Deck 7: Latin America and the Caribbean

Question 1

When did Panama become independent of Colombia?

A) 1873
B) 1783
C) 2003
D) 1903
E) none of these

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of these was a provision of the Hay/Bunau-Varilla Treaty between Panama and the U.S.?

A) Panama conceded rights to the United States in the Panama Canal Zone "as if it were sovereign."
B) The United States could build a canal in the Zone.
C) The United States could administer, fortify, and defend the Canal Zone "in perpetuity."
D) It provided all of these.
E) It provided none of these.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The Panama Canal joins what two water bodies?

A) the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean
B) the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean
C) the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea
D) the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico
E) The Panama Canal does not join two water bodies.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The 1985 earthquake in ________ killed as many as 10,000 people and resulted in massive destruction in the downtown.

A) Mexico City
B) Sao Paulo
C) Managua
D) Quito
E) Asuncion

Question 5

All of these are shared characteristics of most Latin American countries, except ________.

A) common experience of colonialism
B) dominance of the Spanish and Portuguese languages
C) religion (Roman Catholicism)
D) legal and political institutions
E) All of these are shared characteristics.

Question 6

Where is Lake Maracaibo located?

A) Venezuela
B) Mexico
C) Peru
D) Bolivia
E) Brazil

Question 7

Governments in Latin America have a bias in favor of ________ regions by providing more services and investments to these specific areas.

A) urban
B) rural
C) coastal
D) export-producing
E) They have no bias in favor of any particular region.

Question 8

Why is Mexico City especially vulnerable to earthquakes?

A) It is near the ocean.
B) It is built on a former lake bed.
C) It is 7000 feet above sea level.
D) It is 200 feet below sea level.
E) poor building standards

Question 9

When did Panama regain control of the Panama Canal?

A) 1977
B) 1999
C) 1983
D) 2006
E) Panama has not regained control of the Canal.

Question 10

When were wild plants and animals domesticated by native Latin Americans?

A) 10,000 years ago
B) 20,000 years ago
C) 1,000 years ago
D) 5,000 years ago
E) 500 years ago

Question 11

The Mayan culture reached its peak of development during this time period.

A) 600 B.C. to A.D. 800
B) 6 B.C. to A.D. 1800
C) 600 B.C. to A.D. 1
D) 1 B.C. to A.D. 800
E) none of these

Question 12

What Latin American country was affected the most by Hurricane Mitch in late October 1998?

A) Chile
B) Guyana
C) Honduras
D) Brazil
E) Mexico

Question 13

This important resource was discovered in the Amazon in 1967.

A) uranium
B) coal
C) natural gas
D) oil
E) The Amazon does not have fossil fuel resources.

Question 14

Which of these is(are) associated with "El Nino?"

A) the ocean warms off the coast of Peru
B) heavy rain and flooding along the Peruvian coast
C) drought in northeast Brazil
D) floods on the Parana River
E) all of these

Question 15

Volcanic eruptions in the 1990s on this island forced the evacuation of more than two-thirds of the island's population.

A) Montserrat
B) Aruba
C) Bonaire
D) Grenada
E) Dominica

Question 16

In the mining districts of the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes, what was the most important mineral excavated during the colonial period?

A) gold
B) silver
C) copper
D) iron
E) none of the above

Question 17

Who was the Panamanian leader implicated in drug trafficking?

A) Manuel Noriega
B) Fidel Castro
C) Jean Bertrand Aristide
D) Hugo Chavez
E) Augusto Pinochet

Question 18

What term is used to define money that is sent back to Latin America and the Caribbean from people working temporarily or permanently in other countries?

A) braceros
B) remittances
C) work fund
D) caceros
E) none of the above

Question 19

What is the name of the Mexican government's oil company?

A) PEMEX
B) MEXPEM
C) PIMCO
D) MIXTEC
E) none of these

Question 20

Where is the Atacama Desert located?

A) in Patagonia
B) in southeastern Brazil
C) east of the Andes
D) in Mexico
E) on the Pacific coast of South America

Question 21

The Treaty of Tordesillas was an agreement made by Pope Alexander VI in 1494 to divide the world between ________ and ________ along a north-south line 1100 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands.

A) Spain/France
B) Spain/Portugal
C) Portugal/Great Britain
D) Portugal/France
E) France/Great Britain

Question 22

This is the most likely addition to NAFTA.

A) Chile
B) Argentina
C) Venezuela
D) Bolivia
E) Brazil

Question 23

All of these countries are located in Central America except ________.

A) Paraguay
B) Guatemala
C) Panama
D) Nicaragua
E) Costa Rica

Question 24

This is the highest mountain in the Andes.

A) Aconcagua
B) Machu Pichu
C) Denali
D) Altiplano
E) none of these

Question 25

Most people in Latin America speak Spanish or ________.

A) Portuguese
B) French
C) English
D) a Native American language
E) German

Question 26

Which of these is an example of a syncretic religious practice?

