Deck 6: The Human Population and Urbanization

Question 1

Scientists can now predict with precision the environmental limits that will control growth of the human population.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Human population growth since 1960 has been evenly distributed around the world.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Countries and areas where people have good access to family planning, economic opportunities for women, and schooling for girls generally higher birth rates than those where these things are less available.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Women who live in rural areas have a lower total fertility rate than those in urban areas.

Question 5

Family planning has been very successful in India, stabilizing the size of the population.

Question 6

During the preindustrial stage of the demographic transition, a country has relatively slow population growth despite a high birth rate because the death rate is so high.

Question 7

As countries develop economically, birth and death rates generally decline.

Question 8

The United States admits fewer immigrants than most other industrialized nations.

Question 9

In areas with low infant mortality rates, women tend to have fewer children because their children are more likely to survive to adulthood.

Question 10

The availability of, or lack of, private and public pension funds can influence the decision of some couples on how many children to have.

Question 11

Full-cost pricing reduces automobile use by increasing taxes on property in suburbs.

Question 12

Although car sharing has been successful in Europe, it has never been tried in the United States.

Question 13

Urban areas have some environmental advantages.

Question 14

Over the last 200 years, death rates have dropped sharply because of improved sanitation and health care, including the development of antibiotics and vaccines to help control infectious diseases.

Question 15

Early and modern agriculture has been a major factor in the rapid rise of the human population.

Question 16

The rate of population growth has slowed since 1960, but the world's population is still growing.

Question 17

If a country has a declining population without ways to increase the proportion of young, working individuals, then economic problems may result because so many people require government expenditures relative to those paying taxes to support the expenditures.

Question 18

Cities can't ever be sustainable because they have such high concentrations of people, automobiles, business enterprises, and industries.

Question 19

Populations grow only through increases in the birth rate and reductions in the death rate.

Question 20

Urban areas are attracting more and more residents, partly because of the hope that employment is more readily available there than in rural areas.

Question 21

The demographic transition model helps to explain why ____.

A) death rates rise in industrializing nations
B) industrialization leads to population growth
C) development requires large populations
D) birth rates fall before death rates
E) death rates fall before birth rates

Question 22

Age structure diagrams ____.

A) show only two age groups: reproductive and not-reproductive
B) show the number of males and females in the reproductive age categories only
C) are strictly for present use and do not provide insight into future trends
D) are useful for studying developing countries but not developed countries
E) are useful for predicting population momentum

Question 23

Urban sprawl ____.

A) improves downtown business districts
B) improves urban air quality
C) reduces population growth
D) eliminates agricultural- and wild-lands around many cities
E) decreases energy use

Question 24

The TFR of a country is often increased by ____.

A) greater urbanization and reduced population density in rural areas
B) pollution and economic decline in both rural and urban areas
C) a society in which children are important in the labor force and to help with daily tasks
D) decreased immigration
E) higher average age at marriage and availability of birth control

Question 25

The global population of ____ is projected to triple between 2016 and 2050.

A) people who are 65 and older
B) women
C) men
D) men who are 15 to 45
E) people who are 10 and younger

Question 26

Educational and employment opportunities available for women affect population growth because ____.

A) infant mortality rates tend to increase
B) competition in the workforce leaves men less financially secure
C) emigration increases
D) total fertility rates tend to be low when women have access to education and paid employment outside the home
E) total fertility rates tend to be higher when women have the financial security to have more children

Question 27

China's one-child policy ____.

A) has had no effect on population growth
B) has not yet been enacted
C) has been copied by many other countries around the world
D) has been praised for improving human rights
E) was created amidst the threat of mass starvation due to rapid population growth

Question 28

The change in human population over the last 200 years ____.

A) has mainly involved regional differences, while the total number has remained constant
B) has reduced the total population
C) is sustainable
D) has followed an S-curve
E) has followed a J-curve

Question 29

People who specifically study the growth patterns and socioeconomic characteristics of human populations are called ___.

A) geographers
B) demographers
C) crytographers
D) ecologists
E) environmentalists

Question 30

The most important factor contributing to a high infant mortality rate is usually ____.

A) a high standard of living
B) undernutrition
C) obesity
D) air pollution
E) affluence

Question 31

To keep human population constant, the global total fertility rate would have to equal ____.

A) 0
B) 0.5
C) 1
D) 2.1
E) 2.9

Question 32

Rapidly growing countries have an age structure that ____.

A) forms an inverted pyramid
B) has a broad-based pyramid
C) shows little variation in population by age
D) has a narrow pyramid
E) has a relatively large post-reproductive population

Question 33

The largest generation currently living in the United States is ____.

