Deck 6: Agriculture

Question 1

According to your text,about what percent of the populations of the United Kingdom and the U.S.are engaged in the agricultural sector?

A) 2%
B) 8%
C) 10%
D) 25%
E) 50%

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Market gardening (or truck farming)in the U.S.relies on what type of labor?

A) family members
B) indentured workers
C) professional harvesters
D) seasonal migrants
E) They do not rely on human labor; the crops are harvested by machinery.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

What is the most common type of organization structure in most U.S.food companies?

A) vertical integration
B) horizontal integration
C) diversification
D) A and B above
E) A, B, and C above

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What was the Third Agricultural Revolution?

A) development of hunting and gathering societies
B) formation of a global agricultural system
C) domestication of plants and animals
D) industrialization of Agriculture
E) establishment of the World Trade Organization

Question 5

Which of the following would have been LEAST likely to be a plantation crop?

A) tea
B) sugar cane
C) cocoa
D) cotton
E) corn

Question 6

What is another name for swidden agriculture or shifting cultivation?

A) pastoral nomadism
B) industrial agriculture
C) livestock ranching
D) slash-and-burn agriculture
E) dairy farming

Question 7

What agricultural practice represents the first wave in the global commodification of agriculture?

A) swidden
B) pastoralism
C) horticulture
D) plantations
E) dairies

Question 8

What are the five stages,in order,of Ester Boserup's model of agricultural systems?

A) (1)Forest-fallow cultivation; (2)Bush-fallow cultivation; (3)Short-fallow cultivation; (4)Annual Cropping; (5)Multicropping
B) (1)Bush-fallow cultivation; (2)Forest-fallow cultivation; (3)Short-fallow cultivation; (4)Annual Cropping; (5)Multicropping
C) (1)Forest-fallow cultivation; (2)Short-fallow cultivation; (3)Bush-fallow cultivation; (4)Multicropping; (5)Annual Cropping
D) (1)Forest-fallow cultivation; (2)Short-fallow cultivation; (3)Bush-fallow cultivation; (4)Annual Cropping; (5)Multicropping
E) (1)Bush-fallow cultivation; (2)Forest-fallow cultivation; (3)Short-fallow cultivation; (4)Multicropping; (5)Annual Cropping

Question 9

Why were the prairies and high plains west of the Mississippi River known as the "Great American Desert" by early Europeans immigrants to the U.S.?

A) because decades of drought during that era turned the land into a desert.
B) because of the sandy soil found there.
C) because their soil and climate maps were incorrect.
D) because they equated a tree-covered landscape, not grasslands, with fertile soils.
E) all of the above

Question 10

What was the Second Agricultural Revolution?

A) development of hunting and gathering societies
B) formation of a global agricultural system
C) domestication of plants and animals
D) industrialization of Agriculture
E) establishment of the World Trade Organization

Question 11

What was the First Agricultural Revolution?

A) development of hunting and gathering societies
B) formation of a global agricultural system
C) domestication of plants and animals
D) industrialization of Agriculture
E) establishment of the World Trade Organization

Question 12

According to your text,about what percent of the populations of a number of countries in Africa and Asia are engaged in the agricultural sector?

A) 15%
B) 25%
C) 50%
D) 70%
E) 90%

Question 13

What were the two forms of settlement within European colonies?

A) plantations in the middle latitudes; farm-family colonies in the tropics
B) livestock ranching in the northern latitudes; orchards in the middle latitudes
C) swidden agriculture in the tropics; pastoral nomadism in semi-arid lands
D) livestock ranching in highlands; grain farming on the plains
E) farm-family colonies in the middle latitudes; plantation colonies in the tropics

Question 14

All of the following are TRUE of agriculture EXCEPT

A) it began in the Neolithic Revolution, roughly 5,000 years ago.
B) it made a nonnomadic existence possible.
C) it paved the way for a social surplus.
D) it made possible the rise of cities.
E) All of the above are TRUE of agriculture.

