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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does de Blij feel that Americans have an obligation to be well informed?

2. What did scientists think was happening to the climate in the 1950s, when de Blij was in graduate school?

3. What job does de Blij say should not have been eliminated by government budget cuts?

4. How did colonial powers in Europe divide up the territory in Africa?

5. What profession does de Blij say should include training in cartography?

Short Essay Questions

1. How has the Moon's position in Earth's sky changed since Earth's early years?

2. What does de Blij mean when he says that geography is an antidote for isolationism and provincialism?

3. How do scientists think that Earth might have acquired its oceans?

4. What is the difference between a large scale map and a small scale map?

5. Explain why Earth's continents drift. What theory explains this process?

6. How does de Blij say that stories of the Great Flood may have started?

7. What empires thrived during the Medieval Optimum?

8. How do mass extinctions on Earth usually occur?

9. What was Europe like during the coldest part of the Little Ice Age?

10. How widespread is the practice of cartography across cultures?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain why many people in the Islamic world resent the West.

Essay Topic 2

How did Chairman Mao Zedong change China? Does de Blij think that Mao changed China for the better? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Why does de Blij think that Russia continues to be important, even though it is no longer a superpower and even though its population is in serious decline? Support your answer with evidence from Why Geography Matters.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 928 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample