According to your text, how did European colonialists in the Caribbean view forests?

A) as unproductive
B) as a valuable resource worth preserving
C) as a beautiful environment
D) as a hunting ground
E) as a barrier to travel

Question 16

What practice was most responsible for the deforestation of the islands of the Caribbean?

A) road construction
B) subsistence agriculture
C) suburbanization
D) urbanization
E) sugarcane plantation agriculture

Question 17

Which of the following species has (have)become extinct as a consequence of deforestation in the Caribbean?

A) indigenous shrubs and trees
B) songbirds
C) monkeys and large mammals
D) monkeys, large mammals, and songbirds
E) indigenous shrubs and trees, monkeys, large mammals, and songbirds

Question 18

On which island of the Caribbean has the forest cover actually increased since the 1990s?

A) Jamaica
B) Haiti
C) Puerto Rico
D) Cuba
E) Dominican Republic

Question 19

What is the major threat to the forests in Guyana?

A) There has been increased settlement into the region by immigrants from other Caribbean locations.
B) Since the 1990s the Guyana government has made the wood processing industry a priority.
C) Climatic changes have led to a substantial decrease in the native tree species in the region.
D) The aridity of the region makes the trees prone to forest fires, which have increased in number in the last decade.
E) An exotic species of caterpillar that was accidentally introduced to the region is killing the trees by eating their leaves and laying their eggs in the branches.

Question 20

In which part of the Caribbean is the forest cover largely intact?

A) island states
B) rimland states
C) In no part of the Caribbean is the forest cover largely intact.
D) throughout the region
E) Puerto Rico

Question 21

Caribbean hurricanes

A) originate in the west Atlantic.
B) are not officially hurricanes until they reach winds of 110 miles per hour.
C) are relatively rare.
D) are a minor inconvenience, but not a real problem.
E) often enter the Caribbean at the Lesser Antilles.

Question 22

In which Caribbean country did the 1998 Hurricane Mitch have the most devastating effect?

A) Jamaica
B) Haiti
C) Dominican Republic
D) Cuba
E) Honduras

Question 23

Which Caribbean island has an active volcano?

A) Montserrat
B) Cuba
C) Jamaica
D) the Bahamas
E) Barbados

Question 24

What is the approximate population of the Caribbean?

A) 12 million
B) 22 million
C) 43 million
D) 57 million
E) 94 million

Question 25

Which of the following is NOT believed to be a cause of the high rate of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean?

A) prostitution
B) the region's proximity to Africa
C) international tourism
D) lack of education programs and screening
E) poverty

Question 26

Which Caribbean country has the lowest rates of natural increase in the region?

A) Cuba
B) Trinidad and Tobago
C) French Guiana
D) Belize
E) Haiti

Question 27

By the middle 1800s, when most colonial governments in the Caribbean began to free slaves, they sought indentured laborers from which other world region(s)?

A) East Africa
B) South and Southeastern Asia
C) North America
D) West Africa
E) Western and Southern Europe

Question 28

Where do the hurricanes that are so prevalent in the Caribbean originate?

A) in the Gulf of Mexico near Miami, Florida
B) in the Caribbean Sea, due east of Honduras
C) just east of the Lesser Antilles, in the Atlantic Ocean
D) off the coast of West Africa
E) in the Pacific Ocean, just south of Guatemala

Question 29

Of the following Caribbean countries, which one is the farthest north?

A) Jamaica
B) Belize
C) Haiti
D) Cuba
E) Suriname

Question 30

What percentage of the people in Haiti between the ages of 15 and 49 are infected with the HIV/AIDS virus?

A) just over 2%
B) about 10%
C) just under 15%
D) almost 20%
E) 25%

Question 31

Which U.S. city has become the destination of choice for Cubans migrating to the United States?

A) New York City
B) Houston
C) Los Angeles
D) Chicago
E) Miami

Question 32

What is the Caribbean diaspora?

A) the movement of Africans into the region during the twentieth century
B) the gradual separation of the islands through the tectonic movement of the Caribbean Plate
C) the economic flight of Caribbean peoples across the globe
D) the increasing number of international tourists to the region during the last twenty years
E) the refugee movements within each country in the region

Question 33

On which island of the Caribbean did HIV/AIDS first appear?

A) Haiti
B) Dominican Republic
C) Puerto Rico
D) Montserrat
E) Jamaica

Question 34

What countries are located in the rimland of the Caribbean?

A) Belize
B) Guyana and French Guiana
C) Suriname
D) Belize and Suriname
E) Belize, French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname

Question 35

What causes the destruction associated with hurricanes?

A) high winds
B) heavy downpours
C) severe flooding and coastal tidal surges
D) high winds and heavy downpours
E) high winds, heavy downpours, severe flooding and coastal tidal surges

Question 36

At what wind speed does a tropical disturbance become a hurricane?

A) 50 mph
B) 74 mph
C) 90 mph
D) 100 mph
E) 114 mph

Question 37

What percentage of the Caribbean population between the ages 15 and 49 has HIV/AIDS?