Question 15

Which of the following is a characteristic of intensive agriculture?

A) Most work is done by hand.
B) Plots of land are very small.
C) Physiological density is high.
D) It is practiced mostly in river valleys and irrigated fields in the middle latitudes.
E) All of the above

Question 16

What was the usual number of crops raised on a plantation?

A) one
B) two
C) three
D) four
E) 20 or more

Question 17

According to Ester Boserup,what usually accompanied the transition from one form of agriculture to another?

A) increased population density
B) improved tools
C) improved transportation
D) more labor specialization
E) all of the above

Question 18

How many crops are typically cultivated in a single swidden?

A) one
B) two
C) three
D) four
E) five or more

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of commercial agriculture?

A) People fed by commercial agriculture work in other types of economic activity.
B) Machinery, fertilizers, and high-yield seeds are used extensively.
C) Many people work on these large farms.
D) Farms are large.
E) Produce from commercial agriculture is integrated with other agribusiness.

Question 20

Which of the following statements about shifting cultivation is most accurate?

A) Shifting cultivation is not sustainable.
B) Shifting cultivation is sustainable.
C) Shifting cultivation can be sustainable if the population is small enough for the land area available for this agricultural system.
D) Shifting cultivation is no longer practiced.
E) Shifting cultivation is usually practiced in the middle latitudes.

Question 21

Negative impacts of the industrialization of agriculture include all of the following EXCEPT

A) depletion of water resources.
B) depletion of soil resources.
C) environmental pollution.
D) destruction of a way of life for millions of farmers.
E) all of the above

Question 22

Climatic conditions affecting rural land use decisions of farmers include all of the following EXCEPT

A) soil type.
B) soil fertility.
C) slope.
D) drainage.
E) systems of agricultural production.

Question 23

What types of factors determine rural land use decisions of farmers?

A) climatic limitations
B) cultural preferences
C) systems of agricultural production
D) all of the above
E) only climatic limitations and cultural preferences

Question 24

According to your text,in general,which poses the main danger to the environment?

A) emissions from coal burning
B) industrialized farming
C) desertification
D) subsistence farming
E) none of the above

Question 25

By which century had agriculture spread widely throughout the Old World and much of the New World?

A) 1300 AD
B) 1400 AD
C) 1500 AD
D) 1600 AD
E) none of the above

Question 26

Mixed crop and livestock is the predominate system of agriculture practiced in which of the following regions?

A) Subsaharan Africa
B) Latin America
C) Australia
D) Northern Africa
E) South Asia

Question 27

Forces that brought the market into agriculture include all of the following EXCEPT

A) subsistence farming.
B) improvement of seeds and breeding stock.
C) a vast population increase in the new trading cities that depended on the countryside for food.
D) nobility began to rent their land to peasants for farming.
E) crop rotation replaced the medieval system of fallow.

Question 28

In Africa and Asia about ________ percent of those who are employed work in peasant farming.

A) 20%
B) 30%
C) 40%
D) 50%
E) 60%

Question 29

Effects of centuries of European overseas expansion on agriculture include all of the following EXCEPT

A) commercial agricultural systems have become a feature of much of the world.
B) hunting and gathering has virtually disappeared.
C) few completely self-sufficient farms exist.
D) subsistence farming has been completely eradicated.
E) All of the above are effects.

Question 30

Which of the following is a pull factor that is causing people to leave their farms for urban life?

A) low crop prices
B) opportunities for college education
C) difficult and sometimes dangerous work
D) expansion of housing subdivisions onto farmlands
E) high cost of machinery

Question 31

Key elements of industrial agriculture include all of the following EXCEPT

A) extreme capital intensity.
B) high energy use.
C) concentration of economic power.
D) a quest for lower unit costs of production.
E) all of the above

Question 32

Pastoral nomadism is the predominate system of agriculture practiced in which of the following regions?

A) Subsaharan Africa
B) Latin America
C) Australia
D) Northern Africa
E) Europe

Question 33

All of the following are typical "Mediterranean crops" EXCEPT

A) tomatoes.
B) olives.
C) oranges.
D) grapes.
E) grapefruit.