A) Candomble
B) Umbanda
C) Voodoo
D) Santeria
E) They all are.

Question 27

The ________ have been called Latin America's "lost decade" because of the slowdown in growth and deterioration in living standards that occurred during that decade.

A) 1870s
B) 1950s
C) 1980s
D) 1930s
E) None of these is the "lost decade" of Latin America.

Question 28

On what was the first "boom" in Manaus, Brazil based?

A) cocoa
B) gold
C) diamonds
D) natural rubber
E) petroleum

Question 29

In the 1970s, this Brazilian region was seen by the Brazilian government as a pressure valve for landless and impoverished peasants in other regions and as a way of securing national territory through settlement.

A) the Amazon basin
B) the Northeast
C) the Southeast
D) the South
E) the area around Brasilia

Question 30

This is the downside of tourism.

A) pollution of oceans, reefs, and beaches by ships
B) competition for fresh water and higher food prices for local residents
C) cultural and social stresses from interactions between the wealthy visitors and poorer residents
D) prostitution and drugs
E) all of these

Question 31

All of these are desert regions in South America except ________.

A) the Pantanal
B) the Atacama
C) Patagonia
D) All of these are desert.
E) None of these is desert.

Question 32

Columbus landed in October, 1492 in what is today ________.

A) the Bahamas
B) Cuba
C) Dominican Republic
D) Mexico
E) Florida

Question 33

What was the "Columbian Exchange"?

A) the interaction between the ecologies of two continents
B) the silver and gold trade with Europe
C) the adoption of European cultural practices
D) the slave trade from Africa to the Caribbean
E) none of these

Question 34

The Amazon basin makes up about 2/3 of this country.

A) Mexico
B) Argentina
C) Colombia
D) Venezuela
E) Brazil

Question 35

Manaus is a port on what water body?

A) the Caribbean Sea
B) the Atlantic Ocean
C) the Pacific Ocean
D) the Orinoco River
E) the Amazon River

Question 36

Which of these major river systems in South America flows into the Pacific Ocean?

A) Amazon
B) Orinoco
C) Plata
D) All of these flow into the Pacific Ocean.
E) None of these flow into the Pacific Ocean.

Question 37

Where is Iguaçu Falls located?

A) on the Paraná River, where Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay meet
B) on the Amazon River in central Brazil
C) on the Orinoco River in Venezuela
D) between Mexico and Guatemala
E) on the Magdalena River in Colombia

Question 38

What is the dominant religion in Latin America?

A) Catholic
B) Protestant
C) Islam
D) traditional Amerindian religion
E) none of the above

Question 39

Which of the following is(are) true of liberation theology?

A) It focused on the poor and disadvantaged.
B) It is informed by the perceived preference of Jesus for the poor and helpless.
C) It was influenced by the writings of Karl Marx and other revolutionaries.
D) It was espoused by the Second Vatican Council, called by Pope John XXIII in 1962.
E) All of these are true.

Question 40

Which of these was introduced by the Europeans into Latin America after 1492?

A) cattle
B) horses
C) sheep
D) all of these
E) none of these

Question 41

This was one of the centers of administration of the viceroyalty of New Spain.

A) Caracas
B) Buenos Aires
C) Lima
D) Quito
E) Havana

Question 42

A favelas is a Brazilian term for an informal settlement that grows up around an urban core.

Question 43

The westerlies are air movements from the Tropics to the Poles that are dragged into a west-to-east flow.

Question 44

What was "The Demographic Collapse" in Latin America?

A) the result of epidemics of diseases introduced by the Europeans
B) a decline already in progress when the Europeans arrived
C) the result of the high rates of internal migration after WW II
D) the transition from high growth to low growth through birth control
E) the result of civil wars prevalent during the 19th century

Question 45

This agricultural system is often used in tropical forests that involves cutting tree and brush and burning them so that crops can benefit from cleared ground and nutrients in the ash

A) intensive subsistence
B) swidden
C) nomadism
D) fallow farming

Question 46

Sugar grown on plantations in ________ and southern Mexico were important export commodities in Spanish colonial America.

A) Venezuela
B) Cuba
C) Columbia
D) Brazil
E) none of the above

Question 47

Which of the following regions/countries received independence last?

A) Caribbean
B) Central America
C) South America
D) Mexico
E) They all gained independence at the same time.

Question 48

The Altiplano are the high elevation plateaus and basins that lie within even higher mountains.

Question 49

Which of these regions is mostly covered with grasslands?

A) llanos of Venezuela
B) cerrados of Brazil
C) pampas of Argentina
D) They are all grasslands.
E) None of these is grassland.

Question 50

The Andes Mountains run parallel to the west coast of South America.

Question 51

The silver mines at Potosi are now within ________.