A) 1%
B) 4%
C) 9%
D) 12%
E) 16%

Question 38

What area within the Caribbean contains 87 percent of the population of this region?

A) Greater Antilles
B) Bahamas
C) Cayman Islands
D) Lesser Antilles
E) Turks and Caicos Islands

Question 39

Which of the following caused the deaths of indigenous peoples in the Caribbean?

A) warfare
B) enslavement
C) disease
D) enslavement and disease
E) disease, enslavement, and warfare

Question 40

Which Caribbean country experienced a devastating earthquake in January 2010?

A) Cuba
B) Jamaica
C) the Bahamas
D) Haiti
E) Barbados

Question 41

What well-known form of music is most closely associated with the Caribbean?

A) jazz
B) reggae
C) heavy metal
D) rap
E) rock and roll

Question 42

Which of the following Caribbean countries had the smallest percentage of its population living in urban areas?

A) Suriname
B) Haiti
C) Cuba
D) Bahamas
E) Puerto Rico

Question 43

What is the primary reason that Caribbean colonies began to turn to indentured labor as a workforce in the mid-nineteenth century?

A) These individuals tended to work harder than slaves.
B) By this period most of the colonial governments began to free their slaves.
C) By this time nearly the entire African continent had been depopulated.
D) By this period most of the African slaves in the Caribbean colonies had fled to Maroon settlements.
E) There was a need for the highly specialized skills they brought.

Question 44

Where do many of the economic migrants to Caribbean cities live once they reach the urban areas?

A) in apartment blocks
B) in private boarding houses
C) in squatter settlements or shanty towns
D) in tent cities set up in city parks
E) in housing set up by their employers

Question 45

What were Maroon societies?

A) the Caribbean elite who were the descendants of white plantation owners
B) communist groups who sought independence from their respective nations
C) artist colonies that were formed during the second half of the twentieth century
D) inhabitants of the Caribbean who originally came as tourists, then stayed
E) communities of escaped slaves that were usually formed in remote areas

Question 46

From which two world regions did the indentured workers of Suriname come?

A) India and Borneo
B) South Asia and Java
C) China and Hong Kong
D) Kenya and Ethiopia
E) Ghana and Tanzania

Question 47

Which of the following areas received the largest number of slaves between 1451 and 1870?

A) the French Caribbean
B) the Danish Caribbean
C) the British Caribbean
D) Spanish America
E) the Middle East

Question 48

Which of the following religious traditions is LEAST common in Brazil?

A) Umbanda
B) Protestantism
C) Macuba
D) Candomble
E) Catholicism

Question 49

Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons for treating the Caribbean as a region that is distinct from Latin America?

A) The region contains a large native population that still exists on the landscape today.
B) It has a more diverse European colonial history.
C) There is a stronger African influence in the region.
D) The region lacks a strong Iberian influence.
E) The region has only a minor legacy of Amerindians.

Question 50

Maroon societies

A) existed only in the Caribbean islands.
B) usually included blacks and whites.
C) allowed the perpetuation of African culture.
D) usually had the official blessing of colonial governments.
E) were made up of indentured servants who completed their work terms.

Question 51

Which of the following types of music is NOT associated with the Caribbean?

A) reggae
B) calypso
C) merengue
D) jazz
E) rumba

Question 52

To which of the countries below would a person who is part of the Caribbean diaspora be LEAST likely to emigrate?

A) United States
B) Canada
C) Germany
D) France
E) England

Question 53

From which part of Africa did the majority of slaves who were brought to the Caribbean come?

A) West Africa
B) South Africa
C) East Africa
D) North Africa
E) the Horn of Africa

Question 54

Indigenous peoples in which of the following regions had the highest death rates as a result of European colonization?

A) Caribbean
B) North America
C) Central America
D) South America
E) Latin America

Question 55

Why are squatter settlements absent from Cuba?

A) The government of Cuba prohibited rural-to-urban migration.
B) The government destroyed all squatter settlements and sent their residents back to the rural areas.
C) Local cultural norms do not condone squatter settlements.
D) The socialist government provides affordable apartments.
E) The pace of urbanization was slow enough to enable private developers to build affordable housing for migrants to the cities.

Question 56

Which pattern of emigration from the Caribbean is LEAST likely to occur?

A) A Haitian migrates to Liverpool, England.
B) A citizen of Barbados settles in the London suburb of Brixton.
C) A Puerto Rican moves to New York City.
D) A native of Suriname sets up housekeeping in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
E) A Cuban establishes residency in Miami, Florida.

Question 57

Why were many cities of the Caribbean surrounded by walls?

A) to protect against attacks by indigenous peoples
B) to protect against against raids from rival European powers and pirates
C) to protect against raids by Maroons
D) to protect people from attacks by wild animals
E) The walls were nothing more than copies of European architectural styles.

Question 58

What is "indentured labor"?