A) Generation Y
B) the baby boom generation
C) the Millennial Generation
D) generation X
E) the senior generation

Question 34

Cities can be susceptible to flooding because ____.

A) they are usually built in closed depressions with no outlet for water
B) buildings and paved surfaces increase runoff and can overload storm drains
C) rainfall is greatly increased over cities
D) there are more trees to take up water
E) they are rarely built near rivers that can carry the water away

Question 35

If current trends continue, China's population of 1.37 billion is projected to ____.

A) double by the end of the century
B) peak at 1.45 billion by 2030
C) stay at its current level indefinitely
D) continue increasing rapidly until 2050, but stabilize by the end of this century
E) stay near its current level until 2050, but increase again after that

Question 36

The average number of children born to women in a population during their reproductive years is the ____.

A) crude birth rate
B) total birth rate
C) total fertility rate
D) crude fertility rate
E) population's natural rate of increase

Question 37

One reason birth and fertility rates in more-developed countries tend to be lower is that ____.

A) infant mortality is higher
B) the cost of raising and educating children is much higher
C) pollution has drastically decreased fertility in these countries
D) all of these countries have restrictions on the number of children a couple can have
E) marriage is much less common

Question 38

The term demographic transition refers to ____.

A) a requirement for a population to reach a specific size before it becomes stable
B) the slowing down in the growth of a population as it approaches the carrying capacity
C) the decline in death rates followed by decline in birth rates when a country becomes industrialized
D) the decline in death rates followed by a decline in birth rates that occurred when the germ theory of disease was discovered
E) a stabilization of crude birth rates

Question 39

The continent with the most rapid population growth is ____.

A) Asia
B) Africa
C) Europe
D) North America
E) South America

Question 40

Which of the following implies the greatest built-in momentum for population growth?

A) a large population size
B) a large number of people age 29-44
C) a large number of people under age 34
D) a large number of people under age 15
E) a large number of people over the age of 45

Question 41

One an advantage of buses in cities is that they ____.

A) cost-effective only in densely populated areas
B) are quiet and nonpolluting
C) burn no fossil fuels
D) uses less land than roads and parking lots use
E) can be rerouted as needed

Question 42

Urban populations occupy only about 2.8% of the earth's land area, but they consume ____ of its resources.

A) 10%
B) 20%
C) 45%
D) 55%
E) 75%

Question 43

Between 1850 and 2016, the global urban revolution resulted in urban population increasing from ____.

A) 2% to 54%
B) 7% to 22%
C) 14% to 33%
D) 15% to 92%
E) 45% to 95%

Question 44

Which of the following takes the fewest resources to manufacture?

A) Rapid rail
B) Mass transit rail
C) Buses
D) Cars
E) Bicycles

Question 45

The population of ____ has the highest percentage of elderly people.

A) Japan
B) the United States
C) China
D) India
E) Uganda

Question 46

In 1969, planners in which Brazilian city decided to focus on an inexpensive and efficient mass-transit system rather than on the car?

A) Rio de Janeiro
B) Curitiba
C) Porto Alegre
D) Salvador
E) Natal

Question 47

One of the cultural preferences driving couples to continue having children in India is ____.

A) the preference for female children
B) the desire to have both male and female children
C) the preference for male children
D) a child benefit paid by the government
E) a prohibition against birth control methods

Question 48

Urban sprawl is partly the product of ____.

A) the desire of many city-dwellers to reconnect with nature
B) uneven taxation
C) the high cost of open land
D) public transportation
E) federal and state funding of highways and inadequate urban planning

Question 49

Some governments have addressed the problems associated with slums and squatter settlements by granting legal titles to the land because ____.

A) they are forced to by protests and riots
B) residents can use the title to get loans
C) poor people usually improve their living conditions once they know they have a permanent place to live
D) property taxes then provide enough funds to extend services into these areas
E) this absolves the government of any obligation to assist the residents

Question 50

Although motor vehicles are associated with pollution and other environmental concerns, one advantage of them is that ____.

A) they often help to reduce traffic congestion in large cities
B) they reduce carbon dioxide emissions and ozone pollution from industrial sources
C) they produce fewer greenhouse gases than other forms of transport
D) they are safer than public transport such as buses and trains.
E) they are responsible for much of the world's economy in terms of production and related services

Question 51

Most of the revenue from gasoline taxes in the United States is used ____.

A) for social programs
B) to fund more efficient motor vehicles
C) to ease the tax burden on the poor
D) to reduce the price of motor vehicles
E) for building and improving highways for motor vehicles

Question 52

Family planning is often ____.