Question 34

Farm-family colonies in the middle latitudes of N America,Australia,New Zealand and South Africa differed from plantation colonies in the tropical regions in all of the following ways EXCEPT

A) farm-family colonies depended on farming that produced products for the local market rather than export.
B) settlers in farm-family colonies brought their farming customs with them but often altered them to their new environments.
C) many farm-family colony farms were allocated through the Township and Range System.
D) farm-family colonies did not require substantial settlement by ex-patriots.
E) All of the above are characteristics of farm-family colonies.

Question 35

Intensive subsistence wet rice dominant is the predominate system of agriculture practiced in which of the following regions?

A) Subsaharan Africa
B) Latin America
C) Southeast Asia
D) Northern Africa
E) the Pacific Islands

Question 36

The bulk and perishability of milk cause dairy farms in the U.S.to locate in a specific location.Where?

A) on the Great Plains
B) near the east and west coasts
C) in the Southeast
D) near cities
E) in Montana

Question 37

All of the following U.S.cities grew up in part because of the services provided by their slaughterhouses and stockyards,EXCEPT

A) Chicago.
B) Pittsburgh.
C) Denver.
D) Dallas.
E) Kansas City.

Question 38

Today,the percentage of a labor force engaged in primary activities is a useful measure of

A) poverty.
B) average education level.
C) economic development.
D) productivity.
E) output.

Question 39

Plantations had all of the following characteristics EXCEPT

A) they produced luxury foodstuffs like spices, cocoa and coffee.
B) they were often located near coasts to facilitate export to Europe.
C) sometimes land was expropriated for plantations from land used for local food crops.
D) they were small scale enterprises.
E) forced labor was often used on plantations.

Question 40

Plantations had all of the following characteristics EXCEPT

A) they were large-scale enterprises.
B) they were first developed by the Portuguese in the 1400s.
C) they represented the first wave in the global modification of agriculture.
D) mechanization was often used to increase production.
E) Europeans managed plantations but did little manual labor.

Question 41

Characteristics of commercial farming in the U.S.include

A) it can be labor intensive.
B) more than 10% of the labor force is usually engaged in it.
C) more small family farms are involved in it than are large corporate farms.
D) it is not easily integrated into other agribusiness production systems.
E) its produce is sold for use off the farm.

Question 42

What is the most common type of agriculture in developing countries?

A) dairying
B) subsistence
C) plantation
D) horticulture
E) industrial

Question 43

When agriculture involves endless hours of backbreaking work is it called

A) subsistence.
B) peasant.
C) labor-intensive.
D) swidden.
E) none of the above

Question 44

The predominate system of agriculture practiced in arctic Russia is

A) subsistence cultivation.
B) intensive subsistence wet rice not dominant.
C) mixed crop and livestock.
D) pastoral nomadism.
E) dairy

Question 45

Rice is a favorite crop grown in intensive subsistence agriculture because

A) it has a high yield per acre and is rich in nutrients.
B) it is a cultural food.
C) it can be grown intensively in areas that are arid, with irrigation.
D) it is highly mechanized in Asia.
E) it is grown on farms with very large land area.

Question 46

Preindustrial agriculture

A) is characterized by wide use of subsistence agriculture.
B) is practiced in regions where the majority of workers are engaged in agriculture.
C) is practiced with primitive methods.
D) produces harvests that are mainly for direct consumption.
E) is all of the above.

Question 47

Several factors have affected the size and distribution of pastoral nomads in recent times.They are

A) nomadic societies have fallen due to the rise of territorial boundaries of states.
B) governments have attempted to settle nomads.
C) they have survived because they know how to use land that cannot be used for other economic purposes.
D) all of the above.
E) A and C only.