A) Chile
B) Argentina
C) Uruguay
D) Colombia
E) none of the above

Question 52

The "pristine myth" of pre-Columbian Latin America is the idea that native peoples had had little impact on the environment before the Europeans arrived.

Question 53

Ecotourism in Costa Rica has been criticized by environmentalists as irresponsible and destructive to the environment.

Question 54

What area did the Incans occupy?

A) Yucatan Peninsula
B) Brazilian Highlands
C) Andes Mountains
D) All of these were part of the Incan Empire.
E) none of the above

Question 55

Who lived in "Maroon communities"?

A) escaped and liberated slaves
B) people of mixed racial ancestry
C) Native American tribes that did not want to assimilate
D) South Asians
E) none of these

Question 56

Slave imports to Latin America from Africa totaled 20 million people during the colonial period.

Question 57

Many scholars believe that one reason for the collapse of the Mayans was their wars with the Aztecs.

Question 58

All of these are native South American plants except ________.

A) coffee
B) coca
C) tobacco
D) potatoes
E) All of these are native South American plants.

Question 59

The Incas developed the chinampa agricultural system.

Question 60

Marianismo constructs the ideal woman in the image of the Virgin Mary.

Question 61

Match each country with its capital.

A) Colombia
B) Peru
C) Bolivia
D) Cuba
E) Chile
F) Paraguay
G) Uruguay
H) Ecuador
I) Argentina
J) Costa Rica
K) Nicaragua
Quito

Question 62

Most Latin Americans live in small villages.

Question 63

Match each country with its capital.

A) Colombia
B) Peru
C) Bolivia
D) Cuba
E) Chile
F) Paraguay
G) Uruguay
H) Ecuador
I) Argentina
J) Costa Rica
K) Nicaragua
Havana

Question 64

Why did cities in Latin America grow so rapidly during the 20th century? What are some of the major environmental and social problems associated with this rapid growth?

Question 65

Discuss the impact of Brazilian government policy on the Amazon rainforest in the 1970s. How did political leaders view the Amazon? Did they see it as an obstacle or an asset? What steps did they take to encourage and ensure settlement in this region?

Question 66

A Mulatto is a person of European and African-American descent.

Question 67

How did colonialism restructure the economies of Latin America? What is meant by "import substitution"? How does import substitution differ from neoliberalism and free trade?

Question 68

Match each country with its capital.

A) Colombia
B) Peru
C) Bolivia
D) Cuba
E) Chile
F) Paraguay
G) Uruguay
H) Ecuador
I) Argentina
J) Costa Rica
K) Nicaragua
Asuncion

Question 69

A Mestizo is a person of European and African-American descent.

Question 70

Match each country with its capital.

A) Colombia
B) Peru
C) Bolivia
D) Cuba
E) Chile
F) Paraguay
G) Uruguay
H) Ecuador
I) Argentina
J) Costa Rica
K) Nicaragua
Lima

Question 71

The majority of people in Latin America live in cities.

Question 72

Match each country with its capital.

A) Colombia
B) Peru
C) Bolivia
D) Cuba
E) Chile
F) Paraguay
G) Uruguay
H) Ecuador
I) Argentina
J) Costa Rica
K) Nicaragua
Buenos Aires

Question 73

Why is Latin America particularly vulnerable to natural hazards? How have climate change and land alterations, such as deforestation, exacerbated these risks?

Question 74

Match each country with its capital.

A) Colombia
B) Peru
C) Bolivia
D) Cuba
E) Chile
F) Paraguay
G) Uruguay
H) Ecuador
I) Argentina
J) Costa Rica
K) Nicaragua
Bogota

Question 75

Match each country with its capital.

A) Colombia
B) Peru
C) Bolivia
D) Cuba
E) Chile
F) Paraguay
G) Uruguay
H) Ecuador
I) Argentina
J) Costa Rica
K) Nicaragua
La Paz

Question 76

Studies suggest that NAFTA has led to the decrease of thousands of jobs in Mexico.

Question 77

Match each country with its capital.

A) Colombia
B) Peru
C) Bolivia
D) Cuba
E) Chile
F) Paraguay
G) Uruguay
H) Ecuador
I) Argentina
J) Costa Rica
K) Nicaragua
Montevideo

Question 78

Match each country with its capital.

A) Colombia
B) Peru
C) Bolivia
D) Cuba
E) Chile
F) Paraguay
G) Uruguay
H) Ecuador
I) Argentina
J) Costa Rica
K) Nicaragua
Santiago

Question 79

Match each country with its capital.

A) Colombia
B) Peru
C) Bolivia
D) Cuba
E) Chile
F) Paraguay
G) Uruguay
H) Ecuador
I) Argentina
J) Costa Rica
K) Nicaragua
Managua

Question 80

Match each country with its capital.

A) Colombia
B) Peru
C) Bolivia
D) Cuba
E) Chile
F) Paraguay
G) Uruguay
H) Ecuador
I) Argentina
J) Costa Rica
K) Nicaragua
San Jose