A) another phrase for slavery
B) professional workers specially recruited for niche positions
C) workers contracted to work on estates for a set period of time
D) workers who leave home on a seasonal basis for temporary work, usually harvesting crops
E) workers in technical fields

Question 59

From which country did the indentured workers who migrated to Guyana and Trinidad come?

A) India
B) China
C) Kenya
D) Tanzania
E) Ghana

Question 60

What is creolization?

A) the development of a Caribbean-based cuisine (food preparation)
B) the evolution of a Caribbean language family
C) the blending of African and European cultures in the Caribbean
D) the creation of a distinctive Caribbean-style political system
E) the means by which Caribbean nations gained their independence

Question 61

Which of the Caribbean countries is a Crown Colony?

A) Honduras
B) Suriname
C) Martinique
D) Cayman Islands
E) Cuba

Question 62

Which of the following is not a Crown Colony (a possession of Great Britain)?

A) Anguilla
B) Cayman Islands
C) Montserrat
D) Haiti
E) Turcs and Caicos

Question 63

CARICOM

A) has succeeded in removing nearly all barriers to Caribbean trade.
B) was initiated in the late 1940s.
C) includes nearly all of the Caribbean nations.
D) was formed to set environmental standards for the Caribbean.
E) was formed by former British colonies.

Question 64

Why did Puerto Rico dispute claims for the island of Vieques with the U.S.?

A) Cuba has established a military outpost on the island.
B) The U.S. military has been using the island as a bombing range.
C) The island nation of Grenada has established claims to the island.
D) The island contains a vast array of mineral wealth that could be used to bolster the Puerto Rican economy.
E) It is an excellent tourist destination.

Question 65

In which Caribbean country is the Santeria religion most common?

A) French Guiana
B) Hispaniola
C) Cuba
D) Belize
E) Suriname

Question 66

What was the name of the official United States policy that held that the United States would not tolerate European military involvement in the Western Hemisphere?

A) Manifest Destiny
B) the Monroe Doctrine
C) the New Deal
D) the Great Society
E) the U.S. Constitution

Question 67

By the early twentieth century, which foreign country was dominant in the Caribbean?

A) Britain
B) Spain
C) France
D) United States
E) Russia

Question 68

Which Caribbean country has no diplomatic relations with the U.S.?

A) Virgin Islands
B) Puerto Rico
C) Cuba
D) Haiti
E) Jamaica

Question 69

Colonialism in the Caribbean

A) depended on native Indians for labor.
B) was relatively benign.
C) relied on plantation agriculture.
D) had little support in Europe.
E) began in 1776 with the founding of the United States.

Question 70

The isolated proximity of the Caribbean refers to all of the following EXCEPT

A) the sustained cultural diversity that the region has maintained.
B) the early and continued independence of all of the nations contained within the region.
C) the limited economic opportunities the region has been offered.
D) the geographic closeness to North America.
E) the region's unique position in the world.

Question 71

What event secured Cuba's freedom from Spain?

A) the signing of the Monroe Doctrine
B) the Cuban Missile Crisis
C) the Bay of Pigs invasion
D) the Spanish-American War
E) All of the choices are correct.

Question 72

Which Caribbean country was a close ally of the former Soviet Union in the Cold War era after World War II?

A) Cuba
B) Puerto Rico
C) Haiti
D) Jamaica
E) Montserrat

Question 73

How did the U.S. acquire the U.S. Virgin Islands?

A) The U.S. acquired them illegally from France.
B) The U.S. traded the Bahamas to get them from the United Kingdom.
C) The U.S. won them in the Spanish American War.
D) The U.S. purchased them from Denmark.
E) Citizens of the Virgin Islands voted to become a territory of the U.S.

Question 74

What is the source of the place-name, "Caribbean"?

A) the French explorer who discovered the region
B) its major export
C) its former native people
D) the primary language in the region
E) the species of tree that dominates the region

Question 75

Which of the following African traditions survived in the Caribbean because of Maroons?

A) farming practices
B) house designs
C) farming practices and house designs
D) language
E) farming practices, house designs, and language

Question 76

Which American president was responsible for the construction of the Panama Canal?

A) William McKinley
B) Warren Harding
C) Woodrow Wilson
D) Ronald Reagan
E) Theodore Roosevelt

Question 77

What is the political status of Puerto Rico?

A) It is an independent country.
B) It is a possession of the United States, but its residents are not U.S. citizens.
C) It is a commonwealth of the U.S. and its residents can move freely to the U.S. mainland
D) It is a colony of Spain.
E) It is a state of the Republic of the Greater Antilles.

Question 78

Which Caribbean country has presented the most serious threat to U.S. foreign policy interests since the 1950s?

A) Grenada
B) Jamaica
C) Cuba
D) Haiti
E) Panama

Question 79

Which region of the Americas was the first to be extensively explored and colonized by Europeans?

A) the eastern seacoast of what is now the United States
B) the Caribbean
C) the west coast of what is now the United States
D) the Amazon region
E) the Pampas

Question 80

What is the most common language in the Caribbean?

A) English
B) Spanish
C) French
D) Dutch
E) Portuguese