Question 48

Characteristics of pastoral nomadism include all of the following EXCEPT

A) it is classified as extensive subsistence agriculture.
B) only about 15 million people practice it worldwide.
C) they lands they use are typically arid.
D) nomads depend on animal herds for their sustenance.
E) it is classified as intensive subsistence agriculture.

Question 49

Characteristics of agribusiness include all of the following EXCEPT

A) it is highly capital intensive.
B) it has extended livestock immensely.
C) it has both backward and forward linkages.
D) it is quick to respond to new developments.
E) it is rather slow at responding to new developments.

Question 50

Subsistence agriculture includes all of the following categories EXCEPT

A) shifting cultivation.
B) pastoral nomadism.
C) peasant-based agriculture.
D) intensive subsistence agriculture wet rice dominant.
E) mixed crop and livestock.

Question 51

Agribusiness is extremely capital-intensive and energy-intensive.Thus,agribusiness has all of the following characteristics EXCEPT

A) it relies on huge amounts of chemicals.
B) most of it is computer-controlled.
C) it is very labor-intensive.
D) just 2% of the U.S. labor force is engaged in agriculture.
E) it is extremely highly productive.

Question 52

Peasant agriculture is practices extensively in which region?

A) South Asia
B) Southeast Asia
C) East Asia
D) East Africa
E) all of the above

Question 53

Which of the following statements are FALSE about shifting cultivation.

A) People clear a patch of land and burn the rubble.
B) The soils on these patches are depleted rather quickly.
C) The soils usually become permanently infertile.
D) After the soil in one patch is depleted, the farmers move on to clear another.
E) None of the above is false about shifting cultivation.

Question 54

The predominate system of agriculture practiced in Subsaharan Africa is

A) subsistence cultivation.
B) intensive subsistence wet rice dominant.
C) mixed crop and livestock.
D) pastoral nomadism.
E) dairy.

Question 55

Deforestation in the rainforest contributes to

A) subsistence farming.
B) poverty.
C) greenhouse warming.
D) loss of agricultural land.
E) manufacturing shortages.

Question 56

Rice

A) was domesticated in East Asia more than 7000 years ago.
B) is used almost totally for human consumption.
C) is the primary diet ingredient for over 2 billion people.
D) all of the above
E) B and C only

Question 57

Forward linkages in the U.S.food production system include

A) seed.
B) fertilizer.
C) petroleum and machinery.
D) meat production.
E) labor.

Question 58

What type of agriculture do most of the world's farmers practice?

A) dairying
B) subsistence
C) plantation
D) horticulture
E) industrial

Question 59

Which of the following is NOT a problem of subsistence agriculture?

A) It is subject to soil and precipitation variability.
B) a lack of tools and high yielding seed
C) Non-food crops, such as sugar and jute, become attractive to subsistence farmers due to the high prices they can get on the export market.
D) Subsistence farmers can often barely provide for their families.
E) Subsistence farmers suffer from a lack of capital.

Question 60

Commercial agricultural areas dominated by capitalist social relations include all of the following EXCEPT

A) U.S. and Canada.
B) Asia.
C) Argentina.
D) Europe.
E) South Africa.

Question 61

Certain U.S.dairy farms produce more milk than cheese and butter because

A) milk is cheap to produce
B) according to international tastes, American cheese is not very tasty
C) their milk can be transported quickly to large markets in the U.S.
D) because they are labor-intensive operations
E) none of the above

Question 62

Mixed crop and livestock farming is the principal type of commercial agriculture found in all of the following countries EXCEPT

A) New Zealand.
B) Russia.
C) Ukraine.
D) South Africa.
E) Chile.

Question 63

The number of American farmers has decreased from ________ to ________ since 1950.

A) 50 million; 10 million
B) 5 million; 0.5 million
C) 6 million; 2 million
D) 25 million; 15 million
E) 25 million; 10 million

Question 64

Types of commercial agriculture include all of the following EXCEPT

A) Mediterranean cropping.
B) dairy farming.
C) mixed crop and livestock farming.
D) horticulture.
E) All of the above are types of commercial agriculture.