A) prohibitively expensive
B) cost-effective as it saves more money than it costs
C) relatively cost-ineffective as it costs little more than it saves
D) expensive in some countries, even though it is inexpensive in others
E) cost-free

Question 53

Areas on the outskirts of cities where people build shacks from corrugated metal, plastic sheets, scrap wood, and other scavenged building materials are called ____.

A) urban islands
B) tenements
C) suburbs
D) shantytowns
E) exurbs

Question 54

Of the 30 megacities in existence in 2016, ____.

A) most were in developed countries
B) only one was in a less-developed country
C) about half were in less-developed countries
D) 22 were in less-developed countries
E) all but one were in less-developed countries

Question 55

Which of the following is true in eco-cities?

A) Abandoned lots and industrial sites are left alone rather than developed.
B) The focus is only on the city, not on surrounding natural areas and farms.
C) The city is allowed to grow naturally, rather than through urban planning.
D) Food comes from local sources, including rooftop gardens.
E) Eco-friendly car use is encouraged by special traffic lanes and rules.

Question 56

One important trend seen in urban populations is that ____.

A) people are increasingly moving from urban areas to rural areas
B) poverty is becoming more urbanized
C) urban areas are getting smaller
D) urban areas are becoming less polluted
E) pollution is dropping because public transport is becoming increasingly common

Question 57

Car-sharing networks work by ____.

A) providing vehicles that members can reserve for use
B) connecting people who want to purchase a car as a group and share it
C) connecting people who could ride together to get to work
D) enabling people to rent out their vehicles when they are not using them
E) helping small groups of people invest in new taxi services

Question 58

Pollutant levels in cities are ____.

A) the same as in rural areas because of atmospheric mixing
B) generally lower than in suburbs
C) generally higher than in rural areas
D) rapidly increasing all around the world
E) rapidly decreasing all around the world

Question 59

Central-city dwellers ____.

A) use more energy to heat and cool buildings than people elsewhere
B) tend to drive less and rely more on public transportation
C) have less access to family planning than people living in rural areas
D) suffer higher infant mortality than rural populations
E) tend to lack access to education

Question 60

Women who cannot ____ often have more children than those who can.

A) read
B) prepare food
C) avoid attending school
D) marry at a young age
E) stay home to raise children

Question 63

In an eco-city, plants are utilized to provide shade and beauty. Typically, the plants are ____.

A) always fast-growing, broadleaf plants
B) adapted to local climate and soils
C) adapted so they do not use much water
D) resistant to pests
E) always endemic plants

Question 65

Most cities do not benefit from the free ecosystem services provided by ____, including air purification, generation of oxygen, removal of atmospheric carbon dioxide, control of soil erosion, and the provision of habitat for wildlife.

A) Meat production
B) The ocean
C) Rainforests in the tropics
D) Bacteria
E) Vegetation

Question 66

People who have to leave their homes and sometimes their countries because of water or food shortages, soil erosion, or some other form of environmental degradation or depletion are called ____________________.

Question 68

The period of high birth rates in the United States between 1946 and 1964 is known as the ____________________.

Question 70

Smart growth tools include greenbelts around cities, promoting mixed use of housing and small businesses, and ____.

A) extensive freeway networks to provide efficient travel to and from work
B) concentrating development away from mass transportation routes
C) taxing land instead of buildings
D) avoiding the construction of expensive mass transit systems
E) leaving abandoned urban sites as they are

Question 71

____________________ involves the provision of education and clinical services that can help couples to choose how many children to have and when to have them.

Question 72

Human populations grow or decline in particular countries, cities, or other areas through the interplay of three factors: births, ____________________, and migration.

Question 73

An eco-city is ____.

A) car-oriented
B) industry-oriented
C) profit-oriented
D) people-oriented
E) family-oriented

Question 74

Give two reasons why larger families are still common in India, despite access to modern birth control methods.

Question 75

The population of a country will decline if its age structure diagram ____.

A) is widest in the middle
B) does not change in width until the very top
C) is shaped like a skinny pyramid
D) is shaped like a broad-based pyramid
E) is wider at the top than at the bottom

Question 76

The movement of people into and out of specific geographic areas is called ____________________.

Question 77

____________________ refers to a process in which an increasing proportion of an entire population lives in cities and in the suburbs of cities.

Question 78

The average number of years a person born in the year of the estimate can be expected to live is the ____________________ for that cohort of individuals.

Question 79

Give one reason why taxing gasoline heavily would be difficult in the United States.

Question 80

When births plus immigration exceed deaths plus emigration, a population _________________________.