Question 65

The top 5 farm products produced in the U.S.in order of value are

A) corn, beef, milk, chicken, soybeans.
B) beef, corn, milk soybeans, chicken.
C) corn. beef, chicken, milk, soybeans.
D) corn, chicken, beef, milk soybeans.
E) beef, soybeans, corn, chicken, milk.

Question 66

The only form of commercial agriculture that is an extensive agricultural pursuit is

A) mixed crop and livestock farming.
B) grain farming.
C) cattle ranching.
D) Mediterranean cropping.
E) horticulture and fruit farming.

Question 67

The North American Spring Wheat Belt is centered in

A) Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Saskatchewan.
B) Saskatchewan, North Dakota South Dakota and Kansas.
C) North Dakota, South Dakota, Alberta, and Nebraska.
D) Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Kansas.
E) Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.

Question 68

Which pairing of region and predominant Mediterranean crop grown there is correct?

A) southern California - citrus fruit
B) Florida - citrus fruit
C) southern California - wine grapes
D) Spain, France and Italy - olives and grapes
E) Mediterranean Sea countries - wine and olive oil

Question 69

What are the overall percentages of the labor force that are engaged in agriculture in developed countries and developing countries,respectively?

A) 10%; 80%
B) 5%; 60%
C) 2%; 90%
D) 15%; 50%
E) 9%; 89%

Question 70

What are the three tendencies of supply,demand,and prices of U.S.agriculture over the past 100 years?

A) moderately increased supply; moderately increased demand; stable prices
B) drastically increased supply; moderately increased demand; falling prices
C) drastically increased supply; dramatically increased demand; stable prices
D) stable supply; moderately increased demand; falling prices
E) moderately increased supply; dramatically increased demand; rising prices

Question 71

Which is NOT a characteristic of cattle ranching?

A) It is practiced in developed areas of the world in drier areas.
B) Ranchers, until the late 1800s, kept their herds on the move toward markets in Midwestern cities.
C) Stationary ranching is now done on land that is 60% owned by the U.S. government.
D) South America has significant cattle-ranching industries.
E) It is an intensive agricultural pursuit.

Question 72

The U.S.and Canada account for what percentage of total world exports of wheat?

A) 10%
B) 25%
C) 35%
D) 50%
E) 75%

Question 73

The few places that can support large grain-farming operations include all of the following EXCEPT

A) China.
B) U.S. & Canada.
C) Russia.
D) France.
E) Australia.

Question 74

A four-field rotation system is used in which type of agriculture?

A) intensive subsistence agriculture
B) swidden
C) extensive subsistence agriculture
D) mixed crop and livestock farming agriculture
E) all of the above

Question 75

Which is NOT a Mediterranean region of the world?

A) southern California
B) central Chile
C) South Africa
D) southern Australia
E) Madagascar

Question 76

Which type of commercial agriculture is usually located in drier areas?

A) mixed crop and livestock farming
B) dairy farming
C) grain farming
D) cattle ranching
E) Mediterranean farming

Question 77

Which type of commercial agriculture accounts for the most farm acreage in the NE U.S.and NW Europe and accounts for 20% of the total output by value of commercial agriculture?

A) mixed crop and livestock farming
B) dairy farming
C) grain farming
D) cattle ranching
E) Mediterranean farming

Question 78

Other important grains,besides wheat,that are grown include all of the following EXCEPT

A) barley.
B) oats.
C) rye.
D) sorghum.
E) millet.

Question 79

The area stretching from southern Virginia,through eastern North and South Carolinas to coastal Georgia and Florida is also known as the

A) Southern Wheat Belt.
B) Sunbelt.
C) Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Belt.
D) Bible Belt.
E) none of the above

Question 80

What is the name of the U.S.law that raised farm prices so that farmers could enjoy a "fair price" or "parity price"?

A) Surplus Produce Act of 1935
B) Farm Subsidy Act of 1940
C) Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933
D) Agricultural Assistance Act of 1946
E) Farmer's Fair Trade Act of 1990